TV documentary lifts the lid on Birmingham’s hidden literature

Mrs Elton in Jane Austen’s novel Emma, said: “They came from Birmingham, which is not a place to promise much, you know, Mr Weston. One has no great hopes of Birmingham. I always say there is something direful in the sound.”

First published in 1815, Emma illustrates just how long people have been stereotyping the city.

So, when it comes to our literature, what do we Brummies have to shout about?

London can claim everyone from Charles Dickens to George Orwell. But when it comes to the second city, what can we feel smug about?

This is exactly what ‘Books That Made Britain – Factories to Middle Earth’ will discover on BBC One this Sunday.

Factories to Middle Earth, which will be presented by Inside Out and Midlands Today journalist Qasa Alom, aims to unveil what it is like being a writer away from the literati in London as he meets successful Birmingham novelists David Lodge, Jonathan Coe and Kit de Waal.

The programme will also look into the childhood of The Lord of The Rings author JRR Tolkein who grew up in the city and if Birmingham was the inspiration for Middle Earth.

The presenter will also look at the work of Jim Crace, a ‘fabulist’ who has written more obliquely about Birmingham and Henry Green, who wrote ‘Living’, one of the great industrial novels of the twenties, set in the city.

It didn’t take much convincing for Birmingham based director Ed Barlow to get involved in the programme.

“My background is in English Literature and I have always wanted to do something about Birmingham and its literary heritage,” he said.

“Speaking to a number of novelists it became clear that there can be times when it feels like publishers and agents might look down their noses at you if you’re not from London, so one of the things that initially appealed to me was this sort of ‘second  complex’, which in some cases can actually be used by writers to their advantage.”

However, Ed explains that the programme wasn’t the easiest to create.

“Compared to certain other parts of the country – London and coastal areas for instance – Birmingham has probably produced relatively few notable novels, but they are there, and they all, in different ways, reflect the city’s identity and tell its story,” he said.

Ed is now eager for locals to realise just how important literature is to the city.

“I think there is more to Birmingham literature than meets the eye. It may not be a long list of novels that everyone has heard of, but the ones included in this programme show that there are great stories in Birmingham,” he adds.

“The city has got a really rich heritage and has an awful lot to say. Just picking up on the texts in the programme, we will cover IRA bombings, riots, the decline of industry, racism, immigration, and this is all in just the last half of the 20th century.

“We may have to look a little bit harder for it, but it is keeping with the Brummie mentality of not shouting from the rooftops.”

Books That Made Britain – Factories to Middle Earth will be on BBC One on Sunday October 16.