Icon Books have acquired THE ELEMENTS: A MEMOIR OF GRIEF, LOSS AND TRANSFORMATION by journalist Kat Lister. Kiera Jamison, senior commissioning editor at Icon Books, acquired UK, Commonwealth (excl. Canada) and European Rights from Juliet Pickering. The moving memoir which will be published in September 2021, chronicles Lister’s experience of widowhood in her mid-thirties. In addition to detailing Lister’s personal experience the book will also explore grief theories and cultural attitudes towards death and the language we use to process it.

Kat Lister says, ‘I began writing to understand my grief, but I continued writing to reach anyone who’s ever lost anything significant in their lives. THE ELEMENTS is a story of love and pain, but it’s also a book propelled by hope — a wild and radical feeling that can prevail even in the depths of trauma and despair. It was so important for me to find the right home for this memoir and I am so thrilled that I found it at Icon.’

Kiera Jamison says, ‘THE ELEMENTS was unexpectedly enticing given its subject: a visceral, emotional and cerebral examination of love and a broken heart, identity, and the shifting seasons of grief. Kat’s writing transfixed me, and her original approach connected with the Icon Books team instantly as an important contribution to the literature on understanding grief.’

Kat Lister is a writer and editor based in London and has worked in magazine media for over a decade. Beginning her career as a music journalist she spent her early twenties on the news desk at the legendary music newspaper, New Musical Express (NME) — where she met her husband, Pat Long. She went on to specialise in women’s issues, writing widely for publications including Vice, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Refinery29, where she was appointed Contributing Editor. In 2017, she joined the editorial team at women’s website The Pool quickly becoming a freelance features and news editor until its demise in 2019. Since her husband’s death in 2018, she has focused on investigating her experience of grief, writing widely-circulated essays and features for The Sunday Times Magazine, Sunday Times Style and The Pool.

Ken Hom OBE is the man who showed the British how to cook Asian food. A leading authority on Chinese cuisine, he is one of the most respected and celebrated TV chefs of all time. His phenomenal success is easily measured. He is the author of almost forty books, which have inspired millions of home cooks around the world. And in Britain alone, the Ken Hom wok is in one in seven kitchens.

Yet the story of his life – MY STIR-FRIED LIFE which is published today – makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable.

Here, Hom reflects on his improbable journey, which begins in the hustle and bustle of Chicago’s Chinatown, where he was a father-less boy raised by his mother, and employed – at the age of eleven – to work in his uncle’s restaurant.

This cook’s story is both alluring and powerful. In a way, it is the story of a young man who struggled to escape the social boundaries of minority, and to find acceptance – through food and cooking for others. It is a compelling and hugely entertaining autobiography – told in Hom’s gentle, familiar voice – that celebrates the power of sharing, and highlights how food can inspire and change lives; not just his but the lives of those he has met.

Hom delivers a deliciously uplifting memoir and, with his much-loved graceful wit, and zen-like charm, he draws the reader into one big party: fun and hilarity in all corners of the globe, forever mixing and mingling and, of course, eating at the tables of gastronomy’s great, good... and sometimes not-so-good. As the reader, you are at Hom’s side, happily being whisked along on his travels and tours, meeting presidents, prime ministers, Hollywood stars, singers and sportsmen.

Ever the considerate and dependable teacher, Hom also dips into his favourite recipes, passing on morsels of culinary wisdom that he has acquired during his well-fed life.

MY STIR-FRIED LIFE is a high-spirited, life-enriching feast in an ever-sunny world, where the chopsticks never stop clattering, the platters are always abundant, and dreams – no matter how ridiculously unbelievable – can and do come true.

‘Ken Hom not only introduced me to the hitherto esoteric world of Chinese cuisine but allowed me to understand its enormous importance to the rest of the world both culturally and intellectually … and that it is just extraordinarily lovely to eat.’ – Rick Stein

‘A master of his craft, a legend in TV food.’ – James Martin

‘I have enjoyed the luxury of Ken’s wonderful food for many years. I can’t wait to read about his life and his route to the top…’ – Sir Alex Ferguson

About the author

Ken Hom, OBE is a TV presenter, author, chef and restaurateur. His first book, CHINESE TECHNIQUE, was published in America in 1981. He has written thirty-seven books including, most recently TRUFFLES, and (with Ching-He Huang) EXPLORING CHINA: A CULINARY ADVENTURE.

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