Writing – Kiran writes stories…

Kirkus Reviews Books of the Year 2018 and USBBY Outstanding Books List 2019

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 14:10:44 +0000

While re-writing my bio for the US edition of The Way Past Winter (forthcoming from Chronicle Books in ‘Fall’ 2020), I discovered that The Island at the End of Everything was selected by Kirkus as one of their books of the year! Belatedly delighted, as Kirkus is the most influential literary reviewer in the US, and because Island is very much the book of my heart. It also appeared on the USBBY Outstanding International Books List 2019.

The post Kirkus Reviews Books of the Year 2018 and USBBY Outstanding Books List 2019 appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

The Deathless Girls

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 11:55:11 +0000

I am beside myself with excitement to finally be able to publicly talk about The Deathless Girls, my imagining of the origin stories of the so-called ‘brides’ of Dracula! This was a commission from Helen Thomas at Hachette Childrens’, as part of their new Bellatrix series. The series’ first publication is Becoming Dinah, by the inimitable Kit de Waal, inspired by Moby Dick and published in July. The Deathless Girls will follow in September this year. Read more about the books and series here.

The post The Deathless Girls appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

Soul Keeping Company

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 18:18:53 +0000

I just learnt of the passing of my favourite poet, Lucie Brock-Broido, who died yesterday aged 61. Her work showed me how language could be twisted, melded, forced & forged into something new & beautiful & shining. My heart is a little bit broken.
Here is an interview she gave about Emily Dickinson.
Here is one of my favourite poems, which John Burnside introduced me to, just as I started to take my writing seriously.

The post Soul Keeping Company appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

So long, 2017, & thanks for all the fish…

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 09:05:03 +0000

2017 – with its Weinsteins, ignorance, natural disasters compounded by human action, Brexit – hasn’t been great for the world, but it’s been extraordinarily kind to me in my personal and professional life.
My debut novel The Girl of Ink & Stars won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in March, and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year in April. My second, The Island at the End of Everything, got shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award and the Blue Peter Book Award in November.
I wrote my third book: at my desk in Oxford, in a leather armchair by a storm tossed sea on the Isle of Harris, in pubs and cafes with my best friends.
I hosted the launch of my favourite author of all time’s new book in October: The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman. I finished it on Will and Lyra’s bench in the Botanical Gardens as the midday bells began to ring and rain began to fall. I cried.
I saw a wild sea otter.
I read and read and read: 111 books this year. Adventures, thrillers, love stories, horror, non-fiction, poetry. I glutted on other people’s words and worlds and it made me ache to write more, to write better, but never to write like them.
I got married three times: at a registry in Oxford in front of family, in the Bodleian Library in front of friends, by the sea in Goa. We exchanged rings, danced our first dance, threw rice and ghee into a fire. We promised across two continents in two languages, to continue growing our lives together.
We met our new niece, watched our other nieces and nephews become even more themselves. The years has ended with two engagements of two favourite people. We travelled to four tiny islands in the Indian Ocean and lived in our swimsuits, got sunburnt and tanned and freckled, swam with a sea turtle, drank coconut and rum, snorkelled away from a shark, spent £60 on dog and cat food for the strays, walked white beaches, saw no sunsets, fought once.
I made amazing new friends, and fell even more in love with my ‘old’ ones. I spent a lot of time in bed with our cat, Luna, or on the sofa with her, or taking pictures of her.
I had no panic attacks. I lost only one week to depression. I was anxious only for hours at a time. I am sure having a cat is part of the reason for this. I got my long-term health issues diagnosed. I completed Yoga with Adriene’s 30 Day Challenge.
In 2018 I will travel even more, for work and for just because: to Malaysia, Oman, UAE, Norway, Italy, France, Spain. I will continue to donate too much money to charity and send too much to Kickstarter campaigns and Unbound. I will learn to cook ramen from scratch. I will buy secondhand clothes and use my reusable water bottle, forgo straws. I will visit friends more regularly, and go dancing more.
I hope to care less about what my body looks like, and care more about my body. I hope to visit family in India. I hope to text friends back within an hour rather than a day. I hope to write two books and read a hundred.
I hope for another year of happiness and health, and I wish the same for you.

The post So long, 2017, & thanks for all the fish… appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

Costa Book Awards Shortlists

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 20:32:48 +0000

I’m incredibly proud to be involved with the Costa Book Awards in two capacities: firstly, as a judge for the Poetry category, and secondly as a shortlistee!

So excited to see The Island at the End of Everything on such a wonderful shortlist.

The post Costa Book Awards Shortlists appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

A month (& a bit) of madness

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Fri, 12 May 2017 13:06:01 +0000

Well. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know it’s been quite a few weeks for The Girl of Ink & Stars, all those involved with her journey, and me. The month after it won the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year Award was full of joy, including window displays, interviews, and even re-entry into the bestseller charts.

It was wonderful to revisit the excitement I felt during my debut month. In fact, it was even better, because a year on GOI&S has had the sort of success I never even dared to dream about. The Island at the End of Everything came out early too, and there was a rather special week when my debut and second book were two of the top three bestselling middle grade books at Waterstones. Here they are, making a Robin Stevens sandwich.

But this wasn’t even the most exciting part of April, because at the end of the month, I got married to my long-time love and best friend, Tom de Freston. We had a whole weekend of happiness, with a low-key official ceremony at the local registry office with family on one day, and a huge celebration with family and friends the next. This of course meant I had to have two outfits.

They were the happiest two days of my life, and we’re still caught up in the giddiness of it all.
A short week later, the Branford Boase Award shortlist was announced, and I am delighted to say GOI&S is on there alongside some of my favourite authors and friends.

A long time ago now – three years in fact – when I’d just signed with Chicken House, I remember that year’s shortlist being announced, and saying to Tom that this was the award that I’d dearly love to win. It rewards and recognises the work of the editor, as well as the author, and GOI&S was an especial team effort owing to the eight drafts I completed with my wonderful editor, Rachel Leyshon. It was a different book when she found it, and without her and Barry’s guidance, it could not have become what it has. I found my voice thanks to her hard work. I feel very emotional and blessed to be considered for this unique award, though looking at the shortlist a win may be too much to hope for.
The evening after the Branford Boase was announced, we found ourselves at the British Book Awards, where GOI&S was shortlisted for Children’s Book of the Year. Chicken House were kind enough to host Tom as well, and we had a brilliant night.

Tom, me, Barry Cunningham on the red carpet!

When I found out it was shortlisted, I was also told it was the Oscars of the book world – and it totally was! Held in the same venue as the BAFTAs, compered by the Strictly Come Dancing voiceover guy, and replete with red carpet and photographers, it was a truly amazing evening even before this happened…

Yep. WE ONLY BLOODY WON. Which, considering the shortlist looked like this:

…is pretty remarkable, and a testament to the incredible job Chicken House did of editing, designing, and marketing the book. I had no idea we would win, and my speech was not the most eloquent, but at least we were told to keep it brief. Then we ate, drank, danced (Barry C has MOVES) and drank some more. It was one of the best nights of my life. Here’s an article Sian Cain at The Guardian wrote about it all.
If all that wasn’t enough, The Island at the End of Everything launched the next day at Waterstones Piccadilly.

It’s had some gorgeous reviews, including this in the Telegraph last week.

I’m overjoyed it’s having such a good reception. I loved writing it, and in some ways prefer it to GOI&S – here is a Q&A I did about it with The Bookseller.
So, that’s us all caught up. Now TIATEOE is out officially, school events and festivals are starting, and I have a busy time ahead. More than anything, I am looking forward to finishing my next book, and taking the next steps in a career that has been given such an amazing start.

The post A month (& a bit) of madness appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

BBC Radio Oxford Interview

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 19:11:28 +0000

Today I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Kat Orman at BBC Radio Oxford. We talked books, Waterstones Children’s Books Prize, and future plans. Click here to listen from 1hr 32mins.

The post BBC Radio Oxford Interview appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

Jhalak Prize Shortlist

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 16:51:08 +0000

Here’s some news I never thought I’d be able to write about, because I imagined the chances of it happening were too small to consider – The Girl of Ink & Stars has made it onto the Jhalak Prize shortlist, from a long-list of eleven incredible books. It is the only children’s book on the list, and I feel so grateful and proud to be flying the kids’ lit flag amongst such company. Here are the books in the running:

I’ve read all but David Olusoga’s Black and British: A Forgotten History, and Jacob Ross’ The Bone Readers, which I intend to buy, borrow or steal as soon as possible. The shortlist has been covered by The Bookseller and The Guardian so far, and from these articles I’ve gleaned some of the lovely things the judges have said…just never read the comments.
For a prize with such hopeful and positive aims, it’s been a depressingly contentious process so far – I personally found Khorsandi’s decision to withdraw because her book is not about ‘ethnic issues’ – nor is mine – bewildering (great blog about it here) – and there have been gleeful accounts of how low the submission numbers were (51 the week before deadline, though this then more than tripled). The latter is surely an inditement of how much we need such a prize, that so few books fall into the criteria.
All prizes have selection criteria: in a way this one is less restrictive as it accepts all genres, from non-fiction to science writing, kids’ lit to short stories. In my view, the Jhalak Prize is surely a wholly wonderful thing: it aims to raise up the voices of writers of colour, whatever they choose to write about it. I am incredibly proud to be part of it.

The post Jhalak Prize Shortlist appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

It's official!

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 15:02:13 +0000

So happy to announce that I have signed up to three more books with my lovely publishers, Chicken House. The first is out in May 2017, and is titled The Island at the End of Everything. It’s available to preorder now from Waterstones, Foyles, and many other outlets.
For now, here’s the official Bookseller announcement.

The post It's official! appeared first on Kiran writes stories....

NaNoWriMo 2016

Kiran Millwood Hargrave — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 13:00:39 +0000

For those of you who aren’t aware, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 i.e. a large chunk (or more!) of a novel, and this year is the first time I am partaking. It’s a pledge to myself that I won’t fall into the usual post-edits slump – book two just went to my publisher and I don’t want to waste the momentum by watching Netflix all day. To keep myself motivated I’m using the fab NaNoWriMo website, on which I found this beautiful advice from one of my favourite authors, Catherynne M. Valente:

I’m also going to follow this ace photobook challenge I found on Instagram:

Let’s do this.

The post NaNoWriMo 2016 appeared first on Kiran writes stories....