F-word book gets the cold shoulder

In France, Germany and Italy, he is considered one of Britain's finest, most intelligent writers.

But in Britain, Warwick Collins – once described by critics as one of the most talented, radical writers around – cannot get his latest novel published.

And according to one of London's best-known literary agents, the reason is simple – censorship by nervous, multinational publishers who dominate the world of letters.

"They don't want to know", said Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson, who once ran his own publishing company, Sinclair-Stevenson. "The big companies just won't consider brave writing."

Collins' latest offering, called Fuckwoman, is the story of LA journalist Cynthia Lelague, who doubles as a vigilante and tracks down rapists.

He had set out to write a parody of American superhero stories. "In America in the Thirties when Batman and Superman were created, the greatest threat to the status quo was crime," said Collins.

"It struck me that the greatest threat to the American status quo today is feminism, and I wanted to write about the sex war. I see the book as pro-feminist, but in Britain – it's extraordinary – publishers couldn't see the joke, and wouldn't touch it."

In Germany the feminist publisher Andre Kunstmann sold 15,000 copies in hardback and the German paperback rights have been sold for a five-figure sum.

Both the German and French publishers used the original title, but Sinclair-Stevenson says British publishers quaked at the thought. "They just don't understand the book. They think the heroine is an appalling figure of vengeance."

Collins, who is willing to change the title to F-Woman, is not alone in his rejection.

Timothy Mo, who had three novels shortlisted for the Booker Prize, later self-published his fifth novel, Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard, saying: "I'll never go back to being published by anyone else."

Collins, who lives in Hampshire, has faced opposition from British publishers before. Gents, about three Caribbean cleaners, was spurned by the big houses.