GENERAL NEWS
Challenging conditions
In January nine members of the staff of publisher Simon & Schuster were raising money on the Just Giving website for an Arctic Challenge in support of the National Literacy Trust. They were planning a four-day endurance expedition in northern Sweden, inside the Arctic Circle, based at a camp lodge with no electricity, internet or home comforts. They intended to undertake an orienteering challenge finishing on a frozen lake, a 35km dog sledding time trial, and a 20km cross-country skiing race.
At the time of writing 421 supporters had donated £17,365. All the money raised goes to expanding the NLT’s projects in disadvantaged communities, supporting families, filling libraries, training teachers and helping school leavers into their first jobs. Details at: www.justgiving. com/team/ssarcticchallange25 GD
Legends retold
Still almost a year away from publication, much attention is being given to The Bloody Branch, the debut novel by Brigid Lowe, not due out until 29 January 2026. The title was acquired by Harvill Secker for publication by Penguin, who describe this new interpretation of the Mabinogion as a ‘vital and visceral retelling of one of the oldest stories in British literature’. Lowe’s agent, Greyhound Literary, are comparing the author to John Cowper Powys, JRR Tolkien and Alan Garner, and given the last few years have seen female authors reworking every possible imaginable aspect of Greek mythology, we have to wonder if women retelling Celtic and north European legends is about to become the next big thing in publishing.