A round-up of the latest agency author news this month.
Congratulations to Neil Robinson, who made the Spectator’s Best Books 2023 list! His novel The Other Side of Trust (Burning Chair, 2022), was described as ‘a gripping spy thriller of a pace and subtlety with which John le Carré might not have been disappointed.’
Agency author and crypto expert Daniel Beurthe wrote a piece for The Times (with Oliver Gill) about the demise of the popular Black’s Club in Soho. After hosting everyone from Samuel Johnson to Stormzy, Blacks embraced NFTs in a doomed revival effort and may be gone for good.
‘Their gentleman’s club was open for 250 years. Then the crypto bros came.’
For the 30th anniversary issue of Wanderlust magazine, Shafik Meghji wrote about Chile’s capital Santiago & the nearby port of Valparaíso, dynamic cities with turbulent histories, vivid street art, atmospheric funiculars & strong poetic connections.
Former ANC spy, Sue Dobson, was interviewed by Radio Liskeard about her book Burned: The Spy South Africa Never Caught (Vine Leaves Press, 2023). In a frank and revealing interview Sue (aka Deana) talks about her infiltration of government departments, Military and Espionage Training in the Soviet Union and her escape from the pursuit of would-be prosecutors when her identity as an agent of the banned ANC was discovered. Having sought political asylum in the UK Sue’s life became a media circus and she was afforded the security of the Royal Protection Squad in light of the inevitable threat to her life.
How is she regarded in her native South Africa…. Traitor or Hero? Listen back here.
And finally, congratulations to Mary Novakovich at the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards in November, in which took the prize for travel narrative book of the year for My Family and Other Enemies: Life and Travels in Croatia’s Hinterland (Bradt, 2022). She picked her award at the glitzy Annual Gala Awards Dinner held at the Middle Temple Hall in London.
Cull & Co. Literary Agency Ltd 