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Historia Magazine

The magazine of the Historical Writers Association

  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • TV, Film and Theatre
    • One From The Vaults
  • New books
  • Columns
    • Doctor Darwin’s Writing Tips
    • Watching History
    • Desert Island Books
  • Advertising
  • About
  • Contact
  • Historia in your inbox

Vampire or victim? The real Countess Báthory

2 May 2024 By Sonia Velton

Who was Countess Erzsébet Báthory? A prototype vampire? A religious – or political – victim? Sonia Velton, author of The Nightingale’s Castle, investigates the real woman behind the myth. Even if you don’t know Erzsébet Báthory by name, you may well have heard of the Blood Countess who murdered numerous young virgins and bathed in […]

Weaving a story: Blackberry and Wild Rose

25 January 2019 By Sonia Velton

Woven silk panel in gold, red and green on pale blue

Sonia Velton talks about the pioneering woman whose designs inspired her recently-published novel set among the silk weavers of Spitalfields, Blackberry and Wild Rose.

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New books by HWA members

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Susan Stokes-Chapman

25 September 2025

Ravenglass by Carolyn Kirby

25 September 2025

Naples 1944 by Keith Lowe

25 September 2025

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Editor’s picks

St Kilda Bird Song by KF MacCarthy (the 2024 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story winner)

13 May 2025

The St Giles rookery – poverty, geography and expedience

23 January 2025

Adding the ‘little’ bits to enrich a story of Saxon historical fiction

9 November 2022

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Historia Magazine is published by the Historical Writers’ Association. We are authors, publishers and agents of historical writing, both fiction and non-fiction. For information about membership and profiles of our member authors, please visit our website.

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ISSN 2515-2254

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  • Historia interview: Carolyn Kirby
  • The Twelve Days of Christmas by Susan Stokes-Chapman
  • Ravenglass by Carolyn Kirby

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