The Media, Arts and Humanities Research Institute

Join Dr. Denise Sutton, Associate Professor at City Tech-The City University of New York, the Publishing History Editorial Board, and friends for a Special Guest online interview. 

In conversation with Dr Rachel Stenner, Publishing History editor, Dr Sutton will discuss her article, 'Romance Publishing for a New Generation: the Case of Harlequin and Mills & Boon in India', out this year in Publishing History (volume 89). 

This discussion explores the impact of the British publishing firm Mills & Boon’s ‘colonial library’ in India and its negotiation of new markets. Founded in 1908, Mills & Boon distributed popular romance novels to colonial territories and established a strong brand identity, that continues today, among English-language readers. Once Mills & Boon was acquired by Harlequin in 1972, Harlequin Mills & Boon built upon the strength of the brand in the English-reading Indian market. By 2008, Harlequin Mills & Boon established a local branch office in Mumbai and offered popular romance novels written by Indian authors for an Indian readership. The negotiation of this international market offers insight into the demands of a new generation of readers in India and provides a case for exploring the characteristics of a first and second global economy.

Book via Eventbrite here.

This event is a collaboration between the Centre for Print Culture and the Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence. If you have queries about this event - or suggestions for future ones - please contact rachel.stenner@sussex.ac.uk.