Canongate scoops new Holloway book

Canongate has scooped a new book by Scottish writer, broadcaster and cleric Richard Holloway, promising his answers to the world’s biggest questions.

Simon Thorogood, editorial director, acquired world rights to Stories We Tell Ourselves from Caroline Dawnay at United Agents.

The synopsis says: “Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of what it all means: our place in a small corner of one of billions of galaxies, at the end of billions of years of existence. In this new book Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest questions are. He examines what we know about the universe into which—without any choice in the matter—we are propelled at birth and from which we are expelled at death, the stories we have told about where we come from, and the stories we tell to get through this muddling experience of life.”

Holloway was bishop of Edinburgh and primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. A former Gresham Professor of Divinity and chairman of the joint board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Leaving Alexandria (Canongate) won the PEN/Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. His most recent book, Waiting for the Last Bus (Canongate), was a Sunday Times bestseller.

Thorogood said: “Stories We Tell Ourselves grapples with some of the biggest questions we all face. But ultimately it is a book that looks to answer the one question that really matters above all others: How do we live a good life? It’s a rich, honest, inspiring and welcoming book—just as you would expect from Richard Holloway.”

Holloway said: “In a world in increasingly dangerous turmoil, maybe it’s time we stopped shouting at each other and started listening.”