Bridget Walsh triumphs at 2024 HWA Crown Awards

THE TUMBLING GIRL, the first title in Bridget Walsh’s sharp and witty Variety Palace Mystery series, has triumphed at this year’s HWA Crown Awards, winning the prestigious HWA Debut Crown Award.

The HWA Awards celebrate the best historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, and its ability to engage, illuminate, entertain and inform legions of readers. To be considered, the bulk of the work must take place at least thirty-five years prior to publication.

The winners of all the 2024 HWA Crown Awards were revealed at an awards party at St Ethelburga’s Centre in Bishopsgate on Wednesday 20th November – with DISOBEDIENT by Elizabeth Freemantle winning the Gold Crown Award and FOUR SHOTS IN THE NIGHT by Henry Hemming winning the Non-fiction Crown Award.

The judges for the 2024 Debut Crown Award were Ayo Onatade (chair), Dan Bassett and Susan Heads. On THE TUMBLING GIRL they said: ‘Recreates all the atmosphere of a Victorian music hall. Gripping plot and a clever insight into the world of the dark theatrical underworld.’

HWA Chair Imogen Robertson commented: ‘We were delighted that so many publishers submitted books to the Crown Awards this year and are very grateful for their support. It’s wonderful to see the rich range of historical fiction being published in the UK… Every book that was long- and shortlisted is an excellent read, offering new insights about the past and compelling storytelling, be they fiction or non-fiction. I encourage all history and literature lovers to dive in. And huge, huge congratulations to the winners for taking the crowns in another highly competitive year.’

THE TUMBLING GIRL was first published by Gallic Books in May 2023, and prior to publication it won the UEA Little, Brown Award for Crime Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2024 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and reached No. 1 in the US Amazon Kindle New Historical Thriller Chart. It sees an unlikely duo – ex-actress Minnie Ward and private detective Albert Easterbrook – team up to solve a grisly spate of murders in Victorian London.

The hotly anticipated sequel, THE INNOCENTS, was published by Gallic Books earlier this year to great acclaim, and the next novel in the series, THE SPIRIT GUIDE, will be published by Pushkin Press in 2026. THE SPIRIT GUIDE sees Minnie and Albert uncovering the dark secrets behind a female-only spiritualist group that purports to help its members commune with deceased loved ones.

 

About Bridget Walsh

Bridget Walsh lives in Norwich. She has a PhD in ‘Murder in the Victorian Domestic Sphere’ and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.

 

Praise for THE TUMBLING GIRL

‘Bridget Walsh’s THE TUMBLING GIRL is the first in what promises to be an entertaining series of historical mysteries… a narrative that neatly weds historical detail and quiet wit.’ – Nick Rennison, The Sunday Times, ‘The best historical fiction books of May 2023’

‘Ms. Walsh does a splendid job depicting Minnie’s flea-bitten yet appealing theatrical world and Albert’s monied yet treacherous milieu.’ – Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

‘Walsh impresses in this series launch featuring an unlikely pair of investigators in 1876 London… diligent research pays off in spades here, and her rich and nuanced portrayal of the period will leave readers feeling like they’re on the soggy streets of London. Imogen Robertson readers will be eager for a sequel to this un-put-downable mystery.’ – Publishers Weekly, starred review and a ‘Books of the Week’ pick

‘Walsh resurrects the culture and crimes of Victoriana without cliché or condescension, but with warmth, wit, remarkable texture and rare authority.’ – Tom Benn

‘Smart, funny and expertly plotted, THE TUMBLING GIRL cartwheels off the page. I loved my time with these characters. A cracking start to a charismatic and distinctive series.’ – Emma Styles

 

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Hannah Lowe wins the 2024 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award

We are delighted to announce that Costa Book Award-winner Hannah Lowe has been awarded the highly prestigious 2024 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award. She received the award, along with Alia Trabucco Zerán, at a reception at the British Library on 29 November.

The award recognises two writers in the early stages of a new book relating to the Americas, and offers the writers a residency at the British Library – with access to the Library’s extensive Americas collection – as well as a £20,000 grant to complete their works. Hannah will also have the chance to appear at future Hay Festival editions with her published work in Wales, Columbia, Mexico and Peru, and the opportunity to work with the Eccles Centre to develop and facilitate activities and events related to her research at the British Library. The award is now in its 13th year, and with previous winners including Olivia Laing, John Burnside and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.

Polly Russell, Head of the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library, said ‘We could not be more excited to support Hannah Lowe and Alia Trabucco as the 2024 Eccles-Hay Writer’s Award winners. Both their projects – one focussed on the Chinese population of the Caribbean and the other on Latin American identity – promise to explore untapped British Library Americas collections and to uncover aspects of Latin American and Caribbean culture and history that have been much overlooked. We look forward to welcoming them to the Library and supporting their work as they delve into the Library’s rich holdings.’

Hay Festival International Director, Cristina Fuentes La Roche said: ‘We are delighted to award the grants to two writers that explore shifting identities, belonging and its meanings in today´s world, and that would link up their literary project with the work of amazing writers and researchers from the British Library archives… Hannah Lowe´s [project] looks into the past, more specifically her own family, exploring race, colonial complexities and the legacy of the British Empire. We can´t wait to learn about their explorations and findings at the archives.’

Hannah’s submitted work for the award was a lyrical, hybrid memoir, with the working title of MOY: In Search of Nelsa Lowe. It uses the intimate story of her Chinese Jamaican aunt – a folk healer, amputee, hostess of a famous waterfront restaurant, and ‘madam’ of a portside brothel – as a pathway to exploring the history of the Chinese in Jamaica, women’s sexual labour, and the culture of folk healing.

The judges said ‘We were enthralled by Hannah Lowe’s inventive approach to conjuring Nelsa, her Afro-Chinese Jamaican aunt. Remarkably, Lowe evokes Nelsa through a single portrait photo and along the way excavates other marginalised women whose lives are rarely noted in official archives.’

About Hannah Lowe

Hannah Lowe was born in Ilford to an English mother and Jamaican-Chinese father. Her 2021 poetry collection, THE KIDS, won the Costa Book of the Year Award 2021 after winning the Costa Poetry Award. It was also shortlisted for the 2021 T.S. Eliot Prize, was a Poetry Book Society Choice for Autumn 2021 and an Irish Times and Guardian poetry book of the year.

Her first book-length collection, CHICK, won the 2015 Michael Murphy Memorial Prize and was selected for the Poetry Book Society’s Next Generation Poets 2014 promotion. Her second full-length collection, CHAN, was published by Bloodaxe in 2016, followed by a pamphlet, THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (Out-Spoken Press) in 2019. Her prose memoir, LONG TIME NO SEE, exploring her relationship with her half-Chinese, half-Jamaican immigrant father, was published by Periscope in 2015.

Praise for THE KIDS

‘This is a playful yet moving collection that will make the reader frown and laugh, sometimes both at once.’ – Mary Jean Chan, The Guardian, ‘The Best Recent Poetry’

‘Lowe’s social conscience, grounded register and frank humanity recall Tony Harrison...’ – Tristram Fane Saunders, The Telegraph

‘Hannah Lowe's brilliant and entertaining book of sonnets, THE KIDS, is one of the most humorous and tender collections of recent times.’ – Sean Hewitt, The Irish Times, ‘Best poetry of 2021’

‘THE KIDS is the real deal. A page turner about the experience of teaching and being taught, it made us want to punch the air with joy... A contemporary book that buzzes with life while re-energising the sonnet that Shakespeare would recognise. All readers will find something of themselves here.’ – Costa Poetry Award Judges Rishi Dastidar, Ian Duhig and Maya Jaggi

‘A book to fall in love with – it’s joyous, it’s warm and it’s completely universal. It’s crafted and skilful but also accessible… I felt the centre of gravity in the room was with THE KIDS because it fulfils everything that the Costa Book of the Year should be. It’s very readable, very accessible, broad appeal, it’s the sort of book that you could hand to anybody because you would know that everyone would get something out of it… It is a book of poetry, it’s a book of sonnets, but Hannah Lowe is in no way constrained by the form of the poetry. The language just speaks very directly to the reader. It’s a very audacious, utterly successful book, I think, because it’s taking a classical art form, that goes back hundreds of years, and making it bang up-to-date, completely contemporary. We all thought it was so fresh and original.’ – Reeta Chakrabarti, chair of Costa Prize judges

Visit Hannah’s website

Follow Hannah on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram

Hannah Lowe shortlisted for the 2024 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award

Photo credit: Lealle

Costa Book Award-winner Hannah Lowe has been shortlisted for the highly prestigious 2024 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award.

The award is given annually to two writers in the early stages of a new book relating to the Americas, with the £20,000 prize now in its 13th year. Along with the £20,000 grant, the winners also receive a residency at the British Library, the chance to appear at future Hay Festival editions with their published work, and the opportunity to work with the Eccles Centre to develop and facilitate activities and events related to their research at the British Library. Past winners include Olivia Laing, John Burnside and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.

The other writers on this year’s shortlist are Mexican novelist Julian Herbert Chavez, Irish art critic Isobel Harbison, Bolivian novelist Rodrigo Hasbún, British-American historian Sarah M.S. Pearsall, and Chilean novelist Alia Trabucco Zerán. You can read about them and their work here.

Hannah’s submitted work for the award was a lyrical, hybrid memoir, with the working title of MOY: In Search of Nelsa Lowe. It uses the intimate story of her Chinese Jamaican aunt – a folk healer, amputee, hostess of a famous waterfront restaurant, and ‘madam’ of a portside brothel – as a device for exploring the history of the Chinese in Jamaica, women’s sexual labour, and the culture of folk healing.

The judges said: ‘We were enthralled by Hannah Lowe’s inventive approach to conjuring Nelsa, her Afro-Chinese Jamaican aunt. Remarkably, Lowe evokes Nelsa through a single portrait photo and along the way excavates other marginalised women whose lives are rarely noted in official archives.’

The winners will be announced at an awards reception at the British Library on Wednesday 29 November.

About Hannah Lowe

Hannah Lowe was born in Ilford to an English mother and Jamaican-Chinese father. Her 2021 poetry collection, THE KIDS, won the Costa Book of the Year Award 2021 after winning the Costa Poetry Award. It was also shortlisted for the 2021 T.S. Eliot Prize, was a Poetry Book Society Choice for Autumn 2021 and an Irish Times and Guardian poetry book of the year.

Her first book-length collection, CHICK, won the 2015 Michael Murphy Memorial Prize and was selected for the Poetry Book Society’s Next Generation Poets 2014 promotion. Her second full-length collection, CHAN, was published by Bloodaxe in 2016, followed by a pamphlet, THE NEIGHBOURHOOD (Out-Spoken Press) in 2019. Her prose memoir, LONG TIME NO SEE, exploring her relationship with her half-Chinese, half-Jamaican immigrant father, was published by Periscope in 2015.

Praise for THE KIDS

‘This is a playful yet moving collection that will make the reader frown and laugh, sometimes both at once.’ – Mary Jean Chan, The Guardian, ‘The Best Recent Poetry’

‘Lowe’s social conscience, grounded register and frank humanity recall Tony Harrison...’ – Tristram Fane Saunders, The Telegraph

‘Hannah Lowe's brilliant and entertaining book of sonnets, THE KIDS, is one of the most humorous and tender collections of recent times.’ – Sean Hewitt, The Irish Times, ‘Best poetry of 2021’

‘THE KIDS is the real deal. A page turner about the experience of teaching and being taught, it made us want to punch the air with joy... A contemporary book that buzzes with life while re-energising the sonnet that Shakespeare would recognise. All readers will find something of themselves here.’ – Costa Poetry Award Judges Rishi Dastidar, Ian Duhig and Maya Jaggi

‘A book to fall in love with – it’s joyous, it’s warm and it’s completely universal. It’s crafted and skilful but also accessible… I felt the centre of gravity in the room was with THE KIDS because it fulfils everything that the Costa Book of the Year should be. It’s very readable, very accessible, broad appeal, it’s the sort of book that you could hand to anybody because you would know that everyone would get something out of it… It is a book of poetry, it’s a book of sonnets, but Hannah Lowe is in no way constrained by the form of the poetry. The language just speaks very directly to the reader. It’s a very audacious, utterly successful book, I think, because it’s taking a classical art form, that goes back hundreds of years, and making it bang up-to-date, completely contemporary. We all thought it was so fresh and original.’ – Reeta Chakrabarti, chair of Costa Prize judges

Visit Hannah’s website

Follow Hannah on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram

JULIET PICKERING WINS RNA AGENT OF THE YEAR AWARD

We’re delighted that Juliet Pickering was named Agent of the Year 2021 at the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Winter Party and Industry Awards ceremony. Blake Friedmann founder, the late Carole Blake, took the RNA Agent of the Year trophy in 2016, and many agency clients have both won Awards, and been recognised on the RNA Awards lists over the years.

This annual award celebrates the literary agent who has supported, mentored, nurtured and promoted their authors’ careers, the genre in general and the RNA in particular.

Juliet has worked in publishing for 18 years. After graduating from university Juliet became a fiction buyer for Waterstones. She then joined AP Watt in 2003 and began to build a varied list there before joining Blake Friedmann in 2013. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, becoming Vice Head of the Book Department in 2017 and stepping up to the Executive Board in 2020 – all the while supporting clients and staff alike with her expertise and encouragement. She represents an impressive range of clients, including RNA authors Sue Moorcroft and Annie Robertson.

See more about Juliet and her clients here.