avg_rating: 4.28
name: Kate Innes
about: I was born in London, of South African parents, and spent my early life in America. At eighteen, I returned to Britain and studied Archaeology and Teaching. Two years working in rural schools in Zimbabwe helped me to grow up very quickly! When I returned to Britain, I worked as a Museum Education Officer around the Midlands, and began to write in earnest after the arrival of my three children. I write about the deep past. My first historical novel- 'The Errant Hours' is based on real events in the 13th century Welsh Marches. It was inspired by the seductive art of illuminated manuscripts and the influential legends of the time. These themes weave together into a story of survival and courage, trickery and love.“Kate Innes’s glorious first n I was born in London, of South African parents, and spent my early life in America. At eighteen, I returned to Britain and studied Archaeology and Teaching. Two years working in rural schools in Zimbabwe helped me to grow up very quickly! When I returned to Britain, I worked as a Museum Education Officer around the Midlands, and began to write in earnest after the arrival of my three children. I write about the deep past. My first historical novel- 'The Errant Hours' is based on real events in the 13th century Welsh Marches. It was inspired by the seductive art of illuminated manuscripts and the influential legends of the time. These themes weave together into a story of survival and courage, trickery and love.“Kate Innes’s glorious first novel is a lyrical joy. Up there with the best of Pat Bracewell and Elizabeth Chadwick, it offers utter immersion in an intricate, plausible world. A must read for the autumn.” Manda ScottMy second novel, 'All the Winding World', is a sequel to 'The Errant Hours', interweaving old and new characters in a moving story about the savagery of war, the insistence of love and the power of illusion.Currently I read mainly history, in order to get a proper frame of reference for my fiction. But I still enjoy novels when I am not working. Helen Dunmore, Barry Unsworth, Margaret Atwood, Anne Patchett and David Mitchell are profound recent influences, whereas my childhood was more in the fantasy realm, with Ursula Le Guin, Ann MacAffrey, Susan Cooper, Tolkien and CS Lewis.I have been writing and performing poetry for many years, usually with a particular focus on animals, art or the natural world. These poems, associated research and thoughts are posted in my blog and through @kateinnes2. My poetry collection, 'Flocks of Words' contains poetry from 25 years of writing. The title poem won the 2016 Imagined Worlds Prize, from the Friends of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I enjoy running writing workshops, collaborating to write community poems and undertaking commissions and residencies. ...more