We are so pleased to welcome these longstanding friends to North Books to talk about writing and a friendship that spans decades and continents.
Pamela’s The Long Field was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year in 2022.
The Long Field burrows deep into the Welsh countryside to tell how this small country became a big part of an American writer’s life. Petro entwines her story with that of Wales, viewing both through the lens of ‘hiraeth’. This Welsh word derives from an old usage meaning ‘long field’, and is used now for the bone-deep longing for something or someone – a home, culture, language, or a younger self.
Pamela comes to North Books direct from leading the 2023 Dylan Thomas Summer School in Creative Writing.
“This is a beautifully written, un-put-downable book about language, love, and being alive, here, now.’ Gillian Clarke, former National Poet of Wales
Annie’s debut novel Cecily, an epic feminist retelling of the War of the Roses, published by Penguin, was named a ‘top pick’ by The Times and Sunday Times and a ‘Best Book of 2021’ by independent bookshops and Waterstones. Born in the north-east of England, Annie now lives near Ludlow. Her second novel will be published in 2024; in it, she promises that we get to spend time with three more of the 15th century’s powerful women.
“Has the new Hilary Mantel Arrived?” Daily Telegraph
TICKETS
This is a seated event so tickets are very limited. Tickets are £5 (to include a refreshment). There will be an opportunity to buy The Long Field and Cecily on the night at a discount. Please email Jules on jules@northbooks.co.uk or pop into the shop to reserve your place.
At North Books, 4 Castle Street, Hay-on-Wye on Friday 09 June, 5-6pm.
THE AUTHORS
Pamela Petro is the author of The Slow Breath of Stone, Sitting up with the Dead and Travels in an Old Tongue: Touring the World Speaking Welsh. She is a Fellow at the University of Wales, Trinity St David, where she directs the Dylan Thomas Summer School in Creative Writing. Pamela is also a photographer and artist.
Annie Garthwaite grew up in a working class community in the north-east of England. A schoolgirl interest in medieval history became a lifelong obsession with Cecily Neville, so, at age fifty-five, she enrolled on the Warwick Writing MA programme. Her extraordinary debut novel Cecily is the result. During a thirty-year international business career she frequently found herself the only woman at the table, where she gained valuable insights into how a woman like Cecily might have operated.
Today she lives with her partner – and far too many animals – on the side of a green Shropshire hill close to the Yorkist stronghold of Ludlow.