April 14: One Writers’ Group: Three Routes to Publication @ 6pm

WEST COUNTRY AUTHORS TO SHARE TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Three Devon authors, who are all members of the same writing group, will be sharing their experience of the rocky road to publication, in an attempt to help other writers get published.

Calstock Arts are thrilled to welcome, Yaara Lahav Gregory, Anna Lunk, and Sophie Pierce, in conversation  at the Old Chapel  with their One Writers’ Group: Three Routes to Publication.

Anna Lunk, a one time resident of Calstock and member of Girl’s Own Theatre lives in Staverton, while Sophie Pierce and Yaara Lahav Gregory live in Ashburton. They are all members of Ashburton Writers’ Group.

All three have had books published in the last year, but know what a lonely business writing is, and how difficult it is to get published. The trio will share their experiences, reading extracts from their books, talking about their journeys to publication and discussing the support and encouragement they received from their writing group.

Their books are very different: Yaara’s Night Swimming in the Jordan (Cinnamon Press) is a novel set in 1970s Israel, but which also incorporates life in Devon. Anna’s novel Amie’s Rest  (Buzzard Press) is the story of a young girl navigating life on her own after being in care, while Sophie’s memoir The Green Hill: Letters to a Son (Unbound)  is about the sudden death of her son Felix, and the role of the Devon landscape in her journey of grief.

Says Anna: “All writers know how difficult it is to get published. For many years, we’ve all been working away, mostly on our own, so being part of a writer’s group has been an enormous source not just of support, but of sharing of information.

Yaara is delighted the group have found success, and says writers should never give up. “Who would have thought that all three of us would publish books in the same year, after so many years of hard work not to mention disappointments!”

Further info on the authors and books

Yaara Lahav Gregory’s novel Night Swimming in the Jordan (Cinnamon Press) explores the political landscape of 1970s Israel through the story of a young girl in a kibbutz community.  Many years later her daughter is living in Devon and trying to make sense of absences in her family’s history.  Both a coming of age novel and an exploration of clashing ideologies Night Swimming in the Jordan is a portrayal of a country in conflict seen through a young girl’s eyes.

 In Anna Lunk’s Amie’s Rest  (Buzzard Press) Amie, a young woman suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder is sheltering in a derelict cottage in woodland above a Scottish loch.  She has run out of money and is distrustful of the outside world, but is none the less determined to live life on her own terms.  The novel follows Amie’s first few weeks as she struggles to survive against the odds;, lonely, but deeply connected to the natural world. The reader is immersed in her west coast surroundings, walking in her footsteps.

Sophie Pierce’s The Green Hill, letters to a son (Unbound) was inspired by the sudden death of her son Felix, a young man with his life before him.  The book is a celebration of the restorative power of nature and is deeply rooted in the landscapes of South Devon. It explores how beauty, a sense of place and the passing seasons can help us contend with our own mortality.  Sophie’s previous books, co-written with Matt Newbury, include Wild Swimming Torbay , Wild Swimming Walks Cornwall, Wild Swimming Walks Dorset and East Devon, and  Wild Swimming Walks Dartmoor and South Devon.