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Honno would like to thank the Welsh Books Council for their financial support
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News from HonnoHonno AGM 2007: Notice for Shareholders The Honno AGM will be held in Aberystwyth in 3 November at 3pm. All shareholders should have received notice of the AGM in writing - if you have not done so please contact the Honno office. Or download the letter and agenda here. Win a copy of Dew on the GrassBBC Wales have got a copy of Montgomeryshire author Eiluned Lewis' 1934 classic book 'Dew on the grass', published by Honno in January 2007, to give away to one lucky winner. See 'More about this story' below to enter.Book details More about this story In Her Element: closing date passedWomen's Experiences of the Welsh Landscape. This is a new autobiographical anthology, due out in spring 2008. Thanks to all those who submitted stories - the closing date has just passed, and the editor is sifting through the stories now, so please be patient – we will write to you all as soon as the final selection has been made.Honno at Hay (29.05.07)Honno will be at the Guardian Hay Festival on Tuesday May 29th, and are not only launching Jo Verity's latest book Bells, but are hosting a main event:Crime writer Lindsay Ashford chairs the 'second novel wobble' – the pain and pleasure of putting pen to paper second time around – talking to award-winning authors Kitty Sewell, Jo Verity, and romance writer Claire Peate. Why not join us? For details on the Hay Festival http://www.hayfestival.com/wales Submissions to 'Coming up Roses' (14.2.07)Congratulations to all those who submitted work for the forthcoming fiction anthology 'Coming up Roses'. The stories to be included are:Windrush, Catherine Osbourn Passions of the Potting Shed, Ruth Joseph The Brilliant Blue of Delphiniums, Elizabeth Morgan Councillor Abraham's Gr Con, Ally Thomas A Bad Summer for Wasps, Sue Coffey Untitled / Coming for Roses, Molly Price Red Dahlias, Nina Schmeider Holm Oak, Naomi Bagel Seasons of Brews and Bruises, Judith Barrow Monstera Deliciosa, PennyAnne Windsor Reseeding, Cecilia Morrison High Noon, Hilary Gibson Hortus Conclusus, Imogen Rhia Herrad Jonesy's Place, Christine M Hirst The Bottle Garden, Joy Tucker Silver Bells and Cockleshells, Ella-Louise Gilbert Rosemary and Rue, Sue Anderson Gift, Viv Kelly Yellow Ribbons on a Pear Tree, Sian Melangell Dafydd Falling Meadow, Alexandra Claire If you weren't successful this time, please do try again – all the stories had something praiseworthy, but there simply wasn't room to include them all. The anthology is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2008 and we will be in touch with all those authors whose stories were selected shortly. With many thanks, Caroline Oakley and the team at Honno. Congratulations to the winners and runners up of our Flash Fiction Competition Winner: Sally Mair Jones. prize £40Runners up Vanessa Gebbie, Amanda Roberts prize £ 20 each Highly commended : M.A.Price, Katharine York, Joanna John, Alex North Before reading the stories printed below, our competition judge, Catherine Merriman,offers a few words on her adjudication... "I'm full of admiration for what people can do in 100 words! There were lots of excellent entries. Some people perhaps tried to put in rather too much information – the best stories were really very simple – and some people over-compressed, presumably because they were trying to fit a slightly longer story into the word-length, and made the meaning unclear. Also a few didn't tell a 'story' – just gave a description, which wasn't what I was looking for. But most grasped the technique and did splendidly. The following seven – winner,runners up and highly commended entries – I think deserve warmest congratulations. I found it nigh impossible to choose between them. In the end, however, because it is such a cheerful, upbeat little number, I went for Red and Orange and Green and Blue by Sally Mair Jones." More about this story Facing into the West Wind Congratulations to Lara Clough on the successful launch of her first novel, set on Gower. Lara received a highly competitive writers' bursary from Academi to complete her novel, which was launched at the Bleddfa Arts Centre in November.Coming up RosesJust to let all those who have submitted a story to this collection know, the publication date has been put back to early 2008 and hence you won't be hearing from the editor until January or February next year.Ann Pettitt launches her unique memoir Described by The Times as a "clear-eyed and moving " account of an era, Ann pettitt's memoir of the first peace march to Greenham has received a tremendous welcome both at our annual event which we held in Bangor this year, and in the welsh and national media. With interviews on BBC News, ITV News, One World radio, Wedi 7, features in the Times and the Daily Mail, and favourable book reviews in the Telegraph and the guardian, " Walking to Greenham:How the peace Camp Began and the Cold War Ended " is an impressive debut from Ann, and has been voted as Wales Book of the Month Ann will be reading from and discussing her book at the DRWM, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth on October 20th 6.30pm. This is a free ticketed event. Tickets are available in advance from the National Library bookshop 01970 632548. Ann ia also available to be invited to public talks and discussion about her book. If you would like to invite and or interview Ann, please give us a ring 01970 623150 Lindsay Ashford launches third crime novel, Death Studies Honno novelist, Lindsay Ashford, launched her third crime novel Death Studies at Ceredigion Museum on Friday. An exhibition about Welsh birth, marriage and death rituals that was put on by the museum a few years ago provided inspiration for one of the key characters in the novel. Stuart Evans, an exhibition designer from the Museum introduced the launch. He suggested that Lindsay was not unusual to become inspired in this way - many writers and artists find museums a great source of inspiration for their work because the exhibits tell their own unusual stories. Two of the artefacts, a small funeral bier and a Victorian child's mourning gown, are featured in the novel and are now on display at the museum again. Lindsay read some passages from the novel and described how her research for the book had put her in touch with many unusual people. One of those, Professor David Whittaker is a world expert in forensic dentistry and worked as a forensic expert in the Cromwell Street murders. He gave her many valuable details about how a bite mark on a body may be used to identify the attacker. Death Studies is set in Borth and Aberystwyth and begins with a body being discovered in Borth bog by an archaeologist. The bog has preserved the body so he can't tell how ancient or recent it is. Megan Rhys is holidaying at her grandmother's cottage in Borth but gets dragged into the enquiry as the deaths begin to mount. Lindsay was also celebrating the success of her second novel, Strange Blood, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Theakston's crime award this year alongside books by Ian Rankin and Val McDermid. Also attending the launch was Annette Lee, an author herself, who has a character in the novel named after her. She won the prize of getting her name in print in a Honno prize draw in 2005. Lindsay has been commissioned by Honno press to write a fourth novel in the series which will be published in 2007. Valleys pioneer's story is retold Euro MP Glenys Kinnock, descendants of Elizabeth Andrews and many women and men from around Wales celebrated the extraordinary life and work of Elizabeth Andrews at the launch of her autobiography and political writings at the Senedd in Cardiff on Friday. (Picture shows Glenys with Elizabeth's descendants at the launch.)Glenys Kinnock has spent many years campaigning passionately for this, largely forgotten, Victorian Welsh pioneer of women's rights to get the recognition she deserves. Speaking at the launch she described some of her achievements: “She fought for women's rights … she fought for pithead baths which transformed women's lives in the south Wales valleys. She set up the first nursery schools in Wales, the first branch of the Co-op's women's Guilds… [She] was at the vanguard of so much but you can't ever see a picture of her.” The launch was hosted by Leighton Andrews, AM for the Rhondda, who spoke of the legacy of women's activism that Elizabeth Andrews had left in the Rhondda and how that energy and passion continues there today. Ursula Masson, the book's editor, also spoke of the importance of the book in giving us a rare first-hand account, from a woman's point of view, of childhood and family life in the Rhondda in the early 1900s. Andrews' memoir, A Woman's Work is Never Done was first published in 1957. This new edition, published by Honno, the Welsh women's press, has been expanded to include many articles that Andrews' wrote in the heat of events and that were published in journals of the time. Lindsay Ashford, publishing manager at Honno, comments “We are very proud to have played a part in recognising the achievements of this important woman. We've always felt that part of our role is to help record the experiences of Welsh women which are so often forgotten or overlooked.” Book details More about this story Prize line-ups for Honno author Aberystwyth-based Honno Press and author, Kitty Sewell, are celebrating again as the thriller novel Ice Trap is shortlisted for a second award in two months.In May it was announced Kitty's thriller novel Ice Trap was on the shortlist for the Wales Book of the Year Award and in June it was shortlisted for the Crime Writer's Association New Blood Award for first novels. Kitty Sewell wrote Ice Trap while studying creative writing at Swansea University. Her talent was recognised immediately by her tutor Stevie Davies who helped launch the book at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea in October 2004. Ice Trap is set in both Cardiff and the Canadian Arctic. Doctor Dafydd Woodruff life is blown apart by the arrival of unexpected news. It puts his marriage in jeopardy and threatens his medical career. In an effort to make sense of the impossible he takes a flight back to the sub-Arctic Canadian wilderness to confront the demons he thought he'd left behind years ago. Book details More about this story The Jaws of Death - Honno gets its teeth into crime at this year's Guardian Hay Festival "Some say there's a novel in all of us. Do you think there's a murder in all of us too?" This was one of the questions posed to the panel of crime novelists at the event organised by Honno at this year's Hay festival - "The Jaws of Death " - which explored the sources of a crime writer's inspiration.Hosted by crime writer Lindsay Ashford, the panel featured top forensic dentist Professor David Whittaker, crime novelist Katherine John (By Any Name - Accent Press 2006), and debut novelist Rachel V Knox, reading from her psychological thriller Girl on The Edge (published by Honno, May 2006). A packed audience watched with horrified fascination as a remarkably cheerful Professor David Whittaker offered us an illustrated talk demonstrating some of his work. Having played a key role in solving the the Cromwell Street murders, his expertise has been called on in cases all over the world, as well as identifying victims of natural disasters including, most recently, the Asian Tsunami. It was Professor Whittaker's work which inspired Lindsay Ashford's latest novel, Death Studies, to be published by Honno in July 2006. The panel at Hay was the first time they had met and the first time the Professor had listened to any of the novel being read. After listening to a particularly detailed account of a forensic dentist at work from Ashford's novel, followed by readings from the two other writers, the audience were keen to know how any of them managed to switch off. For Professor Whittaker, switching off was a necessity "You have to build Chinese walls around yourself". For Ashford, she said it didn't seem hard to switch off from most of the grisly goings on in her novels, but she couldn't face reading or writing anything which involved children in criminal cases: "We all have our limits…and that is mine". And what about scaring themselves with their own writing? Katherine John remembered here how she and her husband were just about to buy a 12th century house on the Gower - but had to pull out at the last minute because she'd scared herself to death with a short story she wrote after they'd been round to view the property. The only event at this year's festival devoted to crime writing and the inspiration for writers of crime novels and psychological thrillers, "The Jaws of Death" was a great success. It followed an earlier success for Honno earlier in the week when the Academi announced the shortlist for this year's Wales Book of the Year. Honno author Kitty Sewell was among the three English Language titles shortlisted for this prestigious award in Welsh literature, with her first novel Ice Trap. SMALL WELSH PRESS TAKES ON PUBLISHING GIANTS Aberystwyth-based Honno Press is taking on London publishing giants following the announcement of one of Britain's top crime awards. Borth author Lindsay Ashford has been selected alongside some of the UK's bestselling crime novelists to be on the longlist for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.Marketing Manager Nicola Craddock said: 'Honno is the only small press to feature on the longlist - all the other books are by big London publishing houses - so it's a great boost for us. We hope that everyone in the area who has read and enjoyed 'Strange Blood' will help get Lindsay onto the shortlist.' Her novel, 'Strange Blood' is among twenty books - by authors such as Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Lynda La Plante - which have been nominated as the best crime novels from British authors published in 2005. 'I'm absolutely thrilled that 'Strange Blood' has been chosen,' Lindsay said. 'I didn't even know I was in the running, so it was a wonderful surprise when I found out. To be on a list that includes big names like Ian Rankin is a real honour.' 'Strange Blood' is the second in the series of novels about forensic psychologist Megan Rhys. Megan is trying to solve the ritual killing of a woman found with a pentagram carved on her face, but has to fight every step of the way to get her voice heard. And as she argues with her boss, the press, the police and her family, more women die. Honno is bringing out her third novel in the series, 'Death Studies' - set in and around Borth - in July. The Theakston's Award, which is run in conjunction with the Ottakars bookshop chain, is the first award of its type that gives readers a say in who wins. Members of the public can vote for their favourite author by picking up voting slips from any Ottakars branch or by voting online at www.ottakars.co.uk (direct link from 'More about this story' button below). The deadline for votes is May 31 2006. Book details More about this story |
