You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
European Union professionals working in the UK book industry are feeling “unsettled” and "uncertain" as the UK prepares to trigger Article 50 today (29th March), formally marking Britain’s exit from the EU.
Many EU nationals have expressed concern to The Bookseller about what Britain’s departure from the union will mean for freedom of movement and immigration laws, and also how it will affect cultural attitudes toward foreigners. However, some are optimistic about the situation, arguing that Britain will remain as "international and open minded as ever”.
Jacques Testard, founder and publisher of publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions, is a French national who has lived in the UK since 1991. He told The Bookseller he was worried about having to fight to be able to live in the UK. “With the Brexit referendum, something I'd taken for granted – the freedom to live here – has suddenly become something I might have to fight for. It's unsettling."
He added: "On a wider political and historical level, I think Brexit is a disaster. People seem to have forgotten that the founding idea for the European Union was to build a stable and peaceful Europe after World War II. With the rise of populism, the idea that the EU could fragment is a real concern.”
Fitzcarraldo’s members of staff include an Australian national, an Irish designer, and a South African/Portuguese publicist. “We are all concerned in some way or other by what might happen with a change in immigration laws. I can only hope that none of us will have any trouble staying in the country we've all been living in for many, many years”, Testard added.
Nicci Praça, a South African/Portuguese freelance publicist working with Fitzcarraldo, added that the biggest difficulty was the “uncertainty”. She told The Bookseller that she was concerned she would not be allowed to continue to live in the UK or that she would have to "convert" to British citizenship, which may be a "costly, laborious process with a high risk of not qualifying".
She also expressed concern about access to low cost healthcare, social services and pensions.
Alma Books founder Alessandro Gallenzi, born in Italy, told The Bookseller that because he is now a British citizen, he was not worried about being forced to leave the country, but he still expressed concerns about the situation.
"The main two concerns I have are a drain of talent as people leave the country, that is something I am really worried about, and secondly, that it is going to be more difficult for us to get into Europe and for European people to come to Britain", he said.
Brexit has also prompted Alma Books to open an office in Edinburgh, Gallenzi revealed. "We believe along with the majority of Scots that we should not be leaving the EU," he said. "We feel that Scotland has a very European mindset and we feel we should be a part of that." The opening of the Edinburgh office will coincide with the company's launch of The Calder List in July, which will see it publish novels, plays and poetry originally released under the stewardship of John Calder in 1949, by literary luminaries as Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller, William Burroughs.
However, Gallenzi said he was ultimately optimistic about the future after Brexit. “We don’t want Britain to change when we leave the EU,” he said. “We don’t want the atmosphere to change in the country. I am quite resolute about it all, I am feeling optimistic.”
Rolf Grisebach, c.e.o. of Thames and Hudson, who is from Germany, also gave an optimistic view. “I think there are good reasons and strong indicators to believe that everybody will be able to stay," he said. "I do think that all Europeans working here already will be allowed to stay. My personal experience in the last months was quite positive, I talk to and meet many British citizens, in general and certainly in our industry, who are as international and open minded as ever”.
Others have spoken about the need for publishing to change in light of Brexit.
Meike Ziervogel, the German-born publisher of Peirene Press, said that although Brexit was a "huge step backwards", there was "opportunity" for creative industries "to realise that we are part of this disaster".
“Of course, I'm not happy about Brexit. It is a huge step backwards – socially, politically, economically, culturally", Ziervogel said. "However, I also see this as an opportunity for the creative industries – and especially publishing - to realise that we are part of this disaster. We have been part in creating the status quo and if we want the situation to change, we need to change. We need to take responsibility and become socially more engaged.”
Peirene plans to publish two novels from the Baltic countries - Latvia and Lithuania, which has been prompted by the political situation. "Two countries where I have struggled to find access into their stories, understand their stories", she said. The press is also publishing a new series - Peirene Now! - which commissions English language writers to respond to "urgent political topics" with fiction. The publisher's Brexit novel, which looks at the forces that have "split Britain apart", will be published in June.
The prime minister Theresa May has signed the letter that will formally begin the UK's departure from the European Union and it will be delivered to European Council president Donald Tusk by the British ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, at 12:20 BST today.