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Literary independent publisher Alma Books has been awarded a grant of more than £12,000 by Arts Council England, through the National Lottery, for the publication of two books.
This is the first time the publisher, founded by Italian husband and wife team Elisabetta Minervini and Alessandro Gallenzi, has received funding since Alma launched in 2005.
The Richmond-based outfit, which specialises in contemporary fiction with a focus on translation, will use the money to produce English language editions of All Men Are Liars, by prize-winning Argentinian author Alberto Manguel, and Letters from London and Europe, the first translation of part of the letters of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the author of The Leopard.
The books will be published in September and October respectively.
Minervini, Alma’s sales and marketing director and also joint publisher, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Arts Council England for the grant they have offered us.
“We are totally committed to the promotion of literature in translation, and the Arts Council grant will enable us to widen the scope of our marketing and publicity campaigns, and bring these two excellent books to the largest possible audience.”
This is the second literature grant given by the Arts Council this month, after the body reinstated its regular funding of literary indie Dedalus Books. The publisher will receive a grant of £26,900 for 2010/2011.
However, this boost to publishing came as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) learned this week that up to one in two of its staff could be made redundant under plans by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The Guardian reported Hunt had proposed cuts of between 35% and 50% of all staff, believing he will not be able to achieve backing for future cuts in arts and media budgets unless his department leads by example.
At £2.1bn, DCMS has one of the smallest budgets among the Whitehall departments.