With the closing date for the HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition in a couple of weeks’ time, we spoke to Alice Fowler, the winner of the 2020 contest. Like several other competition winners, she now has a publication deal; her short story collection, The Truth Has Arms And Legs, is out in July. We […]
Historia interview: Ben Kane
As his new book, Napoleon’s Spy, takes Ben Kane into a new era, we talk to him about his latest novel, researching historical fiction, and his next project. Ben also offers some tips for new writers. King, your last book, saw the end of your Richard I Lionheart trilogy. Is it a wrench to leave […]
Historia interviews: 2022 HWA Gold Crown Award shortlist: Natasha Pulley
Natasha Pulley was shortlisted for the 2022 Gold Crown Award for her novel The Kingdoms. Readers of her books, including The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, won’t be surprised that the judges loved its compelling strangeness, calling it: “An intricate, immersive tale set in an alternative Britain, where Napoleon won the war and French is spoken […]
Historia interviews: Fiona Forsyth and Eleanor Swift-Hook
Fiona Forsyth speaks to fellow author Eleanor Swift-Hook for Historia: After reading The Devil’s Command by chance, I found myself hooked (sorry, Eleanor!) and I have just finished The Physician’s Fate, the latest in the Lord’s Legacy series. I asked its author, Eleanor Swift-Hook, about the series. FF: The mess that is the English Civil […]
Historia interviews: 2022 HWA Debut Crown Award shortlist: Rosie Andrews
Rosie Andrews was shortlisted for the 2022 HWA Debut Crown Award for The Leviathan, a historical mystery with a supernatural element set in 17th-century Norfolk. Rosie spoke to Historia about writing and researching her bestselling debut — and offers tips for new authors. The HWA Debut Crown celebrates new voices in historical fiction. What does […]
Historia interviews: 2022 Non-fiction Crown Award winners Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman
Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman won the 2022 HWA Non-Fiction Crown Award for Metaphysical Animals, their portrait of the ‘Wartime Quartet’: four women who, as undergraduates at Somerville College, Oxford, bought a new approach to philosophy during the war years and created a way of ethical thinking that remains with us to this day. […]
Historia interviews: 2022 Debut Crown Award winner AJ West
AJ West’s The Spirit Engineer won the 2022 HWA Debut Crown award for the best first novel by a historical fiction writer. Praised by the judges as “haunting, deeply moving and witty”, it looks at the subject of spiritualism during the Edwardian age through the experiences of a deeply troubled man. We’re delighted to begin […]
Historia interviews: Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s acclaimed second novel, Daughters of Night, is shortlisted for the 2022 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award. To celebrate this, Historia dragged her away from editing her next book to talk about the award and her writing. Congratulations on being shortlisted! For anyone who hasn’t yet read Daughters of Night, can you sum it […]