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Each season, we round up some of the most exciting new books coming out from writers in our region, alongside giveaways, interviews, and other bookish content.
You'll be spoiled for choice this autumn, whether you're after a chilling story for spooky nights or a cosy book to read by the fire. Keep reading for all our recommendations – plus enter our giveaway, find out about the community building power of libraries, and even discover a new Northern themed video game!
And of course, it's Durham Book Festival season, so get your tickets booked to join us in Durham or online this October.
Happy reading,
New Writing North and Durham Book Festival
Lying Perfectly Still – from the Women's Prize longlisted author of Strange Music, Laura Fish
Leaving Oxford and the shocking death of her father behind, Koliwe travels to AIDS-ravaged Eswatini to take a job as an aid worker. The Southern Africa she encounters is a far cry from her father’s stories.
As she becomes enmeshed with Thandi, a local girl hiding a disturbing past, Koliwe feels increasingly split between her English identity and her rediscovered African roots.
When Thandi goes missing, Koliwe's search for truth leads her deep into the mountains, where harsh realities of wealth, poverty, tradition and modernity, clash.
Lying Perfectly Still will be published on 24 October 2024 with Fly on the Wall Press.
"Koliwe changes constantly like a river, and the Eswatini her father knew is not the country she experiences. She encounters the trauma and scars of colonialism and the devastation of a pandemic."
Get a glimpse into the themes explored in Lying Perfectly Still – doubling of identities, elemental symbolism, attitudes to aid work, and more – in our interview with Laura Fish.
We're giving away two copies of Lying Perfectly Still! 📚
Tell us what you're reading on X (Twitter), Instagram or Facebook using the hashtags #LyingPerfectlyStill and #NorthernBookshelf. Winners will be drawn on 11 October 2024.
Find out even more about Lying Perfectly Still at Durham Book Festival 🎤
Laura Fish is joining us for a special event at Collected Books on Thursday 10 October, 6:30pm – tickets just £5.
Perfect reads for spooky season...
Lights Out by Louise Swanson
A state of emergency has been declared in the UK. From now on, at 8pm every night, all electricity cuts out. The Government promises it's a temporary measure. They promise they are always thinking of your safety. But for Grace, the darkness is anything but safe...
Withered Hill by David Barnett
A year ago, Sophie stumbled into the isolated Lancashire village of Withered Hill with no memory of who she is. She realises she is a prisoner after multiple failed escape attempts. But is it the locals who keep her trapped, or something else, lurking in the woods?
Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton
Osira is an obedient follower of the strict conventions of Curdle Creek, an all-Black town in rural America governed by a tradition of ominous rituals. But one day, Osira is forced into the great unknown, where she must reckon with all she has ever been told.
Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives by Tim Major
When Muriel Carew attends a lavish party, she unexpectedly bumps into her ex-fiancée Henry Jekyll. She decides to join him in investigating a series of missing persons across Victorian London – but along the way, she must find a way to place her trust in his monstrous alter-ego, Mr Hyde.
Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley
For centuries, the inhabitants of Barrowbeck, a remote valley on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border, have lived uneasily with forces beyond their reckoning. But a darkness that runs through the village. The people have forgotten that they are but guests in the valley. Now there is a price to pay.
Modern Gothic ed. by Isabelle Kenyon
Embark on a chilling journey through nightmarish tales, from landlords with sinister requests to a glass-encased jungle built by an eccentric father. These gothic stories from Fly on the Wall Press blur the lines between dreams and reality, weaving a tapestry of macabre encounters and festering secrets.
The Company of Owls by Polly Atkin
The Company Of Owls is a love song to these incredible creatures, and a reflection on what makes them, and us, unique and distinctive. It’s a call to find joy in unexpected places and times. It is a lesson in learning to listen – to really listen – when all around us seems clamour and noise.
A Winter Dictionary by Paul Anthony Jones
From frost-dogs (tiny frozen particles of falling snow) to Stepmother’s breath (a sudden cold snap), delve into the origins of these rare, fascinating and forgotten words and open up a new way of describing the winter months. The perfect way to while away the snow-laden days.
Dark Harvest by Hazel Atkinson
Two thousand years ago, a Roman poet picked up his pen and dared to wonder what a heroine might sound like. Now, the women of Greco-Roman myth are speaking once more. These reimagined heroines speak loud and clear to us today in this audio exclusive short story collection.
Maps of Imaginary Towns by SJ Bradley
Beleaguered, yet resourceful social workers battle towering workloads; a harassed elderly childminder collapses under the strain; a victim of domestic abuse strikes out for freedom. These vividly rendered tales, from futuristic colonies to drab estates, trace hard-won solace through small acts of courage.
To the Limit by Michael Crawley
Michael Crawley immerses himself in various endurance cultures: from learning how Nepalese runners face different challenges depending on their location up a mountain to the history of Dance Marathons. To the Limit explains why enduring with others can foster social connections and bring people together.
The Mare by Angharad Hampshire
An astonishing fictionalised account of Hermine Braunsteiner, one of the women who became female SS Guards in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. When the camps were liberated, Hermine escaped – but no one knew the truth about her past...
Cat Lover by Dan Spencer
When solitary and struggling A&E doctor Ivy invites the Geologist home one night, her cat Berry's hackles are raised. As the Geologist becomes more and more a part of their life, Berry determines to get rid of him. Meanwhile, as Ivy wrestles with her feelings, she's entirely unaware of her cat's designs...
Calm by SJ Baker
In this enthralling dystopian YA thriller, the fight for humanity's true essence takes centre stage. In a near-future Britain, society’s calm facade conceals a sinister truth: the state maintains its control by meddling with the nation’s water supply. The result? A population lulled into apathy. Lulled, apart from a courageous few...
On Sycamore Gap by Kate Fox
For everyone who knew the famous silhouette of the tree that stood at Sycamore Gap, and who felt a loss when the gap was just a gap once more, these are words that grew in the space, the hope that shoots like seedlings. A book of loss and renewal, a song from soil to soul, about how we all live where the earth meets the sky.
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Durham Book Festival
Celebrate the transformative power of words over a buzzing long weekend from 10–13 October. All our events at Gala Durham (unless otherwise specified) will be live-streamed, so you can join us from anywhere!
This year's literary line-up covers history, politics, humour, poetry, philosophy, fiction and more, allowing you to discover new authors and fan over old favourites.
What We're Reading: Durham Book Festival Edition
The approaching festival leads to many lunchtime conversations here at New Writing North about the authors we're most excited to see. Get an inside look at our festival highlights and the books we've been reading in preparation.
New and Recent Poetry from the North 🖋️
Lean into the cosy autumn vibes by spending a gloomy evening with a new poetry book. We've got you covered with a bumper selection from Northern poets – but you'll need to provide your own blankets and hot drinks...
Thresholds 🌸
Co-edited by Tahmina Ali and Jo Clement, this special new poetry anthology from Butcher's Dog Publishing presents the voices of eleven South Asian women in North East England. It has been developed through our Brown Girls Write programme, and will have an in-person launch on 14 November in Newcastle – come along!
Thank Goodness You're Here! 🎮
Add this new comedy video game to your wishlist, created by James Carbutt and Will Todd from Barnsley. Complete with authentic regional accents and an original story based on traditional Yorkshire folklore, players take on a series of increasingly odd jobs in the bizarre Northern town of Barnsworth.
Library love at Northern Bookshelf Live
Over the last year, we've been connecting Northern authors with readers through our Northern Bookshelf Live libraries programme. It's been really special to work together with libraries to help build community, spark connection and celebrate the written word.
Jane Claire Bradley, author of Dear Neighbour, has written about her experience on the programme – including a particularly memorable event in Blackpool that brought together book lovers, drag queens and LGBTQ+ choir members.
TICKET OFFER: Faber Fiction with Louise Doughty and Charlotte Vassell
Wednesday 25 September 6:30pm, Waterstones Newcastle, £10/8
Spend a misty September evening with two brilliant authors of gripping psychological fiction: Louise Doughty (Apple Tree Yard, Platform Seven) and Charlotte Vassell (The Other Half, The In Crowd).
As a newsletter subscriber, we're offering you an exclusive 2 for 1 deal on tickets – so find a friend and come along! Use the code 'northernbookshelf' at checkout or follow the link below.
Northern Bookshelf is published by New Writing North and Durham Book Festival. If you have news about books by Northern authors or you would like to recommend books as a bookseller, librarian, book group or reader, please contact carys@newwritingnorth.com. The next issue will be published in December 2024 and will cover December 2024 - February 2025. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 15 November 2024.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this newsletter is correct at the time of going to press, things do change, frequently at the last minute and very often without our knowledge.
