Independent and Inspired Publishers
Forthcoming Release — Distorted Imagination, Lessons from the Rushdie Affair by Ziauddin Sardar & Merryl Wyn Davies
Forthcoming Release — Seven Men I Know by Mevlut Ceylan
The Gift of Giving (Revised Edition) by Muzahid Khan
Dismantling Mountains by Samantha Terrell
Only Words by Paul Sutherland
The Old Man, His Dog & Their Longest Journey by Iain Maitland
Manachi, These Kingdoms Never Slept, a Collaboration by Our Shared Cultural Heritage
Forthcoming Releases
Distorted Imagination, by Ziaudin Sardar & Merryl Wyn Davies
The authors of this book trace the long history of the Rushdie affair, demonstrating that the real issues raised are not freedom of expression or blasphemy but the survival of cultural identity. They define the concept of the distorted imagination: the intellectual tool called Orientalism that the West has fashioned to explain non-Western cultures, including that of Islam. They show that it is a deliberate exercise calculated to impede mutual understanding between the West and other peoples. Sardar and Davies consider freedom of expression, and tolerance – the tolerance expected of Muslims by Western secularists – and the intolerance of secularists who demand that secularism alone determine what is acceptable for everyone in the modern world.
The authors reveal that Islam does not accept that people can be sentenced without due process of law and that the juristic opinion – fatwa – of the late Ayatollah Khomeini is completely indefensible under Islamic law. This book is for all concerned individuals who need to understand the furore resulting from the publication of The Satanic Verses and who want to assure a future for everyone from all nations in our multi-ethnic, multicultural societies.
We are excited to work with Blackwell’s, Manchester, on book launches and physically stocking books.
Recent Events
The Gift of Giving
Muzahid Khan in Conversation
5th December 2023 - Autobiography Launch
The launch of the revised edition of Muzahid Khan's memoir THE GIFT OF GIVING - an inspirational chronicle of his journey from a young boy in Bangladesh to a successful entrepreneur in the UK. Khan’s work has been recognised by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Greater Manchester in June 2021. Muzahid was in conversation with Dr Tom Sullivan.
About the book:
Spanning more than fifty years, The Gift of Giving is the story of Muzahid Khan – from village boy in Bangladesh to established business entrepreneur and social activist - and presents the reader with his beliefs for how to lead a better, more fulfilling life. Beginning with his family’s desperate struggle to avoid death while he was a young boy during the 1971 War of Independence, Muzahid Khan takes us through his upbringing in the UK during the 1980s through to his maturing as a family man with a heart for communities both in the UK and in Bangladesh. Through numerous trips and projects culminating in the Singerkach health clinic in his home village, Muzahid Khan takes us through the events which shaped him and led him to be the entrepreneur and life coach he is today. He reveals how he believes in the secret of giving which empowers, enhances self-worth and bring great joy.
About the Author:
Muzahid Khan has been at the heart of local and global initiatives that have made real differences to people’s lives. He serves as a volunteer governance advisor for multiple organisations including the Amana Foundation and he also holds a position as a board member of Maggie’s Cancer Centre.
In The Gift of Giving, Muzahid details his life and the lessons he’s learnt, and emphasises his mother and father’s lessons on the importance of giving.
Muzahid is a certified NLP coach, and his efforts have been recognised by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for being a young achiever in 1998, and his work was also commended by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2000. During 2013, he became one of almost 50,000 changemakers certified by the US Climate Reality Leadership Corps. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of Greater Manchester in June 2021.
Dr Tom Sullivan is the lead editor at Vellum Publishing and an anthropologist from Manchester, who is passionate about growing the voices of Greater Manchester’s community heroes.
Paul Abdul Wadud Sutherland in Conversation
15th November 2023 - Poetry Collection Launch
Paul Sutherland is a Canadian-British poet and the founder of Dream Catcher, an international literary journal, and our upcoming collection brings together his greatest poems and previously unpublished poems. Holy Week Sequence and Poems on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad provide an intimate exploration of the lives of founders of two of the world’s largest religious traditions, and Seven Earth Odes takes the reader into the natural world. The collection is capped by previously unpublished mystical writings which reflect Sutherland’s continued exploration of capturing that which is beyond words, in words.
Paul discussed his work with Dr Thomas Sullivan, and took questions from the audience about his life, work, and his writing process.
Samantha Terrell - Dismantling Mountains Launch
15th November 2023 - Poetry Collection Launch
At the same event, Samantha Terrell’s poetry collection, Dismantling Mountains, was launched. Terrell is an internationally-published American poet whose poetry emphasises self-awareness as a means to social awareness. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Anita McAndrews Poets for Human Rights Award, organised by Poets Without Borders.
Samantha performed a virtual reading of her poetry and her books were sold at the Blackwell’s, Manchester event.
New Book Releases
Dismantling Mountains
by Samantha Terrell
Samantha Terrell is an internationally-published American poet whose anthology plays with free verse, experimental, and rhymed and un-rhymed poetry. Samantha Terrell's poetry, which emphasizes self-awareness as a means to social awareness, has been shortlisted for the Anita McAndrews Poets for Human Rights Award organized by Poets Without Borders.
A mirror to many of our emotions, Samantha Terrell’s Dismantling Mountains is a much-needed intervention delivered with compassion and gentleness, and an exploration of what it feels like to observe the world today.
Samantha Terrell uses innovative and traditional poetic forms to shine a light on social and ecological issues, allowing the reader to become part of conscious change. An internationally published poet with a global perspective, Terrell moves naturally between themes, from writing her own creation myth, to motherhood, nature, war, and poverty and abundance.
Praise for Samantha Terrell
“Terrell is upset about where we as a species are headed. And, who of sound mind wouldn’t be in favour of her stance? . . . Samantha L. Terrell is a voice of reason. In amongst all the chaos in one of history’s most turbulent moments for decades, she makes absolute sense.”
- Stephen J. Alexander
“Samantha Terrell’s Confronting the Elements is an invitation to gentleness and a scream against the follies of a doom-courting era.”
- Lawrence Moore
Only Words
by Paul Sutherland
Canadian-British poet Paul Sutherland collects his finest poetry into one volume, taking the reader through a mystical journey across major world religions and the universal power of nature.
Sutherland’s Holy Week Sequence and Poems on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad take the reader intimately into the lives of the founders of two of the world’s largest religious traditions, from Sutherland’s first-hand perspective as someone navigating those faiths during a religious and spiritual journey. Seven Earth Odes takes the reader to our shared planet and nature, beyond specific traditions and cultures. The collection is crowned a selection of previously unpublished mystical poems and writings, which invite the reader to explore the world, including reflections on the British Isles, Sufi shrines, cathedrals, airports, and long country walks.
Running across all these poems is a sensitivity to the infinite that lies beyond poetry, and beyond words. Sutherland moves through and with the infinite, finding within everyday places and words the power to transform our lives.
Praise for Paul Sutherland
“We need more poets like Sutherland, who speak to and not at us, sharing the universal experiences of family and life experience in such a colloquial, generous, and personal way that ensures poetry revalidates itself as the trusted capturer we turn to at key times of life. Sutherland is this poet and so much more. He is nomadic, experimental, straight talking, brave yet fragile and effortlessly mysterious that make the pages turn slow as he makes you reflect.”
- Anthony Owen, Here Comes Everyone Magazine
"Paul Sutherland's masterful ability to travel between the abstract, almost philosophical layers of thinking and the very concrete, earth-like reminiscences, is something any reader will find fascinating."
- Mario Susko
Book Launch and Events Archive
What We Do, And Why We Do It
Books are a pleasure to be enjoyed by all and accessibility is at the heart of our ethos. We publish fiction and non-fiction of all genres and for all readers; minute reads and podcasts, academic journals and audio books.
In addition to authors from the English-speaking world, we publish and edit for authors from across the globe, offering authors from non-anglophone countries the opportunity to publish their voice in English, making their ideas and musings available to a new anglophone audience.
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