Elliott & Thompson scoops Russell's guide to hope

Elliott & Thompson has scooped How to be Hopeful by writer, performer and activist Bernadette Russell.

Publishing director Sarah Rigby acquired world rights from Zoe King at AM Heath, for publication in September 2020.

“How to be Hopeful is a celebration and a defence of hope: an essential and courageous thing to envisage, create and connect with in these straightened times,” the publisher said. “In her new book, Bernadette Russell will help readers to develop their skills and use their creativity to find hope and to take action towards the changes they would like to see in their lives and the wider world. Embracing scientific, historical and spiritual perspectives on hope throughout the centuries, this is a personal and passionate appeal for readers to tell and share ‘other stories’ – of hope, of compassion and of a different kind of future.”

Russell is the author of The Little Book of Kindness and The Little Book of Wonder, both published by Orion in the UK, and in foreign editions around the world. Since 2012, she has toured both the US and UK speaking about the importance and life-changing experience of practicing kindness, as a guest speaker and workshop leader for hundreds of schools, colleges, community centres and organisations.

She said: “After years of practicing, writing and thinking about kindness, I have come to believe that igniting and sharing hope can help us find joy in the present and carry us forward to a kinder, brighter and more peaceful future. Without denying the real challenges we face, we can use our imaginations to envisage that future and our creativity to act on those desires.”

Rigby added: “This is a book that so many people are in need of right now – a book that will not only inspire hope in us as individuals, but help generate a sense of connection to the many people, worldwide, embracing active hope as an antidote to despair.”