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Influx Press has signed the first title from its recent open submissions window, a "lyrical and incisive" title by Shiromi Pinto. Throughout November 2017 the press opened its submissions exclusively to women from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in order to acknowledge and address the diversity imbalance in its list.
In her first acquisition for Influx, assistant editor Sanya Semakula signed world rights to Pinto’s second book Plastic Emotions, direct from the author. Semakula hailed its "stunning prose and authorial dexterity; its lyrical and compelling multiplicity of voices." It is the story of Sri Lanka’s first female architect, Minnette de Silva, and her relationship with fellow architect Le Corbusier. Set in England, France, India and Sri Lanka in the two decades after the Second World War, Pinto’s tale is of lost love, ego and affairs, charting the erosion of post-independence ideals as seen by two architects at different points in their careers.
“Shiromi is an intelligent and thrilling writer. The book is well researched, but she also gave herself enough room to play, so you get this layered narrative on architecture, history, class and romance that is as lyrical as it is incisive,” said Semakula.
The editor said she was heartened by the appreciation voiced by women writers of colour for Influx’s submissions move. "What was surprising, and lovely, were the messages that came with submissions, along the lines of, ‘Thank you for creating space for us.’ I hope this works to encourage more women of colour to submit their writing more often, and more widely, and encourage more publishers to get those stories out there," she said.
Pinto wrote Plastic Emotions with the financial help of an Arts Council England grant which enabled her to carry out extensive research at the British Library and Paris’ Fondation le Corbusier, and to undertake two research trips to India and Sri Lanka.
The writer’s début, Trussed, was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2006. She has written short stories for BBC Radio 4, the Victoria & Albert Museum and opendemocracy.net. Born in London and raised in Montreal, she works full-time at Amnesty International in London.
Pinto said: "I’m thrilled to be working with Influx. [Editor] Kit Caless’ affinity for architecture is a huge bonus given the subject matter of the book. His enthusiasm and understanding convinced me I was in good hands. I’m also really lucky to have been paired with Sanya, a rising editorial talent who, I hope, represents a first step towards building much-needed diversity within a frankly monochromatic industry. I’m looking forward to her insightful edito- rial guidance in the months to come."
Influx will publish Plastic Emotions in the spring of 2019.