April's newsletter
We're on Substack! Everything you need to know about what's happening at Saraband.
Hello, and welcome to our Substack. We aim to make this a hub for our news, updates and author developments, and to introduce our new books, as well as to create a community of readers. We hope you’ll enjoy reading more about our books and finding out a little more about what makes us tick as a sustainable, independent, ethical small press dedicated to finding and publishing the best writing from authors of all backgrounds.
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Last month we joined colleagues from around the world at the London Book Fair, where we picked up some new potential titles for our list and spent time promoting our books to publishers in other languages. Back home, we’ve been celebrating the release of new titles including Singing Like Larks, Writing Landscape and The Zen of Climbing – more below!
Newsletter exclusive: Q&A with Andrew Millham
Andrew Millham, author of Singing Like Larks, tells us about his debut book celebrating birds in folk songs, his inspirations and his folk music recommendations.
How did Singing Like Larks come about?
Well, I was driving home from Malham Tarn just before the first Covid-19 lockdown and the BBC2 Folk Show came on the radio. A traditional English song called ‘The Birds in the Spring’ was sung by the Copper Family, a farming folk dynasty from East Sussex with a centuries-old singing tradition. I was instantly hooked. The more songs I listened to, the more birds there seemed to be! After a while, I pitched an article to BirdWatching magazine which was published in October 2020 and really proved the concept for Singing Like Larks.
Did writing this book make you feel more connected to the nature and music around you?
Definitely and, what’s more, it also revealed to me just how connected our ancestors were with both music and nature. After long dusty days working out in the fields of Britain, countryfolk would retire to pub and cottage and continue to sing about the birds that had surrounded them all day. Birds were a major part of their lives, and so they sang about them.
Who inspires your writing?
My main writing inspiration is Bob Copper, who published his debut book ‘A Song for Every Season’ in 1971 (Heinemann). It is a marvellously descriptive book in which Bob recounts a farming year in his home of Rottingdean, East Sussex, and the old land workers and shepherds known to him. Some books have that rare ability to transport you back in time and that, along with his second book ‘Songs and Southern Breezes’ (1973), certainly possess it.
Other inspirations include Stephen Moss, author of brilliantly-written books like ‘Skylarks with Rosie’, ‘The Accidental Countryside’ and ‘Mrs Moreau’s Warbler’. Stephen wrote a lovely foreword to Singing Like Larks and his main piece of advice – ‘Show, don’t tell’ – carried me through the writing process
How does it feel to see your debut book out in bookshops?
Lovely, but slightly surreal! After I write something I tend to forget that anyone can actually read it, so it is fantastic to see bookshops stocking and people reading the book. What I am most chuffed about is to see the traditional songs within, nearly dead and lain to rest, reaching a fresh new audience.
Which folk song would you recommend people listen to first if they haven’t listened to the genre before?
Hmm, tough question. I would probably guide people to Kate Rusby’s ‘The Fairest of all Yarrow’ because Kate is fantastic at breathing new life into traditional old songs. Her music certainly appeals to a wide audience and is a great place to start in the genre. Also, ‘Lowlands of Holland’ and ‘The Foggy Dew’ are both centuries-old songs performed brilliantly by Irish folk-duo Ye Vagabonds – their vocals are stunning! If unaccompanied song is your thing, then the Copper Family’s music is certainly the place to start. Ahh, there is just too much to choose from!!
Stay ‘In the Moment’ with our new compact books that centre mindful attention on our activities and surroundings
They’re here! The first two books in our new ‘In the Moment’ collection have reached UK bookshelves this month, with two more in edits and a further pair soon to follow. From climbing and walking to permaculture and watching wildlife, these books are inspirational and a welcome relief from the pressures of our daily lives.
In Writing Landscape, Linda Cracknell hikes the wooded hillside close to her home, a place she is intimately familiar with in all seasons. And she retraces the steps of a trek made by her parents seven decades earlier. She explores her inspirations, in nature and from other artists and their work, and she offers thoughtful writing prompts.
Reading Linda’s book will take you to new places, open your eyes to the world, and suggest ways to take note and make notes as you go—to inspire your own attentive looking, journalling, and writing practice.
Wherever you escape into nature, you can find Writing Landscape in paperback, audiobook (narrated by the author) or ebook, to help you read, focus your attention and be fully present on what you’re doing.
In The Zen of Climbing, climber and philosopher Francis Sanzaro explores the fundamentals of successful climbing, whether for beginners or advanced climbers and from the indoor climbing wall to trad, ice and bouldering routes and problems. He delves into psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and Taoism. Awareness, Sanzaro argues, is the alchemy of climbing, allowing us to merge mental and physical attributes in one embodied whole. This book, by the author of the classic The Boulder: A Philosophy of Bouldering, puts the climber’s mind at the forefront of practice. It’s out now in paperback, ebook, and audiobook (narrated by Michael Dohn).
One Body for World Book Night + World Health Day
The Reading Agency and World Book Night aim to bring reading for pleasure to more and more people each year by encouraging everyone to read a book to celebrate World Book Night. This year, Catherine Simpson’s One Body: A Retrospective was chosen as one of four audiobooks in high-profile campaign. We couldn’t have been more proud to have our book selected, and through this programme we’ve helped thousands of readers to find an important, engaging and often funny book, in spite of its challenging subject matter.
April 7th marked World Health Day, another poignant reminder to care for, nourish and appreciate our bodies, which Catherine highlights in the book.
Get your copy of One Body here.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see more about all our activities, and those of our authors, from World Book Night to special events and festivals.
Charlotte Brontë Revisited – we revisit her birthday
On April 21, Charlottë Bronte’s birthday slipped by with little fanfare, while Shakespeare’s, just two days later, is always part of a national celebration. Charlotte was born in 1816 and outlived all five of her siblings. You can read a fresh interpretation of the life and works of Charlotte in Sophie Franklin’s Charlotte Brontë Revisited.
Team Saraband shares their favourite Substacks
Since this is our first time sending our newsletter in this new medium, we’d like to mention some favourite Substacks that inspire us.
Sara, Managing Director
The Booker Prizes
Recently the Booker Prize Foundation transformed their communications and undertook to provide new and interesting stories on a year-round basis on the finest fiction in the world. How could you not want to read this?!
Manchester Mill
From small beginnings and a mission to create something new and important, Manchester Mill is local journalism at its best, and has often been cited as an example by large, prestigious media organisations. For local and regional investigative and feature journalism without a trace of clickbait, you can’t beat it. Now also available customised for several other northern cities.
Rosie, Publishing Manager
Ella Risbridger
You may already be familiar with Risbridger's bestselling cookbook Midnight Chicken, and her substack brings the same life affirming, lyrical loveliness direct to your inbox! She features recipes, reflections and poems.
Gina Martin
Gina Martin is an activist from the UK and living in Melbourne, who led the successful campaign to make upskirting illegal in the UK in 2019. Her substacks feature updates on her life (it's important to see the human behind the activist!) as well as information and actions to take towards social justice.
Ellie, Marketing Assistant
Jess White
Jess is a writer and reviewer who I’ve followed on Instagram for a little while. She shares weekly reading updates with in depth reviews and top notch recommendations. I love finding people with similar reading tastes to my own and Jess and I share a lot of books in common so I definitely trust what she recommends.
Megan Nolan
Last year I read Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan and I loved the brutally honest writing style. I’m so excited for Megan’s new novel, Ordinary Human Failings, coming soon but in the meantime, her Substack Roulette has been keeping me entertained.
Events
Writing Landscape: Taking Note, Making Notes with Linda Cracknell at Walk Listen Create (Online), 2.5.23, 7pm
Singing Like Larks book tour with Andrew Millham at Fingringhoe Wick Nature Discovery Park, 6.5.23, TBC
Catherine Czerkawska with Liudmila Proniakina at Boswell Book Festival, 12.5.23, 5.30pm
Adam Farrer at Filey Literature Festival, 13.5.23, TBC
Andrew Millham at Essex Wildlife Trust Tameside is 10 celebrations, 13.5.23, TBC
Singing Like Larks book tour with Andrew Millham at Belfries Nature Discovery Centre, 14.5.23, TBC
Some Most Unusual Crime with Olga Wojtas at Aye Write Festival, Glasgow, 24.5.23, 7.45pm (link coming soon)
Writing Landscape with Linda Cracknell & Jim Carruth at Golden Hare Books, Edinburgh, 25.5.23, 6.30pm
Moniack in a Month: Memoir with Catherine Simpson, Online, 5.6.23-28.6.23
Adam Farrer with New Writing North at The Magic Hat, Newcastle, 6.6.23, TBC
Queer Reflections on Horror: Jennifer’s Body screening + Q&A with Kirsty Logan and Joe Vallese at Rio Cinema, London, 8.6.23, 8pm
Graeme Macrae Burnet at Borders Book Festival, 15.6.23, 7.30pm
Karen Lloyd at Norman Nicholson Festival, 24.6.23, TBC
The Business of Writing: Making Money as a Portfolio Writer with Adam Farrer, Keisha Thompson and Isabelle Kenyon at Comma Press Writers’ Panel, Wythenshawe, 24.6.23, from 11.15am
Singing Like Larks nature workshop for families with Andrew Millham at Essex Book Festival, 25.6.23, 12,45pm
Many thanks to Ellie for reading and recommending me!
Welcome to Substack!