Despite the dog days of summer, Cull & Co. authors have been busy, receiving national and international press and reviews, appearing on podcasts and taking part in literary festivals and events across the UK and beyond.
Travel writer Dan Stables has continued a busy year with a new feature in The i Paper exploring some of Britain’s quirkiest summer festivals. The paperback edition of his acclaimed book Fiesta: A Journey Through Human Festivity was published in July, while Dan has contributed further travel writing to The New York Times and Wanderlust. He also appeared at the Dartmouth Book Festival in September and at the Chelsea History Festival on 1 October, discussing Fiesta and the extraordinary ways people celebrate around the world.
Ahead of its US publication in October, Joe Luc Barnes’s Farewell to Russia: A Journey Through the Former USSR has attracted strong US trade attention. Foreword Reviews called it an “epic and revealing travel memoir”, while Library Journal praised it as “an enthralling and insightful travel memoir of the former Soviet Union”. Closer to home, Joe has continued a busy programme of events and appearances, including a discussion for the Royal Society for Asian Affairs exploring his journey through the fifteen former Soviet republics and the changing relationship between Russia and its neighbours.
Tom Gaisford’s novel Sanctuary has received terrific endorsements from both The Secret Barrister, who calls it “a triumph” and “compellingly written and bursting with humanity”, and bestselling novelist Chris Cleave, who says: “Everyone should read this furious defence of the voiceless.” The novel explores Britain’s asylum system through the intertwined stories of a young barrister and an Iranian refugee.
Tim Bird’s Happy Land was selected by Wanderlust as one of its Best Travel Books of 2026 So Far. The recognition follows an extensive run of coverage for Tim’s thoughtful exploration of Finland, its people and its much-discussed status as the world’s happiest country.
Christiana Spens’s novel The Colony received an in-depth review in literary magazine The Bottle Imp, which praised the book as “an unusually sophisticated enquiry into the limitations of both individualism and community”.
Historian Seth Thévoz joined the long-running I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast for a dedicated discussion of London Clubland, exploring the history, rituals and hidden influence of London’s private members’ clubs. Seth has also continued his regular appearances on The Bunker, bringing his expertise to discussions of British politics, international affairs and political finance.
Professor Melissa Butcher appeared at the Bradford Literature Festival for America at 250: Empire, Democracy and Global Power, discussing American democracy, political division and global power. Melissa also joined the New Books Network for an extended interview about The Trouble with Freedom, her exploration of the idea of freedom and its central—and increasingly contested—place in American political life.
Award-winning travel writer Shafik Meghji joined the Winging It Travel Podcast for an extended conversation about Small Earthquakes: A Journey Through Lost British History in South America. The appearance follows an exceptional period for the book, which won Travel Narrative Book of the Year at the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards and was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year.
Robert Sellers’s The Cambridge Footlights: From Revue to Revolution continues to attract praise, including selection as a Book of the Month by Best of British. The definitive history of the legendary comedy institution has also attracted coverage and reviews from the Mail on Sunday, Literary Review, Chortle and LouReviews.
Congratulations to all our authors whose books, journalism and ideas continue to find new readers, listeners and audiences around the world.
