COURTTIA NEWLAND

Both as a novelist and as a screenwriter, Courttia Newland has found himself, through circumstance or choice, in a place of opposition to the commercial mainstream. Now, aged 50, he reflects on what it means to be an artist operating in the margins and shares his experiences and observations for those facing similar hurdles and choices. Newland covers key aspects of creating beyond the mainstream, including centring your own voice; which voices are allowed full freedom of artistic expression and which are not; the importance of reading outside of the white Western canon; and the impact of success on marginalised creatives work. Alongside his own observations and experiences, he explores the work of - and in some instances interviews - other oppositional artists, including Percival Everett, Lou Mensah, Iain Banks, Roots Manuva, Rudolph Kizerman and more. The result is a startling provocation, and a galvanising vindication of refusing to conform.