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The Women Writers' Handbook - ed. Ann Sandham



Description

A revised edition of the publisher’s inaugural publication in 1990 which won the Pandora Award from Women-in-Publishing. Inspirational in its original format, this new edition offers insight and motivation for budding writers from dozens of distinguished authors, celebrating the breadth of women’s writing in all its forms. Also includes the original writing workshops from the first edition plus quirky B/W illustrations as well as a foreword by Cheryl Robson, publisher and Managing Editor, who was a recent finalist in the ITV National Diversity Awards - Lifetime Achievement category. Aurora Metro Books was a finalist in the 2019 IPG Diversity in Publishing Awards and has a 30 year history of ground-breaking publishing, featuring both diverse and international authors.


The complete list of contributors: 

A.S. Byatt, Saskia Calliste, April De Angelis, Kit de Waal, Carol Ann Duffy, Sian Evans, Philippa Gregory, Mary Hamer, Jackie Kay, Shuchi Kothari, Bryony Lavery, Annee Lawrence, Roseanne Liang, Suchen Christine Lim, Jackie McCarrick, Laura Miles, Raman Mundair, Magda Oldziejewska, Kaite O’Reilly, Jacqueline Pepall, Gabi Reigh, Djamila Ribeiro, Fiona Rintoul, Jasvinder Sanghera, Anne Sebba, Kalista Sy, Debbie Taylor, Madeleine Thien, Claire Tomalin, Ida Vitale, Sarah Waters, Emma Woolf


A wide-ranging collection of over 30 essays, poems and interviews from top, international women writers, poets, screen writers and journalists. 


20% of profits to go to the Virginia Woolf statue campaign.


The Virginia Woolf statue campaign: The proposed statue will be located in Richmond on Thames where Virginia and Leonard Woolf lived from 1914-1924 and set up the Hogarth Press. A public consultation by the local council was 83% in favour of the statue and planning permission has been granted to site the first life-size statue in bronze of the famous author on Richmond riverside where the author walked her dog daily. Over 20% of the £50,000 target has been raised so far. 


See more at: https://www.aurorametro.org/virginia-woolf-statue

To donate to the project go here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charityweb/charity/displayCharityCampaignPage.action?charityCampaignUrl=VirginiaWoolfStatue




Review


Although I am not a budding writer I did enjoy this book as there is so much within it to inspire and intrigue you. Throughout the book are also charming black and white drawings and literary quotes. You can dip in and out of the book or dive into the series of writing workshops on such themes as Developing complex characters and overcoming a writer's personal block. There is also a useful list of resources.

There are interviews with authors which I found very interesting, especially if you are missing book events at the moment. A piece written about Virginia Woolf  by her niece Emma Woolf which I really enjoyed. Some nice essays and poems too. 

As tends to happen with this kind of book, it sent me down a rabbit hole as authors mention other books or authors that inspired them and I end up looking for those too. So it has widened my knowledge and appreciation of authors too.

If you are a writer I can see this would be an invaluable resource for you, especially the workshops.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Love Book Tours for the invite onto the book tour and the ARC to review.

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Comments

  1. Meggy - Chocolate'n'Waffles13 July 2020 at 09:58

    Thank you so much for taking part in the blog tour and supporting the book!

    Meggy from Love Books Tours

    ReplyDelete

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