Independent'The Atlas of Women is fascinating and extremely valuable.'
North Korea has the second-largest army in the world, but those in charge must realize that, however dedicated, these million soldiers would be a poor match for Western weaponry. For more on global issues of peace and security see:
Changes in lifestyle, diet, and tobacco use are outstripping improvements in screening and treatment in the world’s poorer countries. It is projected that they will be host to the majority of the world’s cancer cases by 2030. See more on this in:
The number of hospital beds for psychiatric patients per 100,000 people varies widely around the world (see above). Lack of financial resources is clearly one factor, but the other is that in many countries mental disorder is a taboo subject. See more in:
The horrors of war in Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, and elsewhere, quite rightly grab media attention, but overall the number of armed conflicts is declining. Dan Smith, Secretary General of International Alert, assesses global conflict and other burning issues in The State of the World Atlas.
Scott Pack, MeAndMyBigMouth'A thoughtful, well-observed story about families and relationships and what happens to both when a tragedy occurs. A Kind of Vanishing reminded me of Kate Atkinson.'
Sue Eckstein's gripping novel Interpreters is now in the final of The People's Book Prize 2012/13. Voting for Interpreters will be open from 20-29 May. Register now, and get ready to cast your vote.
We're thrilled that Fiction Editor Vicky Blunden has been awarded the IPG Young Independent Publisher of the Year award. Take a look at all the tremendous Myriad accolades here.
Quick Fictions has shot into The Sunday Times listing at no.5. An evolution in digital storytelling developed by Professor Nicholas Royle, author of Quilt, at the University of Sussex in partnership with Myriad and Aimer Media, features the finest stories – each fewer than 300 words. The app will continue to grow as new stories are submitted: find out how to submit yours here on our website and don't forget to buy the app for regular updates!
Sat 18 May 2pm - 5pm
Lesley Thomson looks at ways to make a plot work, at the Myriad Editions and WEA 'Write Now' masterclass weekend for aspiring writers.
Find out more about this and other Myriad events
With the sun finally shining, it's the start of the festival season and Myriad authors are set to be involved in events all across the country. May boasts a wealth of literary offerings and Myriad has already hosted a successful evening of events for the Brighton Festival. The night began with a panel event featuring Myriad's MD Candida Lacey and bestselling author Elizabeth Haynes (pictured, Into the Darkest Corner), who were joined by literary agent Kate Shaw from the Viney Agency, literary blogger Pam McIlroy and creative writing tutor Greg Mosse, to discuss 'What makes a book worth Publishing?'. The event also saw the announcement of the winner of this year's Writer's Retreat Competition – an annual prize for a debut author's work-in-progress.
Directly afterwards a second panel event took place with a packed autdience. 'When is a graphic novel not a comic?' explored the dimensions of narrative art and featured, amongst others, Myriad graphics authors Woodrow Phoenix (Rumble Strip) and Nye Wright (Things to do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park). To round off the evening, was a special, Brighton edition of internationally renowned graphics forum Laydeez Do Comics, featuring co-founder Nicola Streeten (Billy, Me & You) plus special guests.
At the end of May, Elizabeth Haynes will be taking part in several events in France, for the Festival du Premier Roman de Chambéry, where her debut novel, Into the Darkest Corner, has been chosen as one of the festival's featured books. Then fellow Myriad crime writer Lesley Thomson (A Kind of Vanishing) will be at Crimefest in Bristol, discussing her new work, The Detective's Daughter, on a panel about psychological thrillers.
Rounding off the month, The State of the World Atlas author Dan Smith will be a guest at the prestigious Hay Festival, discussing the world today, global trends in finance, politic war and peace, all taken from his definitive reference book, now in its ninth edition.
It was a busy and bustling London Book Fair for Myriad this month and we enjoyed all our meetings, with both old and new faces. We were delighted to be featured in a full page article on day two of the Fair, printed in Publisher's Weekly, celebrating Myriad's 20th year of publishing and looking ahead across our three lists: original fiction, innovative graphics and groundbreaking atlases.
Myriad and the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) will be hosting Write Now – a day of Creative Writing Masterclasses for budding writers, on 18 May. Whether writers want to find the courage to start writing, need help improving their skills, or require some professional feedback, the classes are designed to build confidence. Liam Murray Bell, author of So It Is, will show you how to write the perfect first sentence in his masterclass 'Openings' while A Kind of Vanishing author Lesley Thomson will offer advice on 'How to Plot'.
Myriad is delighted to have links with a new internet portal, launched on April 19th, called Sequential, which will act as a hub for independent comics publishers, including Myriad, to offer its graphic novels in digital format for the iPad and other tablets. Myriad has made a non-exclusive agreement with Sequential's founders, Panel Nine, to convert all its graphic titles, starting off with Things to do in a Retirement Home Trailer Park by Nye Wright, Rumble Strip by Woodrow Phoenix and Science Tales (1st edition) by Darryl Cunningham.
We're thrilled that the US edition of Elizabeth Hayne's second novel Revenge of the Tide (US title, Dark Tide) is being reprinted again, bringing the total copies in print in America to over 30,000. Dark Tide is published in the US by HarperCollins, who also publish Elizabeth's debut, Into the Darkest Corner, and will publish the US edition of her third novel, Human Remains.
We've just received an early review for The Deception Artist, the debut novel by American author Fayette Fox, to be published by Myriad on May 16th. A funny and heartwarming story, The Deception Artist is set in 1980s California, looking at family life through the eyes of eight-year-old Ivy, who continually tries to escape in her over-active imagination. Online literary magazine Bookhugger called the novel 'funny and hearwarming' and described Fayette's writing as 'delicious to read', imbuing Ivy with 'imagination and quiet determination' that draws 'her off the page'.
At the end of World Immunisation Week, Darryl Cunningham, author of Science Tales, was interviewed by Kylie Sturgess for a Token Skeptic podcast. In the interview, they discuss the process of creating art, the sources of Darryl's inspiration, how he researches topics such as conspiracy theories and pseudoscience, and what comic art brings to the table when it comes to challenging topics like mental illness.
Ahead of the July publication of her third novel, Summer of '76, Isabel Ashdown will be featured in the new issues of both Newbooks magazine and Island Life, a lifestyle magazine for the Isle of Wight, the setting of Isabel's new novel. In Newbooks, her piece is inspired by the temporal setting of the story – the long, hot summer of 1976 – and Isabel has selected her Five Favourite Literary Summers, with evocative choices ranging from Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee to The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan.
Newbooks magazine has also published a review of The Schism, Robert Dickinson's clever literary thriller. The review flags up and explores 'at least three recognisable schisms' within the story, calling them 'all comprehensively covered' and also pointing out that the theme of schizophrenia in the novel could 'lead to some interesting [book group] discussions'.
