Selection of book titles

Pebble on The Beach, written by Tony Diamond
Reproduced with permission from QueenSpark Books
Who was Harry Cowley: QueenSpark Writers
Reproduced with permission from QueenSpark Books
The Faith Project: Sudanese Coptic, Muslim and Progressive Jewish communities
Reproduced with permission from QueenSpark Books
Refuge-Stories of survival and escape: The Migrant English Project at The Cowley Club
Reproduced with permission from QueenSpark Books
Roofless-Homeless in Brighton: Simon Brown, Chris Ellis, Mark, John Wilkins, Danny, Martin Curtis, Simon Nihill, Paul Budd, B, Richard Rowland, Jacqui Martin, Mick O, Coralee, Chris, Liz Hingley, Jo Nean, Melissa Lee, Barry P, Wendy, Dominique De-Light, John Riches
Reproduced with permission from QueenSpark Books

Pebble on the beach
Author: Tony Diamond
“Back in the 1950s and 60s what the man in the white coat said, stood …” Pebble on the Beach is the true story of one boy’s ability to survive. Growing up in Brighton, England, Tony was subjected to a childhood of physical and mental abuse – including electric shock treatment at the age of ten – abandoned by his family at fifteen, and sent to Australia to fend for himself. Unable to settle, wandering from place to place, he plotted his return to England, but an ill-fated attempt to stow away led to imprisonment in New Zealand and his eventual deportation. Having visited four continents, survived four brushes with death and a journey of 30,000 miles, he arrived back in England profoundly changed – but were things at home any different?

Who was Harry Cowley?
QueenSpark writers
This is a reprint of the revised second edition published in 2003. It was created to be a limited edition of the 1984 book that enabled a new generation of readers to become acquainted with Harry Cowley, a Brighton chimney sweep who became a legend. When he died in 1971, his body was laid in state at St Peter’s Church. More than 500 people attended his funeral to pay tribute to the man they called ‘the Gov’nor’. Since then, Harry has not been forgotten. In 1999 Brighton & Hove Bus Company acknowledged his contribution to the City by giving a bus his name and in 2003 The Cowley Club, named in tribute to Harry and his grassroots action, opened its doors to the public.

The Faith Project
Sudanese Coptic, Muslim and Progressive Jewish communities
The Faith Project used oral history and video work to help members of the Sudanese Coptic, Muslim and Progressive Jewish communities to collate a history of how and why the followers of these faiths arrived in Brighton and the traditions and customs that they brought with them. Project extracts are featured in this book which focuses on the positive contribution that the faiths have made to the common heritage of Brighton and Hove.

Refuge: Stories of Survival & Escape
The Migrant English Project at The Cowley Club
The Migrant English Project at The Cowley Club offered language classes to newly arrived migrants to Brighton and Hove. This book is the result of a series of workshops where participants had the opportunity to tell their stories

Roofless: Homeless in Brighton
Authors: Simon Brown, Chris Ellis, Mark, John Wilkins, Danny, Martin Curtis, Simon Nihill, Paul Budd, B, Richard Rowland, Jacqui Martin, Mick O, Coralee, Chris, Liz Hingley, Jo Nean, Melissa Lee, Barry P, Wendy, Dominique De-Light, John Riches
Roofless is a collection of photographs, essays, stories and poems by homeless and ex-homeless people from Brighton. It is about survival, about battling poverty, rejection, ill health and loneliness. There is anger, sadness and rebellion, but also instances of hope and solidarity and writing that, whilst often raw and uncompromising, possesses a surprising generosity of spirit. Roofless attacks many commonly held prejudices and provides not just a window on the world of the homeless, but a valuable insight into the society that so often lets them down.

QueenSpark Books

Comments about this page

  • I’ve read several books from QueenSpark Publishing and I thought they were very well written, very descriptive and honest. They are the sort of books that you just can’t put down and everybody should read at least one in their lifetime.

    By Pauline Godden (25/03/2013)
  • You are absolutely right Pauline! I have read several and the one’s that stand out for me were ‘Moulsecoomb Days’ by Ruby Dunn (I found this interesting as I attended the school in the 60’s). ‘Everything Seems Smaller’ by Sid Manville (this was fabulous as it’s the story of his life between the wars living in Bear Road). The first QueenSpark book I ever read was lent to me by a very kind lady I worked with in the 70’s who realised I had an interest in the history of Brighton. It was ‘Poverty – Hardship but Happiness’ by Albert Paul (she later lent me his other book titled ‘Hard Work and No Consideration’). He lived in Southampton Street and the part I found fabulous was that when the BBC took an interest in the book for a regional news item in 1975, they had to run the cables for the electricity to another house, the reason was that he didn’t have any power and neither did his neighbour! He tells a fascinating story of life in Brighton in the early part of the 20th Century in Hanover. I hope these books are re-issued at some stage as they are a fabulous piece of history for Brighton.

    By Paul Clarkson (28/03/2013)
  • This page needs updating with your recent publications.

    By Geoff Hellman (09/01/2022)

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