New book collates memories of the Black Country from the last 500 years
A Black Country author has published a book on the region with the memories and writings of 50 authors who visited the area.
Brendan Clifford has compiled writings for the book, from classic authors such as Daniel Defoe and Charles Dickens, right up to modern-day comedians like Julie Walters and Lenny Henry.
Mr Clifford, who hails from Warley, signed copies of Black By Day, Red By Night at Waterstones Wolverhampton on Saturday and is preparing for the Wolverhampton Literature Festival.
The 61-year-old said: "My personal interest started when I heard about the visit of artist J. M. W. Turner to Dudley at the start of the 19th century, then I began looking at different people who visited the Black Country.
"There are 50 voices spanning 500 years. We start with John Leland, a chaplain to Henry VIII who is considered to be one of the nation's first local historians.
"It also looks at Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, who was a witness to the change in the Black Country as farms turned to forges."
One of the youngest participants in the book is journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera, who wrote The Boy with the Topknot, an autobiography about Sathnam growing up in Wolverhampton in the eighties.
Other people featured in the book are Emma Purshouse, a writer and performance poet who became Wolverhampton's first ever poet laureate in 2019, and Kuli Kohli, Wolverhampton's current poet laureate.
The book also includes illustrations and artwork from present day artists in the area, including Rob Perry and Ed Isaacs, as well as historical pieces from artists like Turner.
Mr Clifford is not making any money from the book, as all proceeds will go to the Black Country Society.
The author said: "I want people to see the Black Country as a place of creativity and ingenuity which will help to get it to a brighter future."
