Home lands for Hughes, Huerta

The Pigeonhole founder Anna Jean Hughes and agent Valeria Huerta are collaborating on a digital-first book of essays based around the concept of home.

Huerta and Hughes were both on The Bookseller’s 2015 Rising Stars list - the magazine’s annual feature on the up and coming stars in the British book trade. The two met and initiated the project at a Rising Stars event at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF).

Part of the reason for the genesis of Home, the pair said, was the recent spotlight on the many people now lacking homes owing to the refugee crisis: “Globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. Half the world’s refugees are children… We are currently witnessing the highest level of global displacement ever recorded.”

Hughes and Huerta have signed up philosopher and social scientist Niki Barbery Bleyleben, whose work focuses on the problems of migration, to work on the project.

The eight essays that comprise the book will be serialised on The Pigeonhole - the digital reading platform/social media site Hughes and Jacob Cockcroft co-founded in 2013 - along with complementary photos, artwork, poetry and short films.

Huerta said: “We have great people [who are] keen and excited about the project and we are in the process of commissioning, but we prefer not to reveal any names of the writers for now.”

Huerta will be handling world rights for the book, and said she and Hughes would seek UK and worldwide publishers for a print edition. They also hope to develop the project into an ongoing series.

The book will be launched on 19th October at FBF, and a quarter of all proceeds will be donated to humanitarian charity Caritas.