When publisher Kevin Duffy was asked how he decides what to
publish he replied, “I pick a good story” and if King Crow by Michael Stewart is
anything to go by he is an excellent judge of a good story.
Michael spoke about his debut novel, which is a mixture of
bird book, thriller and romance. He read extracts from different sections and talked
about what inspired him to write it. The book has received a number of
accolades including winning the ‘Not the Booker prize’ from The Guardian as
well as being the only new novelist nominated by one of the authors on the
World Book Night Giveaway books. It is also described by novelist David Peace as "brilliant".
The audience enjoyed interacting with Michael
and there was a lively Q and A session after the talk. He gave us a
teasing description of his next book, which will be published next year, and shared with us the news (received by text while he was on the way to Leeds) that he had just been
commissioned by the BBC to write another play for Radio 4.
Kevin Duffy from Bluemoose Books, an independent publisher
based in Hebden Bridge also answered questions on the publishing business and
why he re-mortgaged his house to pursue the business. He gave a very
interesting insight to the big publishing houses and also the big literary
awards.
The event was very enjoyable and both Michael and Kevin
spoke passionately about books and writing. I wish them further success with
King Crow, it certainly deserves it.
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