News from Stanfords – Page 2

Book Launch: Deterring Armageddon

On Tuesday 27th February we had the pleasure of hosting the launch of Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO by Peter Apps which tells the history of the world’s most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

2023 ESTWA Children’s Book of the Year Shortlist Announced

We are so excited to share the shortlisted books for the Children’s Travel Book of the Year. This category celebrated fiction or non-fiction title for pre-teens which inspires a love of travel, exploration and adventure.

The 2023 Children’s Travel Book of the Year Shortlist:

2022 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards

Launched in 2015, the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (ESTWA) seek to celebrate the best travel writing, and travel writers, in the world. Many figures from the travel writing genre gathered at Stanfords London on 3rd March to celebrate.

Vivien Godfrey, Chairman and Chief Executive of Stanfords, said “Travel writing has become even more important in the past two years. Despite not been able to travel as much as we’d like, we’ve been able to see the world through books and are delighted to be able to come together to celebrate the wonderful writing that has flourished out of these challenging times.”

In total 33 books made the shortlists, divided into eight awards categories with winners being both debut authors and award-winning writers. The judging panels included authors Lois Pryce, Jini Reddy, Julia Wheeler, Lucy Popescu, Nicholas Jubber, the MD of Trip Fiction website Tina Hartas, Travel Writing World Podcast’s Jeremy Bassetti, Stanfords booksellers and members of the Stanfords senior team.

The Long Field by Pamela Petro

Wales, and the Presence of Absence – A Memoir

by Pamela Petro

The Long Field burrows into the Welsh countryside to tell how the small country of Wales became a big part of American writer Pamela Petro’s life. Petro, author of Travels in an Old Tongue – Touring the World Speaking Welsh, writes about herself and Wales through the lens of hiraeth, a Welsh word famously hard to translate. (It can mean, literally, “long field.”) Hiraeth refers to a bone-deep longing for someone or something–a home, culture, language, a younger self–that you’ve lost or left behind or that was imaginary to begin with, hovering always in the future. It’s a name for the presence of absence.

The Book of Reykjavik: A City in Short Fiction

West Camel presents the online launch of The Book of Reykjavik, A City in Short Fiction.

Recorded on the 1st September 2021.

Part of Comma’s popular ‘Reading the City’ series, this beautiful collection includes ten stories, translated into English for the first time capturing the essence of contemporary Iceland and its writing.

Life Lessons From the Amazon by Pip Stewart

Last night we made the most of a beautiful balmy evening in Covent Garden by hosting the launch of Life Lessons From the Amazon: A Guide to Life From One Epic Jungle Adventure by Pip Stewart.

A walk in the park life…

Inspired by the scenery, hidden histories and encounters in his local park in London during the lockdowns – and with nowhere to go – Tom Chesshyre set off on a “voyage of the imagination” around parks he has enjoyed across the globe in his new book Park Life, a celebration of all things park:

It was somewhere between my tenth and twentieth weekly circumnavigation of Richmond Park, having not gone anywhere else much for months (other than my Sainsbury’s Local), that I began to slip into the rhythm of “park life”.

During that period from March 2020, I watched the landscape of London’s largest park (2,400 acres) subtly shift as green shoots of spring slowly emerged, the stark outline of ancient oaks seemingly sprinkled by heavenly herbs.

2021 winners’ announced for The Wainwright Prize for Nature and Conservation Writing

The winners of the much-loved Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and for Global Conservation Writing have been announced at a live award ceremony yesterday, Tuesday 7 September, at the London Wetland Centre.

The award winners are English Pastoral by James Rebanks and Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake.

Writers in the Hot Seat: Polly Barton

-by Stanfords Bristol

This August has seen us celebrating Women in Translation month, an entire month dedicated to great literature written by and translated by women. To help round off this celebration, we’ve enlisted the help of Bristol-based translator, Polly Barton.

Wainwright Prize shortlists announced for the best writing on UK nature and global conservation

Now in its eighth year, The Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing is awarded annually to the book which most successfully inspires readers to explore the outdoors and to nurture a respect for the natural world. Named after much-loved nature writer Alfred Wainwright, the prizes will be awarded to the work which best reflects Wainwright’s core values and are a celebration of the outdoors or a warning over the dangers to it across the globe.

The Wainwright Prize is split into two categories: