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Historia Magazine

The magazine of the Historical Writers Association

  • Features
  • New books
  • Topics
    • Writing historical fiction
    • History on your screen
    • Authors’ favourite books
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • TV, Film and Theatre
    • Classics
  • Advertising
  • About
  • Contact
  • Get our newsletter

Serious play: the fiction-writer’s balancing act

12 December 2025 By Jem Poster

Researching historical fiction is serious work, as Jem Poster, novelist and professor of Creative Writing, says. But to write engaging, inventive novels is a kind of playing, a balancing act between imagination and facts. His new book aims to guide authors towards writing quality fiction through this kind of serious play. It’s arguable that historical […]

The Prompts You Need to Help You Write the Book You Want to Write by Jem Poster and Sarah Burton

6 November 2025 By Editor

How can you take your writing to the next level? In this follow-up to their acclaimed handbook The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write, Sarah Burton and Jem Poster offer exercises and practical advice designed to set aspiring authors of fiction on their way to creating compelling short […]

Eliza Mace by Jem Poster and Sarah Burton

27 February 2025 By Editor

In the Welsh borders, in the 1870s, on the cusp of adulthood, Eliza Mace is battling for her independence. Stuck in a crumbling manor house on the fringe of a small town, she is thwarted by powers that conspire to protect, control and deceive her. But when her father goes missing in mysterious circumstances, Eliza’s […]

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New books by HWA members

Swords of Troy by Anthony Riches

16 July 2026

Pale Mistress by Naomi Kelsey

16 July 2026

The Variety Girls by Betty Firth

16 July 2026

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Editor’s picks

The many marriages of Bess of Hardwick

15 June 2024

Witch’s Mummy: corpses and cure-alls

4 June 2023

The ‘hidden’ Nazis of Argentina

20 January 2020

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The Historical Writers’ Association

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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  • Swords of Troy by Anthony Riches
  • Pale Mistress by Naomi Kelsey
  • The Variety Girls by Betty Firth

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