Historical Writers’ Association

Update: Our Festival of Historical Writing will take place at Kelmarsh near Northampton, on 16th/17th July.  Full schedule out shortly – there’s a ticket for entry, but the events themselves are free – and there will be stacks upon stacks of books to be signed by all scheduled authors.

 

In early October 2010, a group of writers got together and formed the Historical Writers’ Association – the HWA. This grew from the belief that we as historical writers need to have the same kind of professional body run by professional writers for professional writers (and their agents and publishers) to sustain, promote and support each other and our work in the way that the Crime Writers’ Association supports writers of crime fiction and non-fiction.

Our initial plans involve a festival of Historical Writing to be held in conjunction with Historic England’s Festival of History at Kelmarsh  - probably in 2012, although we may have a dry run in 2011.  We will move towards finding sponsorship for historical prizes, and organise the social events similar to the CWA, plus alternatives as our members see fit: in the era of electronic networking, a great deal is being achieved already online.

Our ‘Aims of Association’ are as follows:

The Historical Writers’ Association: an association of both historical fiction and non-fiction who have work published by recognised publishers, plus their agents and publishers. Membership shall be limited to those authors who have work published in the last 5 years, although others may be admitted at the discretion of the committee.

The Association exists to promote, sustain and raise the profile of historical writing. Membership of the association will be granted to all writers, agents and publishing staff who, in the opinion of the HWA committee, have demonstrated, either through their writing or their role in bringing such material into print, their commitment to this ideal.

For the avoidance of doubt, ‘historical’ shall be defined as being beyond 35 years from the point of application.

Thus we are open to writers of fiction and non-fiction alike – anyone who fulfills our criteria and makes a living out of publishing books in which the core matter is historical – plus their agents and publishers.

If you think you’d like to join us, or know someone who does, please mail our Membership Secretary: tony.riches@ btinternet.com