Canongate bags Holloway's philosophical guide and Hodkinson's memoir

Canongate is to publish The Heart of Things by former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway, and author, journalist and publisher Mark Hodkinson's memoir, No One Around Here Reads Tolstoy. 

In The Heart of Things, Holloway brings together the poets and writers which have meant the most to him, whether they have been life-long guides or words which arrived just at the moment when they were needed most.

The synopsis explains: "Here then are some lights along life’s dark path, answers to the big mysteries, and solace and guidance in the face of life’s challenges. All are interwoven with Richard’s personal and philosophical consideration of what they have meant to him, offered in the hope they will help us, too."

A former Gresham Professor of Divinity and Chairman of the Joint Board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, Holloway is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Leaving Alexandria, his autobiography, won the PEN/Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and his most recent book was Stories We Tell Ourselves, both of which were published by Canongate. His books have sold over 88,000 copies through Nielsen BookScan TCM.

Holloway said: "I'm embarrassed by the number of times I have taken a final literary bow and left the stage, only to come back with another book the following year; but The Heart of Things really does feel like my last book and I have no plans ever to write another. Mind you, I'm writing poetry now - but that's another story."

No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy is Hodkinson’s story of growing up working-class during the 1970s and 1980s. The book explores "schools (bad), music (good) and the people (some mad, a few sane), and pre-eminently and profoundly the books and authors (some bad, mostly good) that led the way, and shaped [Hodkinson's] life. It’s also about a family who just didn’t see the point of reading, and a troubled grandad who, in his own way, taught Hodkinson the power of stories.

Hodkinson said: "I hope I’ve told a story to which many will relate. My parents thought books and reading would mark me out as a loner and I’d be picked on by the other kids, cut off from my class. But it actually made me stronger, more confident and, most of all, happy. We’re all one big lovely gang, readers, but when you’ve had to seek something out yourself, often against censure and disapproval, it means so much more."

Simon Thorogood, editorial director at Canongate, acquired world all language rights in both new non-fiction titles, both publishing in autumn 2021. He bought rights to Holloway’s latest book from Caroline Dawnay and Sophie Scard at United Agents, and to No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy from Kevin Pocklington at the North Agency.

He said: "The Heart of Things is a book to turn to for inspiration, guidance and comfort. It offers lessons from those who, in Richard’s words, “know best how to listen and teach us to listen”, all united by “the sensual appeal of words, the pain and pleasure they impart”. Words that could equally well describe Richard himself. It is a book to treasure.

"The sub-title for Mark’s book is Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader, which captures both sides of this remarkable book – at once, a funny, moving and poignant account of growing up working class in the 70s and 80s, it is also a meditation on the power of reading to both see yourself more clearly, but also see the wider world writ large."