Kate Hodges
Agent: Juliet Pickering
Assistant: Finlay Charlesworth
Biography: Kate Hodges graduated from the University of Westminster with a BA in Print Journalism. She has over 20 years writing experience on magazines, having been a staffer on publications including The Face, Bizarre, Just Seventeen, Smash Hits and Sky, and written for many more, including The Guardian, Kerrang! and NME. She has also worked for Rapido TV, makers of cult show Eurotrash, and P For Production films. Since June 2012, she’s edited, researched and written the weekly Hopscotch newsletter, a guide for families to the best cheap, fun things happening in London.
She is the author of three books on London, LITTLE LONDON, LONDON IN HOUR, RURAL LONDON, as well as I KNOW A WOMAN, WARRIORS, WITCHES, WOMEN, ON A STARRY NIGHT and ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS. Her latest book, WILD WORDS (Portico, October 2021), is a collection of words from around the world which are evocative of the wild.
She has twins, Arthur and Dusty, and lives in Hastings. In her spare time, she plays in bands including The Nuns and The Hare and Hoofe.
Kate’s debut novel will be published in 2023.
THE WAYWARD SISTERS
Hodder, October 2023
Fiction, 288 pages
Inverness, 1769. On a freezing winter's night, astronomer Nancy Lockaby arrives at Blackthistle House, home to renowned Shakespeare scholar Caleb Malles, to assist him in his research. She hopes to forget all that has happened to her in London.
Nancy initially finds herself captivated by Caleb's eccentric mind and deep passion for Macbeth. So, when she is warned by three mysterious women that Caleb is keeping secrets from her, she is dismissive - after all, the women also claim to have lived many centuries and possess powers that defy any logical reasoning.
Yet, as Caleb's behaviour becomes more erratic, she begins to suspect that she has walked into a trap.
Offering a fresh, feminist perspective on literature's most infamous trio, The Wayward Sisters is an enthralling, intricately woven story of friendship, intrigue and magic.
WILD WORDS
Portico, October 2021
Non-fiction, 160 pages
The book showcases 75 beautiful words evocative of the wild, from all around the world, that describe natural happenings in nature. It includes words that describe weather, or a feeling you have when in nature as well as sensory words that explain the smell or sound of a place.
The words used to express what is seen in the world are vital to an appreciation of it – language is a key component in the call of the wild. As words vanish from a language, it follows that what they describe may disappear. Words deepen understanding of what is seen, and what is seen comes more vividly to life through the words used to describe it. As the natural world and the time spent in it diminish in the face of modern life, it’s more vital than ever to recall it into being with the magic of language.
Each of the 75 words will have a 100-word description, including its pronunciation, a geographical/historical/cultural background, as well as reflecting on the emotional/mindful response the natural phenomenon can inspire. Each word will be paired with an illustration
WARRIORS, WITCHES, WOMEN
Mythology, 224 pages
White Lion Publishing, Feb 2020
Meet mythology’s fifty fiercest females in this modern retelling of the world’s greatest legends.
From feminist fairies to bloodsucking temptresses, half-human harpies and protective Vodou goddesses, these are women who go beyond long-haired, smiling stereotypes. Their stories are so powerful, so entrancing, that they have survived for millennia. Lovingly retold and updated, Kate Hodges places each heroine, rebel and provocateur firmly at the centre of their own narrative. Players include:
Bewitching, banished Circe, an introvert famed and feared for her transfigurative powers.
The righteous Furies, defiantly unrepentant about their dedication to justice.
Fun-loving Ame-no-Uzume who makes quarrelling friends laugh and terrifies monsters by flashing at them.
The fateful Morai sisters who spin a complex web of birth, life and death.
Find your tribe, fire your imagination and be empowered by this essential anthology of notorious, demonised and overlooked women.
I KNOW A WOMAN
Biography, 192 pages
Aurumn, Feb 2018
From ground-breaking scientist Marie Curie to political activist Malala Yousafzai, from feminist author Virginia Woolf to the game-changing Billie Jean King; I Know a Woman creates a gigantic web of womanhood which celebrates the relationships between the world’s most inspirational and influential women.