Harper snags Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody's non-fiction debut

HarperNonFiction has acquired The Forest Is the Path from the lead singer of Snow Patrol, Gary Lightbody.  

Publishing director Ajda Vucicevic bought World rights via George Edgeller, associate publisher at Universal Music UK, and Closer Artists. The Forest Is the Path will be published on the 13th March in hardback, e-book and audiobook. A signed official Snow Patrol store exclusive edition of the book will be published at the same time.  

Snow Patrol’s latest album of the same name was released to critical acclaim in September last year, and went straight to number one.  

Lightbody’s book explores some of the main themes from the album: time, home, love, death, life. It tells the story of his father, Jack, who sadly passed away in 2019. 

Lightbody said: “Every time we finish an album I usually feel like there are hardly any words left in me. Not until we go about making the next album. But when we finished recording The Forest Is The Path in February 2024 I realised that there was more I wanted to say. I didn’t know it was going to be a book but I just started writing. The book does, in its own way, tell some of the story of how the album was made but it also talks in more detail about the themes of the record."

He adds: “However, most of the book is about a period in my life before we even started writing the album. It focuses on four days after my father’s passing: the day he died, the day after [that], the funeral, and a year later. For it was a year later that I was able to write again for the first time since he died and the story of the album actually begins. I hope people find the same comfort and relief in the book that it gave me writing it.” 

Vucicevic said: “Gary’s book is a rare and special work. The book itself is an innovative project, at once a powerful account of the creative process and the deep personal journey Gary has been on. It’s a truly unique read and I am thrilled to be publishing it.”