Bermudian authors in search of a publisher, may well find that Peepal Tree Press is well suited to their needs.

The publishing house based in Leeds in England specialises in Caribbean, South Asian and Black British fiction, poetry, literary, cultural and historical studies.

In the nineteenth century over two million Indians were lured away to work as indentured labourers on the sugar estates of the Caribbean, Mauritius, Fiji and other parts of the Empire.

They brought the peepal tree with them and planted in these new environments, a sign of their commitment to their cultural roots.

Peepal Tree Press began in 1986.

It focuses on the Caribbean and its Diaspora, and also publishes writing from the South Asian Diaspora and Africa.

Its books seek to express the popular resources of transplanted and transforming cultures.

Peepal Tree Press is the World's largest independent publisher of Caribbean writing.

Peepal Tree has now published over 100 quality literary paperback titles, with fiction, poetry and literary, cultural and historical studies.

It publishes about 15 English language titles a year, with writers from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Montserrat, St Lucia, America, Canada, the UK, Goa, India and Barbados.

Peepal Tree specialises in publishing writing which explores new areas of reality which is multi-ethnic and multicultural.

They aim to publish writing of high literary merit which `makes a difference', which challenges assumptions and leads to cross-cultural understanding.

Their list contains work by established authors such as Kamau Brathwaite, Beryl Gilroy, Ismith Khan and David Dabydeen, but they are also strongly committed to publishing new writers.

Their catalogue is now available by e-mail hannahpeepal.demon.co.uk