March 2013 Update
Flambard is officially closed and we are no longer publishing any books. If you have a new manuscript, I’m afraid we’re not going to be able to look at it. On the positive side, there are many great publishers out there looking for new work and one of them may be what you’ve been looking for.
Our writers are out there still and many of their fantastic books remain on sale. If you’re looking for a Flambard writer, try Inpress before other online retailers as that way you’ll be directly supporting the independent sector at a time when it needs you more than ever. You’ll also get a chance to see brilliant new books from some other publishers.
From time to time I’ll update on what Flambard writers are doing but because of other commitments (work and children mostly), these updates will be rare and sporadic, following no timetable. If you’re one of our writers and want to notify us about a new project, a review or anything else happening in your creative life, then please do get in touch.
For now, here are a few recent bits of news:
Massive congratulations to Avril Joy who was the inaugural winner of the Costa Short Story Prize for ‘Millie and Bird’. We published Avril’s debut novel The Sweet Track in 2007 and really look forward to more of her short fiction.
Another winner is poet Mary Robinson, who has just won the Mirehouse Poetry Prize, judged by Blake Morrison. Her elegant poem, ‘Beech Trees’, can be read here. Also commended in the competition was fellow Flambard poet and translator Chris Pilling. Well done to them both.
Staying with the prize winners, Kelley Swain’s verse novel Opera di Cera, inspired by the anatomical wax models at La Specola in Florence, won the Templar Poetry Iota Shots pamphlet award for 2013. This is excellent recognition for such an original project blending creativity and science.
Books published in the last year or so are still being reviewed, and there’s been more praise for Olivia Byard’s Strange Horses. Writing in the Oxford Magazine, Heather Pyrcz, comments that ‘Though clear eyed, these poems are deeply spiritual; poems that gain through layers of their profundity, but also their tenderness… Olivia Byard guides us forwards with confidence and compassion’. Olivia also has a new website devoted to her work.
It’s good to see new books by our writers being published. Courttia Newland’s new novel The Gospel According to Cane is just out and highly recommended, while Rebecca Goss’s next poetry collection, Her Birth, is part of the Carcanet programme for summer 2013.
Lastly, for now, if you were lucky enough to get to Stanza this year, you might have seen Andrew Forster, who has also recently been reading to huge audiences as part of Poetry Live. Have a look at Andrew’s website for more details of his live events.