News and Work in Progress Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education (Viking, 6.8.09 and Penguin, 29.4.10) I hope you enjoyed the serialisation on Radio 4’s ‘Book of the Week’: I thought it was carefully abridged, and Miriam Margolyes read it beautifully. The BBC has bought the rights for an unabridged audiobook, to be read by the wonderful Carole Boyd and released around Christmas 2010, and a large print edition is now available. The Penguin paperback edition of the book was published on 29 April 2010. The book’s been well and widely reviewed by (amongst others)The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Economist, and The Mail on Sunday. I appeared on ‘Woman’s Hour’ on Thursday 20 August 2009, and talks included events at Oxford, Cambridge, Saffron Walden, Bridport, Lytham St Anne’s & Letchworth and Trinity College Dublin. I had two engagements at the Words by the Water Festival at Keswick in March 2010. I speak at a Brighton festival this summer on 18 July; Croydon Library 21 July; Rewley House, Oxford, 9 September; at Knutsford and Lichfield Festivals in October; at the Somerville College Literary Lunch on 13 November, and the Women's Literary Festival (Brighton) later in November. STOP PRESS: Silver River Productions have optioned the book and are now exploring the idea of a dramatisation based on the characters involved. For further details on any of these announcements please contact me on jane@jane-robinson.com. THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE WI: I’m thrilled to announce that my next book, the first full, independent history of the Women’s Institute, has been commissioned by Lennie Goodings at Virago. The WI celebrates its centenary in 2015, and has been described as ‘the most important body formed during the twentieth century’, but no-one has yet written the full story of its personalities and impact on British society. It had fiery beginnings, its early development driven by some passionate and extraordinarily spirited characters (one of whom was once imprisoned for throwing black-puddings and bombs – both home-cooked – at Winston Churchill). It’s always been a feisty organisation; the famous heckling of Tony Blair during a speech in 2000 was part of a long tradition of political activism. But it has a quieter, more personal significance to generations of its members, too. This will be a revealing book, based on the experiences of the women involved, and reaching far beyond the usual stereotypes of Jam, Jerusalem, and Calendar Girls. I always work hard on social and cultural context in my books, and like the characters involved to speak for themselves. I’m coming to the conclusion that in this case, those characters not only commentated on, but directly influenced, that context. The WI was, and is, a huge factor in many thousands of women’s lives. It helped mould modern Britain. APPEAL FOR INFORMATION: What does the WI mean to you? What did it mean to former generations of your family and friends? Do you have any WI anecdotes? I should love to hear from you, and learn what WI members have done on the organisation’s behalf, what difference it’s made to them personally, and what you think its future holds. Click here for a questionnaire Contact me at jane@jane-robinson.com, or c/o my agent Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates, 5-8 Lower John Street, London W1F 9HA. Thank you! Mary Seacole: The Charismatic Black Nurse Who Became a Heroine of the Crimea: A new, updated edition of Mary Seacole was published by Constable and Robinson in November 2006. The format is normal octavo: slightly smaller and more convenient than the original edition, and it's been very well received. New material has come to light about Mary's supposed daughter - was her father Thomas Bunbury? Research continues. Plans for a statue of Mary in Central London progress apace: click here for the latest news from www.maryseacole.com.