Writers Magazine

Novelist Manda Scott has formed the Historical Writers’ Association as a forum for writers and to promote the genre.

The internet-based group, which already boasts around 100 members including authors Simon Scarrow, Stella Duffy, Robyn Young, Laura Wilson, Tom Holland and James Holland, is aimed at writers of historical fiction and non-fiction. Agents, editors and publishers have also already joined including Charlie Viney, Jane Judd, Broo Doherty and Bill Hamilton plus David Headley, MD of Goldsboro Books.

Scott said: 'I used to be a member of the CWA - an extraordinary resource as an up-and-coming author, enormously useful. I’ve been writing historical fiction for nearly a decade, and I realised there wasn’t anything [for us]. Crime writing is the big brother of all the genres. I wanted to create something to be a forum [for] writers of historical fiction and non-fiction to get together.’

Writing in the Bookseller, author Tom Holland, Chair of the Society of Authors, explains how the Association has been put together and is intended to provide a means of communication amongst historical writers, as well as a means of promoting historical writing. He says it:

‘is evidence of something hugely positive that authors, rather than only ever feeling disoriented or bruised by the speed of changes online, are learning to turn them to their own advantage. Join the HWA – as anyone involved in writing history, whether fiction or non-fiction, is entitled to do – and you are effectively logged in to a social media network…

More and more, I suspect, authors will be able to combine the isolation – which is the necessary condition of writing – with ready access to their peers. No longer will writers be forced to depend exclusively on publishers to raise the profile of their chosen genre. The future is social indeed.’

Historical Writers Association

MandaScott’s blog