HarperFiction are looking for two libraries to host a virtual event with a panel of exciting debut authors, whose novels range from a mysterious note in the back of a library book, to a globe-sweeping virus that kills only men.
What better way is there to discover exciting new authors than through a library event? Furthermore, what better time to celebrate debut novels than National Writing Day!
Libraries with experience of running successful online events are invited to pitch to host one of the two panels on National Writing Day on 23 June. Libraries are welcome to pitch for both panels.
Panel 1:
Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List (publishing 22 July)
‘Absolutely captures the magic of reading and libraries’ – Louise Hare
Aleisha is working at the local library on Harrow Road when she discovers a crumpled-up list of books she’s never heard of, each with their own hidden magic. When her grief-stricken grandfather arrives at the library, so begins a new chapter between two lonely souls, who’ll learn that fiction can teach them a whole lot about real life…
Find out more about The Reading List here
Abigail Dean, author of Girl A (published 21 January)
Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family, or the ‘House of Horrors’ she grew up in. But when her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Beautifully written and incredibly powerful, Girl A is a story of redemption, of horror, and of love.
Find out more about Girl A here
Donna Freitas, author of The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano (published 13 May)
‘Honest and original’ – Dawn O’Porter
Following the butterfly effect of one life-defining choice, nine times over, The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano winds through all the paths and decisions that shape a life. It cuts to the heart of what it means to be a woman. Every expectation, every choice, every path, every outcome – every piece of oneself that’s lost and found along the way…
Find out more about The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano here
Panel 2:
NB: All these authors or their books have a connection to Scotland.
Christina Sweeney-Baird, author of The End of Men (published 29 April)
Dr Amanda Maclean is called to treat a young man with a mild fever. Within three hours he dies. The mysterious illness sweeps through the hospital with deadly speed. The victims are all men. Dr Maclean raises the alarm, but the sickness spreads, threatening families, governments, the entire world. Can they find a cure before it’s too late? Will this be the story of the end of the world – or its salvation?
Find out more about The End of Men here
Carole Johnstone, author of Mirrorland (published 15 April)
Underneath no. 36 Westeryk Road on the outskirts of Edinburgh is Mirrorland. A vivid make-believe world that twin sisters Cat and El created as children. A place of escape, but from what? Now in her thirties, Cat has turned her back on her past. But when she receives news that one sunny morning, El left harbour in her sailboat and never came back, she is forced to return to Westeryk Road; to re-enter a forgotten world of lies, betrayal and danger.
Find out more about Mirrorland here
Catriona Silvey, author of Meet Me in Another Life (publishing 8 July)
Thora and Santi have met before… under the clocktower in central Cologne, with nothing but the stars above and their futures ahead. They don’t know it yet, but they’ll meet again: in numerous lives they will become friends, colleagues, lovers, enemies – meeting over and over for the first time, every time; each coming to know every version of the other. Only they can make sure it’s not for the last time. Silvey’s exquisite debut throws two individuals together multiple times across time and space, forcing them to confront the question of why they keep meeting in so many different lives.
Find out more about Meet Me in Another Life here
How to get involved
The deadline to pitch to host one of the panels is 4PM on Wednesday 19 May.
To pitch to host panel 1, please complete this survey
To pitch to host panel 2, please complete this survey
Good luck!
