Collection: Events
This debut short story collection of life-spanning short stories, Hirethow finds fresh perspectives on the myriad meanings of the Cornish word, catapulting it into a contemporary landscape and ever so off-kilter reality, to reflect on how the world works. Ten characters.
Ten lenses through which Hireth is seen. Small moments held up to the light, heartbreak wrought by sea wind and salt.
Tickets are by invitation only unless you have pre-ordered the book whereby you will receive an invitation as a thanks for your support.
Written as a dual narrative, the unflinching look at the challenges of old age seen through the eyes of a complex, often cantankerous protagonist, is comparable to Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge; in putting a carer and her attempts to carve out space for herself centre stage as well, the novel is also akin to Clare Chambers’ Small Pleasures. And the international prize winning When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén.
Tickets are by invitation only unless you have pre-ordered the book whereby you will receive an invitation as a thanks for your support.
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Join us at TRACE Small Publishers Fair on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September, at the historic Market Hall in Devonport, Plymouth. 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
TRACE— highlights independent publishing and artist-led print culture. You'll be able to browse and buy a wide array of works from makers across the UK, including our own 'Home Grown books'. Artists' books, photobooks, Chapbooks, zines, magazines, Graphic novels, and limited editions will also be available from other small publishers - so come along and show your support for the unique and independant.
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Join us at the Looe Festival of Words on Thursday 01st of October for a book club with a difference - where five authors will be present to talk about their amazing stories in salt & stone. Buy a copy and join us
We'll also be at the Looe Festival of Words book Fair in The Hannafore Point Hotel on Saturday 3rd of October where we will be selling all our home grown Hermitage books, and will have some author signing pop - up events with the authors of our latest releases Clare Howdle and Clare Owen.
Clare Owen will also be in conversation with Jackie Taylor at The Looe Festival of Words on Saturday 4th - talking about Writing Old Age, Dependency & Care
Care is a universal experience. Everyone has been cared for, most people will care for someone, almost everyone hopes to be cared for at the end of their life. So, why has intimate personal care been so absent from literary fiction? Why is illness so often used as a plot device rather than explored as a lived experience? How do we write characters whose futures are short without making their lives feel diminished?
Clare’ will be talking about her new novel, Creatures of a Brief Season, and how writing honestly about ageing, illness, and end-of-life care is not simply documenting decline but expanding our understanding of what it means to be human.
VENUE: Heritage Centre
DAY/DATE/TIMES: Sunday 4th October 2026 11.00-12.30
COST: All our events are FREE. However, on the day, if you are able to make a donation, that will help fund the Festival for future years. Thank you.
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Join Clare Howdle / Luke Thompson/ Wyl Menmuir on the 9th October, 6.30pm | The Old Bank, Fowey | £4
The Spirit of Place: Three of Cornwall’s Great Contemporary Writers in Conversation
Three of Cornwall's top writers, each with new books out this year, gather together at The Old Bank in Fowey to discuss their latest work.
Each of these writers explores the spirit of place but they do so using different themes, forms and subjects, whether that's through the rocks and stones that form a landscape, the language used, or the animals that are found or imagined there.
Wyl Menmuir's The Spirit of Stone is the final book in his trilogy of non-fiction titles that navigate our relationships with place, this time through landscapes of rock, stone and earth.
Clare Howdle's Hirethow is a debut collection of short stories that play with ideas of place, connection and reality to find fresh perspectives on the Cornish word, 'hireth', meaning loss, longing and a yearning for home.
Luke Thompson's A Cornish Bestiary is a compendium of Cornwall's most curious creatures from natural history and folklore, broadside ballads and news reports, literature and hoax.
