Events

15.10 – 16.10

The English Civil War: Bloody strife and political mayhem

            Fiona Mountain, Giles Kristian, Michael Arnold,

16.20 – 17.20

Forgotten Heroes: Who really fights the wars?

AL Berridge, Stewart Binns, Michael Jecks

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18:00 – 19:00

Come and meet the authors: all authors + drinks/nibbles for Re-enactors 

Sunday 15^th July

10.30 – 11.30

 Weapons: My sword’s bigger than your sword!

            Robert Low – Harry Sidebottom

11.40 – 12.40

Grand Beginnings:  Three authors of Debut Historical Novels will be interviewed by MC Scott

            Ellen Bryson, Hallie Rubenhold, Robert Wilton

12.50 – 13.50

 Great Queens: Women in Power

            Stella Duffy, Theresa Breslin, Karen Maitland, Kate Williams

14.00 – 15.00

Comrades, Conspiracies and Consequences - How non-fiction can be stranger than fiction in Castro's Cuba and Stalin's Russia

Alex von Tunzelmann, William Ryan

15.10 – 16.10

 The Great Wars: WWI and WWII – what was it really like?  Diaries and letters home

            - Paul Dowswell, Laura Wilson, Kate Lord Brown

16.20 – 17.20

The Art of Spying: Espionage through the ages

            Robert Wilton, Manda (MC) Scott, Elizabeth Wein, Andrew Swanston

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HWA / Goldsboro Crown for Debut Historical Fiction

A new literary award for historical fiction is announced from the Historical Writers’ Association

A new partnership, brings a new prize:  Worth £2,000, the HWA/Goldsboro Crown for Debut Historical Fiction will be awarded to the what is, in the judges’ estimation, the best debut historical novel first published in the United Kingdom in 2010-11.  The award will be presented at the ‘History in the Court’ Festival, held at Goldsboro Books on the 20^th September 2012.

The £2,000 HWA/Goldsboro Crown is being launched through the generosity of the directors of Goldsboro Books Limited, who have a deep passion for bookselling excellence and who are especially supportive of debut authors.

Now, one year old, the Historical Writers’ Association exists to promote and sustain historical writing.   Members are committed to the excellence of crime writing, both fiction and non-fiction and this is the first of what will be a suite of prizes to encourage new and established writers whose books cover a period over thirty five years from the date of publication.

Historical novels now regularly lead the bestseller lists and the aim of this prize in particular, is to highlight the wealth of new fiction authors whose novels fit into this genre. The judges on the panel for the new prize will be Maria Rejt, Tom Holland, Manda Scott, David Headley, and Ayo Onatade.

Manda Scott, Chair of the Historical Writers’ Association, said: ‘The HWA is delighted to enter into this partnership with Goldsboro books, and particularly pleased that our first prize will be for first-time authors: every new author deserves as much encouragement as they can get and even to be placed on the shortlist should be a significant boost to a new writer’s career.’
David Headley Managing Director of Goldsboro Books Limited, the independent bookseller, said: ‘Historical fiction is one of the most popular literary styles of the 21^st century and Goldsboro Books is delighted and honoured to be sponsoring the Historical Writers’ Association prize and in raising the profile of brilliant debut writers of historical fiction’.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Goldsboro Crown for Historical Debut Fiction will be awarded at History in the Court in September 2012.A shortlist of books will be announced in June 2012 at Kelmarsh Festival of History. This award is for the best historical novel by a first-time fictional author of any nationality first published in the UK in English during the Judging Period. ‘Best historical novel by a first time author’ means that the author must not have had a novel of any sort published before under any name whatsoever. In the case of novels with more than one author, all the authors must meet this requirement.

Authors may have written non-fiction works prior to the publication of the submitted novel.
Further detail and prize rules may be found by emailing Goldsboro.Crown@goldsborobooks.com -

Full rules are available to download in the file at the foot of the page

For further information, logos and interviews with the judges please contact:

Ayo Onatade  Tel: 0207 497 9230

Email Goldsboro.Crown@goldsborobooks.com

ABOUT THE JUDGES

MARIA REJT is the publisher of the PanMacmillan imprint Mantle and is one of the most respected editors currently working in UK publishing. Her current list of authors includes C J Sansom, Kate Morton, Bella Pollen, Benjamin Black (aka John Banville) and William Ryan.

TOM HOLLAND is an author and historian. His first work of history, Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. His second, Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West, won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award. His new book, Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom is out now, published by Little, Brown.

MANDA SCOTT was a veterinary surgeon and taught at the Universities of Cambridge and Dublin before taking up writing as a full time profession. Now founder and Chair of the Historical Writers' Association, her novels have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize, nominated for an Edgar Award and translated into over twenty languages. In addition to the bestselling Boudica series, and The Crystal Skull, she is the author of an acclaimed sequence of Roman novels featuring ‘the Emperor’s Spy’, Pantera.

DAVID HEADLEY is the Managing Director of Goldsboro Books Limited,

AYO ONATADE is a well known blogger and reviewer and has a particular passion for historical novels as well as crime fiction.