National charity The Reading Agency is joining forces with the
Historical Writers Association in an exciting new partnership that has already
brokered over 100 events, involving over 70 authors.
The initiative coincides with Historical Writing Month in
November, with events held in public libraries and other venues around the UK
during the Month and beyond, featuring historical authors such as Michael
Ridpath, Karen Maitland, Ben Kane, Ruth Downie, Robyn Young, Rory Clements,
William Ryan and Manda Scott.
The new partnership will take a coordinated approach to
programming events covering a diverse range of historical time periods and
themes, offering innovative approaches to bring readers, writers and libraries
closer together.
The extensive programme for readers yielded by this new partnership
is still growing, but begins with an historical crime panel evening at Bedford
Library on 17 October featuring Rory Clements and Ruth Downie, and continues with Essie
Fox, D E Meredith and Lynn Shepherd discussing their Victorian novels at
Crowthorne Library, while Roman-era authors Anthony Riches, Henry
Venmore-Rowland and Harry Sidebottom will travel to Norwich library to
complement a new exhibition at the city’s museum.
Other event themes include Medieval, Espionage, Historical London,
The Blitz, Warriors Through History, and Victorian Crime . There will be a ‘Sex
and Scandal’ discussion at Pimlico Library in central London
featuring Gabrielle Kimm, Linda Stratmann and Hallie Rubenhold on 22
November, while Tudor period authors Vanora Bennett and Elizabeth Fremantle
will travel to Peterborough in the new year to mark the anniversary of the
death of Katherine of Aragon, who is buried in Peterborough Cathedral. Further
events have been organised as far forward as September 2014 when Michael
Ridpath, Stav Sherez and William Ryan will be at London’s Chiswick Library,
discussing the challenges of setting novels in totalitarian regimes. 2014 will
also feature a range of events marking the centenary of the start of World War
One.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response from libraries
and readers,” says William Ryan of the Historical Writers Association. “We’ve
organised many more events than we thought we might and we’re arranging new
ones every week. It’s a fantastic opportunity for libraries and authors to
reach out to readers and, thanks to our partnership with The Reading Agency and
the support of libraries in almost every part of the country, we’re hoping this
is just the beginning.”
The new partnership is
part of The Reading Agency’s work to bring together its
partners from the publishing world and the whole of the UK public library
network to create successful and exciting events and activities for readers of all ages. The
publishers who – via The Reading Agency’s Reading Partners consortium of libraries
and publishers – have contributed to making author events happen in libraries
for Historical Writers Month and beyond include Transworld;
Hodder/Headline; Penguin; Constable & Robinson; Little, Brown; Bloomsbury;
HarperCollins; Faber and Macmillan.
“We’re passionate about connecting readers to writers, and
libraries are brilliant at reaching and engaging audiences who share the
Historical Writers Association’s fascination with all things historical,” says
Sandeep Mahal of The Reading Agency. “Amid all the news about library cuts and
closures, an important beacon of light is the huge growth in popularity of
library author events, so we’re really pleased to be partnering with the
Historical Writers Association to broker events in library venues across the
UK.”
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