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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

The Mysterious Poisoning of Charles Bravo by Angela Buckley

15 June 2026

Mrs Dickens by Emily Howes

11 June 2026

Dwell by Rue Baldry

11 June 2026

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Editor’s picks

Greek Fire, the early medieval weapon of mass destruction

9 May 2024

Henry VIII, impotence and the thorny question of male heirs

30 January 2022

A life of war in Anglo-Saxon Britain

19 September 2019

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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

Recent Additions

  • The Mysterious Poisoning of Charles Bravo by Angela Buckley
  • Agatha Christie and the unsolved murder of Charles Bravo
  • Mrs Dickens by Emily Howes

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