Long-time readers, friends and colleagues on here will know that over the past decade or so I’ve produced an occasional newsletter, using the medium to share book news, updates, invites to my events, etc. You may also have noticed that there hasn’t been one for a while.
I paused the newsletter in early 2020 because, in common with many freelancers working across the arts and creative industries, much of my public-facing work dried up during the Covid-19 pandemic. The things other than books – the ad hoc rolling commissions, events, appearances, residencies, etc. – that can with a lot of luck contribute to a writing life, mostly disappeared, more or less overnight.
As it happened, when Lockdown hit, I was already in a slightly less public mode than I had been around publication of The Fountain in the Forest, as I was by then well underway with the next volume of the trilogy. More of which anon.
Online events have been a revelation, too; making a huge, positive impact in terms of access for disabled artists, writers and audiences, as well as opening up events across geographical – and economic – boundaries. I hope those opportunities can be maintained and built upon, and I’m a wholehearted supporter of the #keepfestivalshybrid campaign.
But actual live readings in front of an audience are a central part of my work as a writer, and I’ve really missed live gigs. So it was brilliant to do Brixton Book Jam (pictured) last month; amazing to be performing in front of a live audience once again.
Over the past couple of years, while there have occasionally been things to tweet, or to post here or on Instagram, there’s not felt quite the critical mass of outputs to put together in a newsletter – until now.
Lockdown also brought the opportunity to do some modest but essential forward-planning work supported by Arts Council England through the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund: for individuals. I’m truly grateful. That small grant really was a godsend, and it enabled me to devote a little time to bringing my scriptwriting and script consultancy work together in one place, and to do similar for the writing workshops that I offer.
It also allowed me to research a better way of doing my newsletter: to make the service available to more people, to offer more to subscribers, and to find a way around some of the glitches that had grown with the previous format, so that when things started up again, the newsletter could too.
And with several exciting publications and events in the pipeline once again, now seems a good time to do just that, and pick up where we left off.
So here’s the announcement: If you don’t already subscribe to my occasional newsletter for book news and invites to events, but would like to, it’s easy! (And you can unsubscribe at any time.) Here’s the ALL NEW sign-up page…
Thank you
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Buy my latest novel The Fountain in the Forest direct from publisher Faber and Faber…
Tony White would like to acknowledge the support of Arts Council England through the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund: for individuals.
Piece of Paper Press 
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