Chair of The Women’s Prize

Louise Minchin with winner Barbara Kingsolver

It’s been a busy month and last week was the Women’s Prize for Fiction Awards Party, where Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead was crowned the 2023 winner.   The prize was chaired by our very own Louise Minchin who did a brilliant job and although the judges came to a unanimous decision on 2023’s winning title, all the shortlisted book are highly recommended – you can find them here.  Louise has been on a publicity bender for her book ‘FEARLESS: Adventures with Extraordinary Women’; after a killer launch at Storyhouse in Chester she appeared on ITV’s Lorraine, BBC Breakfast, Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch, with coverage of the book in The Times, The Daily Mail, The Scotsman, Good Housekeeping, Saga Magazine, Hello!  She is now hurtling around the country talking about the book and the 18 incredible women who feature in it.  You can catch her at Appledore, Henley, Wigtown, Kendal literary festivals in the Autumn.

After serialisation in The Times, Trine Hahnemann’s new book SIMPLY SCANDINAVIAN hit the shelves last week and she is going to be talking about it at Toppings in Bath for an event on 5th July – you can still buy tickets here.

Novelist and journalist Annabelle Thorpe whose novel THE ENEMY OF LOVE is set in Umbria during WW2, has launched a travel-focused book club in partnership with CV Villas.  Each month, Annabelle will recommend six titles set in top holiday destinations, starting with Italy.  You can follow her weekly Book Bites on Instagram - @annabellethorpe20.

We are also delighted that two books written by HHB authors – Eleanor Ford’s THE NUTMEG TRAIL and Julie Kleeman / Yeshi Jampa’s TASTE TIBET have been shortlisted for the best International or Regional Cookbook Guild of Food Writers Award.  And Rory Cellan-Jones’s forthcoming memoir RUSKIN PARK has been selected as an Editor’s Choice title for September by the Bookseller magazine.