A unique book featuring a vision of Hull and East Yorkshire is to feature authors from the area.
Challenging the Tides: An Anthology of Hope explores a range of positive futures Hull and East Yorkshire could look forward to. It is a collection of ten stories focusing on how people might adapt to the challenges from coastal erosion, flooding, food and medical shortages. The book seeks to avoid fear and war, using what Yorkshire is best known for; community, family, and friendships.
The stories use iconic locations that readers will be familiar with. Victoria Avenue Fountain, Hornsea Mere, Spurn Lighthouse, the Humber Bridge, and Beverley Minster are just some of the locations to star in Challenging The Tides: An Anthology of Hope.
Hornsea based author and the editor of the collection, Shellie Horst is excited to see the anthology in print: “It’s an uplifting collection, perfect for reading in bite-sized chunks. There is so much doom, gloom, and fear around today we wanted to lift the mood. We forget, as humans, just how easy it is to make a change for the better.”
As well as the stories being inspired by favourite places around the region, the anthology features writers from across Yorkshire. Hull authors Will Slater, Jaydon Nolan, and the co-editor and tutor Sue Oke join Mappleton based Carl F Northwood, Hornsea writer M. L. Horst and Beverley’s Rick Danforth. The list of talented writers will appear with Humber SFF guest writers, Daniel Godfrey, Keith W. Dickinson, Andrew Knighton, Shona Kinsella with their tales of the future.
Shellie said: “The anthology doesn’t just inspire ideas for our future; it showcases what writing ability is right here in our area. As a writing tutor, I’m keen to support our local writing talent. Working with Humber Speculative Fiction and through the workshops I’ve run in Hornsea really cast a light on that. It’s very hard to get your first story in print. Bringing together award-winning names in Science Fiction and Fantasy together with up-and-coming talent from the Holderness area is something I have wanted to do for a while.”
The book has the backing of a local charity with strong literary connections.
Shellie explained: “None of this would have been possible without the generous support from The Sir James Reckitt Charity. They were kind enough to offer us a grant to cover the costs of publishing the book.”
The book will be launched at Hull’s Central Library, Saturday 17th October, authors will also be chatting with writers at the University of Hull on Thursday 12th November.
More information as well as tickets for events are available on the website or by calling 07852 105742.
Challenging The Tides is available from all good booksellers.