Hodder & Stoughton has acquired two novels by Absolute Fiction’s Guy Saville, both of which are "alternate history thrillers set in England and Africa in the 1950s", in a world in which Britain has capitulated to the Nazis to secure a 'Peace for the Empire' policy.

Nick Sayers bought British Commonwealth rights to The Afrika Reich and The Madagaskar Plan for an undisclosed sum from agent Jonny Pegg.

Sayers said: "Guy describes The Afrika Reich as Fatherland meets The Wild Geese, and that's good enough for me... Actually, in amongst the mayhem, which is brilliantly orchestrated, there is a very thoughtful novel here too, and this is a very exciting publication for early 2011."

Congratulations Guy! For further info please visit the Afrika Reich website.

Susan Seller’s first novel, Vanessa and Virginia, has recently been made available as an e-book by its publisher Two Ravens Press. To order a download copy please click here.

Susan also recently appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman Hour’ (22/10/09), where she discussed the 80th anniversary of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own with the biographer Hermione Lee.

Elizabeth Ferretti’s debut novel, Anglian Archipelago, was recently shortlisted for the Apprenticeship in Fiction scheme. For further details please see the Adventures in Fiction website.

Eight members of Absolute Fiction took to the stage of Cambridge's ADC Theatre today, to give their first group reading since their inaugural Foyles appearance in May ‘08.

The event, expertly compered by Fraser Grace, seemed to run very smoothly, with forthcoming bookings for Carnegie Hall expected any time soon! Watch this space...

Caroline Gilfillan was the winner of the Jarrolds prize for the best poem by a Norfolk author in the Norwich Cafe Writers 2009 competition.

For the past year, as a member of Inprint, she’s been working with the Paston Heritage Society on a project producing collaborative work between poets and artists, drawing inspiration from the Paston Letters. The results formed part of an exhibition that ran at the Grapevine Gallery, Norwich, until 19 April.

Caroline is chair of the festival committee of Poetry-next-the-Sea, the poetry festival held annually in Wells-next-the-Sea, North Norfolk. This year the festival runs from 8 to 10 May, and readers include Louis de Bernieres, HugoWilliams, Fleur Adcock and Annie Freud. Further information on www.poetry-next-the-sea.com.

She’ll also be Writer in Residence in St Mary’s church East Ruston, Norfolk, over the Art Alive weekend of 23 to 25 May. Drop in if you’re in the vicinity.

Edward Parnell has been awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship. The award will fund a six-week expedition later in the year to Australia to research his next project, which will focus on the history of the exploration of the outback and the continent’s unique wildlife.
 
“Winning this Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship gives me a fantastic opportunity to visit some fascinating, remote parts of Australia, and to weave together the tangled stories of the continent’s history and enigmatic wildlife in my first travel book.”
 
Prior to studying for his MA, Edward worked as Communications Officer at BirdLife International, where he was involved in the conservation of the world’s globally threatened birds – knowledge he hopes to put to good use on his trip. For more information on the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust please see:
http://www.wcmt.org.uk

Susan Seller's novel Vanessa and Virginia, a fictionalised account of the life of Vanessa Bell and her complex relationship with her sister Virginia Woolf, was published in May 2008 by Two Ravens and Harcourt in the United States, with the latter also expressing an interest in her second book Minuet in B Sharp.

The success continues with the book selected for the Barnes and Noble summer 2009 'Discover New Writers' programme and award in the United States. It will be profiled by 700 Barnes and Noble bookshops, and will also be eligible for their best New Writers of 2009 award.

Fraser Grace's collection of short stories, Wrestling Angels, have been broadcast on Radio 4 in January, and his play The Lifesavers showed in London’s Theatre 503 from 27th January to 21st February before moving on to Colchester’s Mercury Theatre from 24th February to 7th March.

Further good news follows as his first opera Don’t Breath A Word is to be developed by the Royal Opera House later in 2009. Find out more on the BBC website, for which Fraser was interviewed.