I have a new book out in September (2022).
In 1986 an explosion occurred in the Number 4 reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear plant. This was a terrible human tragedy, but the evacuation of the people from the contaminated area around the plant created perhaps the worlds greatest experiment in rewilding. Bears, bison, lynx and wolves returned to the forests, and roam there still. They are not alone. When the people were evacuated, they had to leave their pets, including their dogs, behind them.
Dogs of the Deadlands is the story of some of those dogs, and their struggle for survival in this beautiful, but dangerous, new world. It’s also the story of one little girl who had to abandon her new puppy, and her fight to one day be reunited with it.
It’s a story full of drama, tragedy and hope. I’ve sometimes referred to it as Call of the Wild meets Watership Down, meets War and Peace. If it doesn’t frighten and excite you, and eventually make you cry, then I’ve failed. It’s been my biggest ever writing challenge, and I hope you feel as intensely about it as I did as I wrote it.
Well, these are strange and wonderful times. My little book, Lark, has won the CILIP Carnegie Medal. You can find out more about the prize, here: https://carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/the-2020-cilip-carnegie-and-kate-greenaway-medal-winners/
And if you should want to read my acceptance speech, it’s here: https://carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/the-2020-cilip-carnegie-medal-winner-speech/
If you want to buy the book, I’d steer you towards your local bookshop or, to: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Anthony-McGowan/Lark/22980974