Story of a Novel: Ghost Town by Catriona Troth

It’s no secret that Ghost Town had one of the longest gestations in literary history. But what inspired me to write it and why did it take me so long to finish it?

The ruined cathedral of St Michael's - Coventry's symbol of reconciliation

Back in 1981, I was a post-graduate student at the University of Warwick. I could not help but be aware, through that spring and summer, that tensions were building between local skinheads and the then relatively new British Asian community. There was an undercurrent of violence in the air and a sense that something was about to boil over.

Years later, I had an idea for a story that seemed to fit perfectly with this background. As I began my research, I uncovered a story that was both darker and more shocking than what I remembered – but also profoundly hopeful. A story which – while still talked about in Coventry – itself is virtually unknown outside the city.

What I had remembered simply as ‘rising tensions’ had in fact included firebomb attacks, an assault on a young girl as she minded her family’s shop, and two racially motivated murders – one of a young student and one of a doctor. The murder of the student galvanised the Asian community in to action. A series of protest marches were held – the last and biggest of which was met by a phalanx of skinheads giving Nazi salutes in the middle of the town centre, backed by senior members of Far Right groups like the National Front and the British Movement. Fights broke out between skinheads and Asian youths that were broken up by a charge of mounted police. And always in the shadows, grey men from Far Right, fanning the flames of hatred.

Audio Extract from Ghost Town, describing the day a protest march exploded into violence


A collections of photographs from the Coventry Telegraph showing the real life protest march in May 1981

Members of the Specials and the Selecter outide the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 2014

This was a time when Coventry identified with Two Tone and Ska the way Liverpool identified with the Beatles. Bands like The Specials  and the Selector had been writing music with an explicitly anti-racist message. So when the band heard what had happened, the Specials' immediate response was to organise a Concert for Racial Harmony.

Photographs from The Specials' Concert for Racial Harmony 

Although everyone feared that would became a flash point for further violence, it didn’t. Within a couple of weeks, riots had kicked off in cities across the UK, starting in Southall. But Coventry remained one of the few major cities the riots never reached. It was as if the city paused, took stock and listened to its own conscience. The Specials and the other bands at the Concert for Racial Harmony bore witness to a different kind of future.

*****************************

My first draft came relatively fast. Allowing for the fact I was working and bringing up two small children, a year wasn’t a bad effort. I had the bones of a story not a million miles from the final plot of Ghost Town. But I knew some of it was built on pretty shaky ground.

In autumn 2001, I took myself back up to Coventry and immersed myself in the archive of the Coventry Evening Telegraph. That was when I finally understood the enormity of what had happened in the city in the spring and summer of 1981.

Part of Coventry's 'Concrete Jungle'

The next draft of Ghost Town came very slowly. I became passionate about telling the story of what happened in Coventry that summer. I was soaking up a lot of research, reading books, trawling the internet, understanding a lot of things I hadn’t understood before. The story was fleshing out, but something wasn’t right. My female lead no longer fitted the book. So I took the drastic decision to rip her out and look for a new lead.

That was when, luckily or unluckily, depending on your point of view, I lost my job. I had a year unemployed and I spent it feverishly finishing Ghost Town, with its new female lead. By the time I started work again, I had a completed manuscript.

I proofread it, parcelled up a few chapters, and started sending it round to agents. According to my records, I had an encouraging number of people asking for the full MS. But that was all. I got busy with my new job, and the manuscript languished – until I discovered online critique groups.

Hugely excited, I posted a few chapters. The initial response was scathing, to say the least. I felt like giving up. I remember telling someone that, if I had to rewrite this book one more time, I thought my ears would bleed. “Then let them bleed,” they said, “if that’s what it takes.”

Finally, I started to find people who seemed to ‘get’ my story. They were critical, sometimes harshly so. But their criticism was constructive. One of the most painful things was that, chapter after chapter, I was told that my new female lead, the one for whom I had ripped the whole book apart, was ‘cold’ and ‘unsympathetic’. I can’t tell you how many tears I shed, until at last I reached a point where people started to connect with her.

And well, there were a few more iterations after that. Some savage cutting of an overly long manuscript, courtesy of the sharp editing scalpel of Amanda Hodgkinson. A wonderfully sensitive reader, Sudha Buchar, helped me avoid more than one pitfall with the British Asian characters in the book. Finally, the MS went through the hands of a copy editor and proof reader. And Ghost Town was published with Triskele Books, with the gorgeous cover designed by Jane Dixon Smith.

And that is how a series of events that made a deep impression on me back in the summer of 1981 found their way onto the page in November 2013.

Triskele Author Feature - Catriona Troth

Once in a while, we like to remind ourselves of why we're an author collective. Five individuals in three countries bound by a love of writing. People often ask how it works, but rarely why.

Here's the second in our Author Feature series, on why we appreciate Catriona Troth.

Author, editor and litfest organiser, Catriona excels as a connector of writers. She is the powerhouse behind our Indie Author Fairs and last year's Triskele LitFest. With her novella Gift of the Raven and her epic opus, Ghost Town, Catriona proves she can not only transport you to another time and place, but she makes you think.

What Amanda Hodgkinson says about Catriona

Catriona is the perfect kind of writer; the kind whose head is filled with vast libraries of stories, and for whom a deep love of words and form and a desire to communicate is a lifelong quest. The kind of writer who always has a great respect for her readers. That's just one of the reasons why her novels are so beautiful and absorbing. Catriona is the perfect kind of writer for other writers too, helping and supporting them, offering them her time, enthusiasm and her talents, all in the hope of bringing great books to new readers.


What makes Kat such a valued member of Triskele Books?

Liza Perrat: Catriona’s skill as a structural editor has been highly beneficial to the storylines of my own novels. Her drive for perfection, and her motivation to edit, edit and edit again, have brought her own books up to the highest narrative standard. And her skills as events’ organizer have been invaluable for all of our Triskele literary festivals. 

Jane Dixon Smith: Catriona's sympathies and understanding of the time and society in which her novel Ghost Town and novella Gift of the Raven are set is what gives them a special and honest feel, making them so compelling.

JJ Marsh: Triskele and the concept of an author collective arose from a conversation Kat and I had in 2009. Gilly, Liza and I made it a reality in 2011, and when Kat was ready to publish, it was only natural for her to join the team. She's an exceptional editor, a terrific networker whose aim is to help other writers, and most importantly, a brilliant writer. She tackles tough subjects in her work, remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental while delivering enormous emotional impact. Her books are impossible to forget.

Gillian Hamer: There's something about Kat in real life that comes across both in her writing as well as in her editorial work - and for me that is understanding. She has an eye for detail and a human empathy that are great talents to posses in both fields. I rely on her input in each of books, knowing she will see something others don't. And that's what makes her own writing so special too. She writes about things others do not see, it's a special talent in a writer and makes her style her own.


What They Say About Ghost Town

“There is a subtle blend of realism and pragmatism which allows the story to evolve in such a way that despite its subject matter, it never becomes distasteful or inflammatory. There is clever use of colourful street vocabulary which is dotted throughout the text; from South Asian Punjabi, through to Rasta slang, words which imply meaning without always needing to refer to the exemplary glossary. In Ghost Town, the whole vista of the 1980s is captured like a snapshot; a moment of time which embodies a culture one hopes is relegated to history books but which perhaps sadly lingers, alive in memory.” - Jaffa Reads Too

“The city comes alive almost as a character itself. Also the time - early 80s - is evoked so well it brought back vivid memories of songs, of movements, of clothes, of the political spectrum.
Ms Troth has a terrific ear for voices and accents; her characters come fully formed off the page by the sheer virtuosity of her ventriloquism.” - Barbara Scott-Emmett

“It's hard to liken GHOST TOWN to anything else out there, but there were certainly echoes of Alex Wheatle's EAST OF ACRE LANE. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to step out of their comfort zone and explore a little-talked-about pocket of British history.” - Polly Courtney

"Ghost Town is a fascinating exploration of the Coventry riots of 1981 and the events leading to them. Catriona Troth handles her material with a subtle touch and doesn’t flinch from showing the tensions and conflicts within communities and families as well as those outside. Ghost Town works as both a vivid record of a recent historical event and as a cracking good read." - Chris Curran

There’s a pleasurably subtle, gently restless, level-toned yet unsparing quality to many aspects of "Ghost Town", including these ones: the elusive nature of Maia, a reliable narratorial lens and yet a full individual with her own dramas too, whose open innocence manages to remain unsullied by seeing such ugliness and suffering around her; the novel’s smooth inclusion of quite a breadth of facts, terminology and historical detail (including several vivid trips out of Coventry, down to riot-torn Brixton); its successful ambitiousness in being at once a political story, a love story and a coming-of-age story." - Rohan Quine

"This book is challenging on several levels. Sometimes an uncomfortable read, it demonstrates the vital role of fiction in tackling serious issues, such as the threat that is perceived when the demographics of a city change rapidly, particularly at a time of high unemployment." - JE Davis

"Ms Troth has most admirably captured the atmosphere of urban decay, race riots, unemployment and the ever simmering violence of an era I well remember. The characters are well drawn and credible and the storyline most compelling." - Amazon reviewer



What They Say About Gift of the Raven

"The emotions entwined in this story are what really brings it to life. The author makes it very easy to see through the eyes of young Terry, and feel the pain and struggling he must endure. Mix this with the well-described Canadian cultures and history, and the novella becomes incredibly thought-provoking."

"I was enchanted by this novella about a boy searching for his roots and identity. The descriptions of landscapes are beautiful and the writing is lyrical and powerful. Reading this, I was reminded of Louise Erdrich's writing style and ability to create character and history within landscapes. An absolute pleasure to read. Moving and tender."

"A beautifully-written novella that explores the troubled childhood of Terry, and his journey to find his roots with the Haida Gwaii Indians of Canada. As well as Terry's heart-warming story, and the author's lyrical prose that brought these parts of Canada to life, I really enjoyed learning about a culture of which I previously knew nothing."

"This is a truly wonderful story and one which you won't forget in a hurry. It is skilfully written, the characters are full of depth and the scene beautifully set."

Here's Catriona talking about Triskele Books and how it works.




In addition to writing fiction, festival organisation, journalism and reviewing, Catriona is a well-respected editor.

Find out more or make contact here:
Website: www.catrionatroth.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/catrionatrothbooks

Twitter: @L1bCat

Pinterest for Ghost Town: http://www.pinterest.com/triskelebooks/ghost-town/

Writing the Landscape

by Catriona Troth

Triskele Books are all about Time and Place - so how do writers evoke a sense of place?

Last September, I wandered, more or less by chance, into the Writing Britain exhibition at the British Library. From their vast collection of books, manuscripts, audio and photographs, the Library had assembled a panoramic view of how writers from the Middle Ages to the present day have represented the British landscape.

It began by evoking rural, agricultural landscapes - from ancient stories of the Green Man to a recording of Stella Gibbons' talking about Cold Comfort Farm and a hand drawn map of the locations in Winifred Holtby's South Riding. From there, you moved on to the section entitled 'Dark Satanic Mills,' the literature of factories and labour from Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, set in the early days of the industrial revolution to Ted Hughes' collaboration with the photographer Fay Godwin, charting the decay of the old mills and chimneys.

The ‘Wild Places’ section of the exhibition was screened with panels of white fabric marked with steep contour lines. Here were manuscripts from the Romantic Poets, a copy Lorna Doone and a recording of Daphne du Maurier describing how she first stumbled on Jamaica Inn on her horse, seeking shelter from a storm.

‘Beyond the City’ celebrated suburbia in books such as The Rotters Club, Metroland and The Buddha of Suburbia. In the section on London, detailed street maps covered surfaces around the exhibits and hung from baffles above your head. The most immersive experience of all was in ‘Waterlands’, where video screens showed images of coasts, rivers and lakes, and you were surrounded by the sound of lapping waves.

All this made me think about books that evoke the British landscape for me. I was born in Scotland, but I grew up in Canada, so for many years my images of Britain were almost entirely drawn from what I read.

It began, I suppose, with The Borrowers. I never really understood why I adored Mary Norton's stories so completely, until as an adult I bought an omnibus edition with a foreword in the form of a letter she had once written to a young fan. In it she described growing up as the short-sighted sister of three long-sighted brothers, forever focused on the tiny details of the Leicestershire hedgerows as her brothers vainly tried to show her hawks wheeling in the sky. I had grown up as the short-sighted daughter of a long-sighted mother, and I knew exactly what she meant.

After The Borrowers came Swallows and Amazons. I fell in love with Ransome's Wild Cat Island and Katchenjunga ten years before I ever set foot in the Lake District, and I still get a thrill when I catch a glimpse the steamer on Windermere that is recognisably Captain Flint's Houseboat.

Unlike his Lake District, which is a conflation of Lake Windermere and Coniston Water, Ransome's portrayal of the Norfolk Broads is so accurate you can follow the adventures of the Coot Club step by step on a map. My husband would have done well to have read about Tom's narrow escape passing through Yarmouth as the tide was running out before he attempted the same with some friends from university. I have never been to the salt marshes around Harwich, but from Secret Water, I have a vivid image of the 'Mastadon' paddling over the soft mud flats wearing something like flat wooden snow shoes, and of Titty, Roger and Bridget almost trapped on the Wade as the tide sweeps back in.

I live not that far from the Thames now, but before I ever set foot in them, I knew Marlow and Maidenhead, Cookham and Goring from the lyrical descriptions in Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (which he would immediately undermine with some piece of grumpy absurdity that would have me howling with laughter).

We went through Maidenhead quickly, and then eased up, and took leisurely that grand reach beyond Boulter’s and Cookham locks. Cliveden Woods still wore their dainty dress of spring, and rose up, from the water’s edge, in one long harmony of blended shades of fairy green. In its unbroken loveliness this is, perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river, and lingeringly we slowly drew our little boat away from its deep peace.

Oxford was painted for me by Dorothy Sayers in Gaudy Night (in colours that were probably idealised even in 1935).

Mornings in Bodley, drowsing among the browns and tarnished gilding of Duke Humphrey, snuffing the faint, must odour of slowly perishing leater, hearing only the tippety-tap of Agag-feet along the padded floor; long afternoons, taking an outrigger up the Cher, feeling the kiss of the sculls on unaccostomed palms…

I knew the mountains of Wales from my mother's beloved Under Milk Wood.

By Cader Idris, tempest-torn,

Or Moel yr Wyddfa's glory,

Carnedd Llewelyn beauty born,

Plinlimmon old in story,

By mountains where King Arthur dreams,

By Penmaenmawr defiant,

Llaregyb Hill a molehill seems,

A pygmy to a giant.

There are places I have never been, or only passed through, that have been made real for me through the pages of a book. There can surely be no better evocation of Eastern Scotland than William Grassic Gibbons' Sunset Song (which is surely impossible to read without hearing it in a soft, Aberdeenshire accent).

But for days now the wind had been in the south, it shook and played in the moors and went dandering up the sleeping Grampians, the rushes pecked and quivered about the loch when its hand was upon them, but it brought more heat than cold, and all the parks were fair parched, sucked dry, the red clay soil of Blawearie gaping open for the rain that seemed never-coming.

The Clean Air Act came in a few years after I was born, so I never experienced the London Peasoupers that blighted my father's childhood. But I've lived through them in the opening passages of Dickens' Bleak House.

Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill. Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snowflakes - gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun. Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better; splashed to their very blinkers...

Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city…

Books shape the way we remember too. I was born in Edinburgh, but today the city for me is a joint creation of Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith. My mother was transported back to Anglesey, the home she left more than sixty years ago, by the descriptions in Gillian Hamer's Charter. And nothing, but nothing, has brought back what it felt like to arrive back in Britain from North America in the mid-seventies than the opening chapter of Bill Bryson's Small Island.

Surprisingly, a writer does not have to be a native or even long-term resident to be able to conjure a time and place to vivid life. The author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society only ever spent one day stranded by fog on the island. Sarah Waters' The Night Watch helped me to understand, as nothing else had, the realities of living through the London Blitz, though she was born in twenty years after the War ended. Michel Faber’s portayal of the seamier side of Victorian London in The Crimson Petal and the White is as beguiling as Dickens’.

I guess the lesson for writers here is – write about the places you love, yes; make others love them too. But don’t be afraid to set your imagination free. The landscapes of the mind are the best ones of all.

Article first published in Words with Jam magazine.

 

Where Do I Belong? A Guide to Professional Organisations for Writers

by Catriona Troth

It can be hard for writers at the start of their career to figure out which of the bewildering array of writers’ organisations out there might be for them.  So here, to help you, is a brief guide to who? why? and how much? *

*Updated from an article first published in Words with Jam magazine

We’ve focused primarily on UK organisations, but we’ve noted which ones accept overseas members, and we’ve also taken a look at a few US and international organisations too.

The Membership criteria listed are generally those for Full Membership, but some organisations offer various forms of associate membership that admit a broader range of unpublished or self-published authors – or those such as editors or agents that are in related professions.

It’s worth noting that membership fees for professional organisations may be reclaimable against tax.

Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi):

Cost: Author Membership (International) $99 / £75 / €89pa (for other levels of membershipt - see website)

Website: http://allianceindependentauthors.org

The Alliance of Independent Authors is a professional organisation of self-publishing writers and advisors.  Launched at the 2012 London Book Fair, it now has flourishing communities in countries including the US, the UK, Japan and Australia, as well as a very active and friendly members-only Facebook Group and a Self-Publishing Advice blog . Members can be listed on their ‘Find an Indie Author’ database.

• Author Membership is open to those who have published independently, or to trade-published authors who are preparing to publish independently.
• Professional Membership is for those who are earning their living from their independently published works
• Partner Membership is for anyone offering service to independent authors whose service has been vetted by ALLi
• Associate Membership is open (at reduced cost) to anyone interested in self-publishing

ALLi provides advice from experienced professionals on every aspect of independent publishing.  You get a member pack on joining, and there are help-lines and several guidebooks.  They can vet contracts, and connect writers with services for self-publishers (such as editors, designers and marketing agencies) that have been approved by their watchdog service.

ALLi engages with booksellers, literary agents, trade publishers, libraries, book clubs and media to advocate for self-publishers' interests. Through their Open Up To Indie Authors campaign, they are working with reading agencies to bring self-published work to reading groups and libraries and literary events.

They have also built relationships with rights agencies to allow their members to sell, for example, translation rights to their self-published books.

Society of Authors (SoA):

Cost: £95 pa (less if you are under 35, or for associate membership)

Website: http://www.societyofauthors.org

The biggest and best known writers’ association in the UK.

Full membership is open to:

• Those who have had a full length work published or have been offered a contract; 
• Those who have has at least a dozen short items published (with payment); 
• Those who have self-published or have had a work published on a print-on-demand/ebook only basis and have sold over 300 copies of a single title in print form or 500 copies in ebook form within a 12-month period.

One of the most valuable benefits of membership is their free vetting service for contracts, and many authors will join when they are offered their first contract.  Other benefits include a Reader’s Tickets for the British Library and discount membership of affiliated organisations (including CWA, RNA and HWA). They organise some great talks, act as a market place where any members can advertise their skills and services, and even provides bursaries and financial help for professional writers in need.

Society of Women Writers and Journalists (SWWJ):

Website: http://swwj.co.uk/

Cost: £45 pa (less for associate, student or overseas membership) + £25 initial joining fee

The SWWJ was founded in 1894.  Past Presidents have included Richmal Crompton, Margery Allingham, Vera Brittain and Joyce Grenfell.  The current President is Victoria Wood. Their aims include’ the encouragement of literary achievement, the upholding of professional standards, and social contact with fellow writers.’

Members must submit a CV and be sponsored by two professionals (agents, editors or existing SWWJ members) who vouch than they are bona fide professionals working in literature, journalism, or related spheres.  (Since 2004, published male writers can join as associate members.)

They provide a critique service for members that covers articles and non-fiction books, as well as poetry, short stories and novels.  If you are interested in writing for the stage, they have a drama group which periodically runs workshops with professional actors.  Members can submit a script in advance for a one act play needing fewer than a specified number of actors.  The script can then be thoroughly tested on the day, in preparation, say, for submission to a festival or other competition.

Since 2010, they have run a self-publishing service, Scriptora, which allows members to publish potentially difficult to place work such as poetry anthologies and out-of-print backlists.

They run a summer festival and maintain an overseas section. Full members become affiliates of the New Cavendish Club in London, which provided inexpensive accommodation in central London.

The SWWJ runs both open and members-only competitions. Recently, for example, they ran an open competition for a Life Writing piece of up to 700 words.

One of the more unusual benefits of membership is that you receive a Press Card. 

Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB):

Cost: 1.2 % of earnings from writing, subject to a minimum £180 pa and a maximum of £1,800 pa

Website: http://www.writersguild.org.uk

Membership is open to writers who have accumulated at least 8 membership 'points', where a professional contract for writing in terms ‘at or above the Writers’ Guild minimum terms,’ earns 8 points, any other commercially produced work earns 4 points, and each self-published work earns 1 point.

Membership is open to authors of books, but the WGGB (like Writers’ Guilds in the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere) is first and foremost at union for writers working in film, television and radio.

Those who have not yet earned enough points for full membership can join as candidate members, at a cost of £100 pa.

They have a free contract-vetting service and they also offer a pension for writers in TV, film and radio, with mandatory employer contributions for writers who work for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or an independent production company.

The WGGB negotiate minimum rates with broadcasters and theatre companies. They campaign on behalf of writers - for example, when it was recently announced that BBC Radio 4 would cut the number of short stories broadcast, the WGGB immediately issued a statement to campaign against the cuts.

They do, however, have a Books Committee, and the annual Writers’ Guild Awards cover fiction and non-fiction books, as well as writing for stage, screen, television and radio.  Off The Shelf at Black's is a collaboration between the WGGB and Black's members club in Soho, offering a series of monthly one day residencies for fiction writers at Black’s.

Crime Writers’ Association (CWA):

Cost: £60 pa

Webite: http://www.thecwa.co.uk

The CWA promotes the crime genre and provides social and professional support for its members. 

Membership is open to published authors in the crime genre, in the UK or overseas – not to self-published authors or to those as yet under contract.  As well as novels and non-fiction books, screen plays, television scripts and plays with a crime theme count. 

CWA is well known for running the annual ‘Dagger’ awards, including the Debut Dagger, awarded each year to an unpublished writer based on the opening chapters and synopsis of their novel.  Many of the winners and short-listed entrants have gone on to be published as a result of the award.

Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA):

Cost: £50 pa (£57 outside EU)

Website: http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org

The RNA was formed in 1960 ‘to promote romantic fiction and to encourage good writing.’  It now represents more than 700 writers, agents, editors and other publishing professionals. Membership is open to all published writers of romantic novels and full length serials of at least 30,000 words. Vanity and self-published works are explicitly excluded.

However, the RNA also runs a New Writers Scheme, which admits 250 unpublished authors annually.  For a fee of £120, they can take part in all RNA activities and also submit a typescript of a full-length novel for appraisal.

The RNA holds regular meetings, with expert speakers sharing their knowledge and experience, and runs an annual conference, where members discuss publishing trends and craft tips.  As their website says, ‘These gatherings are also social events, where members and their guests can enjoy the company of other writers, share the ups and downs of the writer’s life, offer and receive support and encouragement.’  They have an on-line forum for members and a quarterly magazine.

Their annual awards ceremony presents a total of six awards for romantic novels – plus the Harry Bowling Prize For New Writers.

 RNA has close ties with libraries, reflecting the popularity of the romance genre among library users. They issue an e-newsletter to librarians giving details of our members’ latest publications, information on talks and events that have taken place in libraries and the latest RNA news.

Historical Writers’ Association (HWA):

Cost: £65 pa for a standing order, £70 by Paypal or cheque

Website: http://www.thehwa.co.uk

One of the newest professional writers’ associations, the HWA was founded in 2010 to sustain, promote and support writers in the historical field. Their first President is Michael Morpurgo.

Membership open to writers of historical fiction and non-fiction who have work published by recognised publishers in the last five years, where‘historical’ is defined as 35 years or more before date of application.

HWA held an inaugural Literary Festival in July 2011 at Kelmarsh Hall, in conjunction with English Heritage’s Festival of History.  Members have also taken part in a programme of Winter Activities held in conjunction with English Heritage at historical venues around the country.

The HWA awards the HWA Crown for Historical Debut Fiction 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.’

Historical Novel Society

Cost: $50pa / £30pa

Website: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/

Unlike the HWA, the Historical Novel Society is open to anyone who is interested in and passionate about Historical Novels. They started in 1997 as a campaigning organisation for a genre that was then in the doldrums. It is now an international organisation, active in both the US and the UK.

They run competitions to discover new authors, conferences bringing authors and readers together, and maintain internet groups and lists. They are supportive of self-published authors and have an active review section for indie-published historical novels.

They define historical novels as those whose main focus is more than fifty years in the past.

Society of Childrens’ Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI):

Cost: $85 pa for the first year, $70 thereafter

Website: http://britishscbwi.ning.com/  http://www.scbwi.org//

Founded in 1971, SCBWI is an international organisation ‘for those writing and illustrating for children and young adults in the fields of children’s literature, magazines, film, television, and multimedia.’

SCBWI lobbies on issues such as new copyright legislation, equitable treatment of authors and artists, and fair contract terms.

Full membership is open to those whose books, articles, poems, stories, illustrations, photographs, films, television or electronic media for children have been published or produced. SCBWI distinguishes between those books which have been 'Published and Listed' (ie published by traditional publishing houses). Those whose books have not been 'Published and Listed' are still eligible for membership, but are restricted from some member benefits.  

Associate Membership open to anyone with in an interest in children’s literature.

There is a British branch of SCBWI, but membership is through the international organisation. 

SCBWI in Britain run the biennial Undiscovered Voices competition, as well as regular ‘Slush Pile Challenges’ set by agents and editors.

They have a network of regional coordinators who run local critique groups and organise workshops, speakers and social events around the UK.

They run a series of talks by professional writers in London and Manchester/Chester, masterclasses for writers and illustrators, a retreat, and an annual two-day conference.

SCBWI International gives a number of grants and awards, including the Golden Kite award for excellence in children’s literature and ‘work in progress’ grants for both writers and illustrators.

Horror Writers Association

Cost:  $69 pa

Website:  http://www.horror.org

An international organisation with an active UK chapter. 

Membership is open to published professional writers of horror or dark fantasy.  (Affiliate members need only to have published and been paid for a short story (or equivalent) in the genre.) They run a mentoring programme, produce market reports, list agents interested in the horror genre

The Horror Writers Association present the annual Bram Stoker Awards for horror writing (including screenplays, graphic novels and non-fiction).

English PEN / PEN International:

Cost: £50 pa (London and overseas) £45 (rest of UK) £15 (student)

Website: http://www.englishpen.org  /  http://www.pen-international.org/

English PEN is a campaigning organisation supporting the freedom to read and the freedom to write around the world.  They campaign on behalf of persecuted writers, editors and publishers.  In the UK they campaign to reform laws that curb free expression, and for greater access to literature.  They also promote and support literature in translation. Membership is open to anyone.

Their writer-led education programme, Readers & Writers, aims to give refugees, offenders, detainees and young people in schools experiences with reading and creative writing. They also award a number of prizes annually for excellence in literature. 

Membership open to anyone 'whether you’re a writer, a reader, an editor, a translator, a publisher, a literary agent… or just someone who is passionate about literature and freedom of expression.'

 

A Selection of Writers’ Organisations from the U.S.

Romance Writers of America (RWA):

Cost: $95pa (plus $25 new members fee)

Website: http://www.rwa.org/

Membership is open to ‘all persons seriously pursuing a romance fiction writing career.’ Others may join as associates.

They provide information and support from writing classes to information about the publishing industry. As well as several online chapters, they have many local ‘real world’ chapters around the US, allowing you to meet other romance writers face to face.

Mystery Writers of America (MWA):

Cost: $95 pa

Website: http://www.mysterywriters.org

Membership open to ‘professional writers in the crime/mystery/suspense field whose work has been published or produced in the U.S., who reside in the U.S.  Writers must have been paid for their work and must not be self-published.’

You can join initially as a ‘Fan’ and move on to ‘Active’ status when you become published. They provide a broad range of support for new writers, as well as an opportunity to meet editors and agents who specialize in buying and selling all variations of the mystery genre.

They have a monthly newsletter to keep the membership up to date on new mystery releases, breaking news in the publishing world, tips on innovations in self-publishing and eBooks, and articles specific to the craft of writing mystery. Local monthly meetings feature talks by experts in fields related to writing mystery like law enforcement and legal experts.

The MWA University offers full day seminars teaching writers new skills in craft and discussing topics regarding traditional and self publishing.  

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)

Cost:  $90 pa

Website:  http://www.sfwa.org

Membership is open to writers with paid publications in ‘qualifying markets’ (which appear to be US only).

SFWA’ informs, supports, promotes, defends and advocates for’ Science Fiction and Fantasy writers. They assist members in legal disputes with publishers, and administer benevolent funds.

Through on-line forums, conventions and less formal gatherings, they provide information, education, support to their members.

The SFWA present the annual Nebula Awards.