Raynor Winn's next novel revealed at Michael Joseph showcase

The Salt Path author Raynor Winn will write a second non-fiction book for Michael Joseph, about nursing an over-farmed piece of land back to health.

Winn’s second memoir, Wild Silence, was announced at the Michael Joseph Spring 2020 Showcase at the Swan in Shakespeare’s Globe, central London, on Wednesday evening (25th September). The book will be published in hardback in late spring 2020.

It will “take the reader on another journey, this time as she embarks on the task of re-wilding a chronically over-farmed piece of land,” Michael Joseph said. “As she nurses the land back to health Raynor explores themes of life-long love, nature and what it means to find a home.”

L-R Jane Fallon, Marian Keyes and Raynor Winn at the spring 2020 showcase

The deal follows the publication of The Salt Path (Michael Joseph), published in March 2018, which featured Winn's walk of the 630 mile South West Coast Path to escape homelessness. It scooped the inaugural £10,000 RSL Christopher Bland Prize in May and was also shortlisted for the 2018 Costa Book Awards and Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize. 

Winn said: “I have been totally blown away by the reaction that The Salt Path has inspired in people; not only by the number who have bought it but also by the many I have met at events, who have been moved to make changes in their lives because of it. I am incredibly excited to be  publishing my second book, Wild Silence, with Michael Joseph next year.”

Rights were acquired by Fenella Bates, non-fiction publisher at Michael Joseph from Jen Christie at Graham Maw Christie Agency.

Bates said of the deal: “Raynor Winn is an exceptionally talented storyteller, and her first book The Salt Path continues to go from strength to strength – recently named the number one bestselling book across all independent bookstores in the UK. The advancing growth in sales is testament to the fact that The Salt Path is a genuine word-of-mouth bestseller. Raynor’s book has had the kind of impact we as publishers spend our lives trying to manufacture, but Raynor’s success is down to the very special book that she wrote. All of us at MJ are thrilled to be publishing a new book by Raynor in the Spring. Wild Silence is set to be one of the biggest memoirs of spring 2020 and I feel sure it will further cement her place as one of the UK’s greatest contemporary nature writers.”

Stephen Fry at the showcase

The showcase also featured a string of other Michael Joseph authors including Stephen Fry and Marian Keyes – whose next novel, Grown Ups, is slated for February 2020. Some other writers included American bookseller and author Emma Straub, novelist Jane Fallon, along with recently announced Michael Joseph authors -  journalist Gavanndra Hodge – whose memoir was announced earlier this month and Annabelle Williams, of gender politics book, Why Women Are Poorer than Men and What We Can Do About It. Debut novelist Stephanie Wrobel also attended, with her literary suspense novel, The Recovery or Rose Gold (March 2020), one of the most hotly tipped books at this year’s London Book Fair.

Michael Joseph m.d. Louise Moore said at the showcase: “Here at Michael Joseph, we are incredibly proud of the long-standing relationship we have with our wonderful authors. Whether they are already bestsellers – loved by the reading public and us alike - or those new members of the MJ family, just embarking on their journey, we are so proud, privileged and excited to work with them all. Our Michael Joseph 2020 list is a perfect illustration of the breadth of voices we represent, and it is a pleasure for us to be joined this evening by such talented writers.”