The HWA Committee 2016-17
Imogen Robertson (Chair)
Imogen Robertson was a film, TV and television director before becoming a full-time writer.
She has written five novels set in the 1780s featuring the independently minded widow, Harriet Westerman, and her friend the anatomist Gabriel Crowther. The first, Instruments of Darkness, was published in 2009. Her standalone novel The Paris Winter is set in 1909/1910.
Her books have been short-listed for the CWA Historical Dagger three times and she is a trustee of Literature Works and a former member of CWA management committee. She lives in London with a cheese-monger and you can get in touch with her directly on chair@historicalwriters.org.
Katherine Clements
Katherine Clements writes historical novels set in the 17th century. Her critically acclaimed debut, The Crimson Ribbon, was published in 2014 and her second, The Silvered Heart, in 2015. Until recently she worked for a national examination board, where she led the development and launch of the UK’s first A level in Creative Writing. She is editor of HWA’s Historia Magazine and a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Sheffield University. She currently lives in Manchester.
Jason Hewitt
Jason Hewitt has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English, and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. He also has many years’ experience as a bookseller and marketing manager in the publishing industry. His debut novel The Dynamite Room was longlisted for The Desmond Elliott Prize for New Writing in 2014 and the Authors’ Club First Novel Award, and was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick. His second novel Devastation Road was published by Scribner in July 2015 and was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. As well as a novelist Jason is also a playwright and actor. His latest play Claustrophobia premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to The Hope Theatre, London in November 2015. Jason is also an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, runs creative writing workshops at the British Library, and was recently Writer-in-Residence at Abingdon School. He was born in Oxford and divides his time between Bath and London.
Anthony Riches
Anthony Riches began his lifelong interest in war and soldiers when he first heard his father’s stories about World War II. This led to a degree in Military Studies at Manchester University. He began writing the story that would become Wounds of Honour after a visit to Housesteads in 1996. He lives in Suffolk with his wife, two dogs and a surprisingly good natured cat.
Elizabeth Fremantle
Elizabeth Fremantle is the author of four novels which focus on politically significant women of the Tudor and Jacobean periods, all published by Penguin. She studied as a mature student at Birkbeck College, University of London, gaining a BA in English and an MA in creative writing. As a journalist Elizabeth has contributed to various publications including The Sunday Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and also reviews fiction for The Sunday Express. She lives in London.
Edwin Thomas
Edwin Thomas has written a dozen historical thrillers, mostly under the name Tom Harper, including The Orpheus Descent and Lost Temple. His novels cover periods from ancient Greece to the present day, via Rome, the middle ages and the Napoleonic wars. He is a past Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and in 2016 chaired the Harrogate History festival. He lives in York.
Toby Clements
Toby Clements is the author of the Kingmaker series of novels set during England’s Wars of the Roses. He reviews fiction for the Daily Telegraph and the TLS and lives in London.