Featured Publisher: Saraband
Saraband is a creative independent publisher championing original, imaginative, diverse writing, often from new voices. We publish both non-fiction – in nature writing, the environment, history and memoir – and fiction, be it literary, historical or contemporary. Our Contraband imprint publishes an eclectic range of literary crime fiction, thrillers, mystery and noir. Our books are edited, designed and produced to the highest standards, and we value ethical work practices and collaborative relationships, and conversation with readers.
The last couple of years have been exciting for us – not least with a move of our base from Glasgow to Manchester, where we have been welcomed into the thriving literary community by our colleagues in the Northern Fiction Alliance, and we are gradually forging links with local bookshops and libraries.
Meanwhile, several of our writers have won awards. Chitra Ramaswamy’s Expecting and Ever Dundas’ debut novel, Goblin, scooped the prestigious Saltire Award for Best First Book in successive years. Others have received short-listings and special mentions in awards for crime and historical fiction, history, nature writing and adventure travel.
And Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project was nothing less than a sensation: the dark tale of murder in the Victorian Scottish Highlands was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and has been published around the world. His most recent novel, The Accident on the A35, burrows deep into the psyches of its characters and takes us behind the respectable veneer of small-town life in France. It has already appeared on the long-list for two awards – our fingers are crossed!
The move to our new home in Salford means that we’re increasingly turning our focus to the North of England. Karen Lloyd has already won a Lakeland Award for The Gathering Tide, which celebrates the nature, history, culture and people of Morecambe Bay. Her second book, The Blackbird Diaries, chronicles the drama, perils and pleasures of the natural world as it all unfolds in her Kendal garden and in the hills and valleys of South Lakeland – and issues a clarion call for more responsible conservation of our ecological heritage.
David Howe’s Rocks and Rain, Reason and Romance – coming in March 2019 – tells the story of the Lake District, England’s most dramatic landscape, and its people. This book gets to the heart and soul of Cumbria, and it’s written with the passion of a man who has been in its thrall for a lifetime.
Two of the North’s greatest writers are, without question, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and we’ve published two engaging “biographies with a twist”: Charlotte Brontë Revisited and Emily Brontë Reappraised. Sophie Franklin and Claire O’Callaghan consider these authors afresh and reveal their true personalities. What better way to celebrate the bicentenaries of two of the North’s most famous daughters?
As Saraband settles into its new home, we aim to publish more books by writers based in the North, whilst still supporting our Scottish authors and building on our links across the UK and internationally. Watch this space!
For more details of all the books on the Saraband and Contraband lists, visit Saraband.net