Black Ink Collective was a British publishing company founded in 1978 to publish the work of young Black writers in the UK. The Collective started as a publisher, their first book ''Black Ink'', published in 1978, was an anthology of work by local school pupils. The Collective also established The Black Writers' Workshop who met weekly at their premises at 258

Coldharbour Lane Coldharbour Lane is a road in south London, England, that leads south-westwards from Camberwell to Brixton. The road is over long with a mixture of residential, business and retail buildings - the stretch of Coldharbour Lane near Brixton Ma ...

, Brixton, south London. The

writers' workshop An authors' conference or writers' conference is a type of conference where writers gather to review their written works and suggest improvements. This process helps an author improve their work and learn to be a better writer for future works, bo ...

incorpated readings, performances and aimed to "incorporate African and Caribbean orality into a Black British poetic voice". The Workshop was attended by writers including

Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...

, S. I. Martin, Desmond Johnson,

Fred D'Aguiar Fred D'Aguiar (born 2 February 1960) is a British-Guyanese poet, novelist, and playwright. He is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Life Fred D'Aguiar was born in London, England, in 1960 t ...

and Michael McMillan. Their second book was a play by 16-year-old Michael McMillan, originally performed at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

Young Writer's Festival, about the plight of an unemployed school-leaver.

Selected works

* ''Black Ink'' - an anthology of plays, poems and prose by young Black Londoners. * McMillan, Michael. ''The School Leaver'' (1978), * ''Wasted Women Friends and Lovers: an anthology by young writers'' (1978), * ''Black-Eye Perceptions'' (1981), * ''Livingroom'' (1983), – anthology with an introduction by

John Agard John Agard FRSL (born 21 June 1949 in British Guiana) is an Afro-Guyanese playwright, poet and children's writer, now living in Britain. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

References

Publishing companies established in 1978 Publishing companies based in London 1978 establishments in England Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Black British mass media Publishing collectives 1978 establishments in the United Kingdom Brixton {{Publish-corp-stub