Honno is a Welsh
women's press, based in
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...
, which is run as an independent co-operative. The press concentrates solely on publishing writing by the women of
Wales, with the twin aims of increasing publication opportunities for Welsh women and expanding the audience for Welsh women's writing.
[Whitfield, Lydia. Honno founder explains how women got a voice. ''WalesOnline'' (24 October 2008)]
(accessed 18 February 2009) In 2006,
Dai Smith, chair of the
Arts Council of Wales
The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; cy, Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales.
Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts ...
, praised Honno's "terrific work in bringing women’s literature back into print". Luned Meredith, one of the founders, claimed in the press's 21st anniversary year of 2008 that Honno had made "a significant contribution to the changing social conscience which has given prominence to the woman's voice".
The press was started in 1986 by a group of volunteers, and had 400 shareholders within six months of its establishment.
Honno has received financial support from the
Welsh Books Council and the
European Union.
The name ''Honno'' is the Welsh feminine form of "that".
Publications
The majority of titles are novels, autobiographies and short story anthologies in
English; Honno also publishes some poetry, books for children and teenagers, and books in
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
. The press's 450 authors include
Lindsay Ashford,
Anne Beale
Anne Beale (1816 – 17 April 1900) was a popular English novelist and poet based in Wales. Her poetry, novels and stories appeared in print for over 50 years in her lifetime: "an unusually long career as an author".Jane Aaron''Nineteenth-Centur ...
,
Brenda Chamberlain,
Gillian Clarke,
Carol Ann Courtney,
Amy Dillwyn,
Dorothy Edwards,
Menna Gallie
Menna Patricia Humphreys Gallie (18 March 1919 – 17 June 1990) was a Welsh novelist and translator. She is best known for her novels in the English language, and as the translator of Caradog Prichard's ''Un Nos Ola Leuad'', under the title ''Ful ...
,
Mererid Hopwood,
Siân James,
Anne Lewis,
Eiluned Lewis,
Gwyneth Lewis,
Catherine Merriman
Catherine A. Merriman (born in 1949) is a British novelist, short-story writer and editor who has published five novels and three short-story collections. Her work often addresses the experiences of women. Her first novel, ''Leaving the Light On'' ...
,
Lynette Roberts
Evelyn ('Lynette') Beatrice Roberts (4 July 1909 – 26 September 1995) was a Welsh poet and novelist. Her poems were about war, landscape, and life in the small Welsh village where she lived. She published two poetry collections: ''Poems'' ( ...
,
Kitty Sewell
Kitty or Kittie may refer to:
Animals
* Cat, a small, domesticated carnivorous mammal
** Kitten, a young cat
Film
* Kitty Films, an anime production company in Japan
* ''Kitty'' (1929 film), based on the Deeping novel; the first British talk ...
and
Hilda Vaughan
Hilda Campbell Vaughan (married name Morgan, 12 June 1892 – 4 November 1985) was a Welsh novelist and short story writer writing in English. Her ten varied novels, set mostly in her native Radnorshire, concern rural communities and heroines. ...
.
The Honno's Classics series republishes books which have been out of print for many years.
Awards
Awards won by Honno titles include the 1989
Wales Book of the Year for ''Morphine and Dolly Mixtures'' by Carol Ann Courtney, which was later made into a film for television.
''Luminous and Forlorn'' (1994), Honno's first short story anthology, won the Raymond Williams Prize of the
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...
. ''Who's Afraid of the Bwgan-wood?'' by Anne Lewis won the
Welsh Books Council's Tir na n-Og Award for Best Children's Title in English in 1996. ''Not Singing Exactly'' by Siân James won the 1997 Wales Book of the Year. Honno books have also reached the shortlists of several recent awards, including the
Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2006 for Lindsay Ashford's ''Strange Blood''; and the Wales Book of the Year 2006 and
Crime Writers' Association New Blood Dagger 2006 for Kitty Sewell's ''Ice Trap''.
CWA: Louise Penny wins New Blood Dagger
(accessed 18 February 2009)
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.honno.co.uk/index.php
Aberystwyth
Publishing companies of Wales
Publishing companies established in 1986
1986 establishments in Wales
Companies based in Ceredigion