The Book Guild to publish collection of letters from Whitbourn and Wood

The Book Guild will publish Frank Exchanges, a compilation of letters between Frank Whitbourn and David Wood, edited by Chris Abbott.

The Book Guild acquired rights to publish and distribute the work in the UK for the length of the contract and acquired directly from the author. Wood is represented by Casarotto Ramsay. The collection will be published on 28th June 2023.

Frank Exchanges documents a nearly 50-year correspondence between Wood, "the national children’s dramatist", and his mentor Whitbourn, teacher, writer and theatre practitioner until Whitbourn’s death in 2005.

The letters chart Wood’s development as a playwright, director and producer alongside Whitbourn’s pre-war theatre memories and meetings with Sybil Thorndike, Harcourt Williams and others. "It is a reflection on the provision, content and status of theatre for young audiences, and ultimately a testimony to the man who Wood considered a friend and mentor," wrote the publisher.

Wood’s theatre credits include eight adaptations of Roald Dahl’s stories, an Olivier-nominated adaptation of Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came To Tea and the Olivier award-winning Goodnight Mister Tom, adapted from Michelle Magorian’s eponymous children’s book.

Wood commented: "When Frank Whitbourn died, I realised that I had kept most of his letters and copies of many of my letters to him. And his sister returned to me the letters of mine he had kept. I felt that the edited correspondence might be of interest, partly because it features the delightful and witty writing of Frank Whitbourn, but also reveals how theatre for young people, despite being generally undervalued, developed during the latter half of the 20th century."