Filming the Goodison Park twins & former journalists pen a crime novel
Editor reveals email from late journalist 'meant the world' | Discoveries prize shortlist reveal | Enter the Aurora Prize | Amnesty International condemns publisher arrests
My dear wordsmiths,
What perfect days for reading out in the sunshine - a shame we have other commitments really! The shire is particularly stunning right now with lambs gambolling, roses coming to life, birds tweeting and temperatures almost at t-shirt level (It’s always five degrees colder here than anywhere else). But the bucolic scenes make it (almost) possible to forget the state of the world - and it’s particularly worrying right now.
However, in much more soothing news, I recorded a really lovely video (I know, not writing ) this week with my mother in law and her identical twin - Pauline and Pam. Both 86, they were recalling their first trip to a football match at Goodison Park ahead of Everton’s last match at the stadium on Sunday - 70 years ago. It’s true that I know as little as it is possible about the beautiful game (I spent my childhood in swimming training) but I do know a good story when I see it and these two bring a tear to the eye. The video is pretty short - just three minutes if you fancy a gander. You’ll like it even more if you are an Everton fan as they recall the ‘toffee lady’, the half crown season tickets and cushions for hire on the hard seats - plus their favourite blond player.
Also worth remembering how rare it was for girls to attend the match. It was edited out but they talk about how the rest of the crowd was men and boys.
Former journalists pen a new crime novel
A husband-and-wife duo, who both trained as journalists at the BBC and first met as regional reporters for ITV, have written a debut crime fiction novel together, Mind Over Murder. Jake Lynch, who grew up in Barnsley, was a news anchor and reporter on the launch of Network North, a regional evening news programme by Yorkshire Tyne Tees in 1993.
His wife, Annabel McGoldrick, is from Newcastle and worked for the BBC in Lincoln and Leeds. Jake and Annabel bring their own fascinating real-life experiences to the novel. Annabel later transitioned from journalism to psychotherapy and is now an accredited EMDR consultant, training clinicians worldwide. Jake, a seasoned journalist, has worked as a political correspondent for Sky News, as Sydney correspondent for The Independent, and a news anchor for BBC World TV News. Jake went on to become a pioneering figure in the field of peace journalism and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. He was awarded the prestigious Luxembourg Peace Prize in 2017.
Mind Over Murder, the first novel in the Janna Rose Mysteries series by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick, introduces a compelling new investigator to the crime fiction canon. Published by Next Chapter, Mind Over Murder is not just another whodunit—it’s the first crime novel to feature a psychotherapist protagonist specialising in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), a ground breaking trauma therapy that gained widespread attention after Prince Harry credited it with helping him process the loss of his mother, Princess Diana.
Tributes to late journalist Andrew Norfolk (link via Yorkshire Post)
My colleague, and Yorkshire Post editor, James Mitchinson has revealed the email that ‘meant to world’ to him - following the death of former staff journalist who went to an illustrious career at the Times. Andrew Norfolk, who exposed the Rotherham grooming gang scandal, has died at 60 it was confirmed today. James revealed it is ten years ago, almost to the day, he was looped into an email sent to one of his reporters at the time, Chris Burn, who had been working tirelessly on exposing the crimes of paedophile gangs operating across South Yorkshire. (full piece linked in headline).
“As you've sadly discovered in a pretty raw fashion over the past few days, there are people out there who want to punish you for reporting the truth. They hope thereby to scare you, your editor and your newspaper into silence. I have no doubt whatsoever that they have not a hope in hell of succeeding, but one of the many vile comments about you that I've read on Facebook this morning looks not a million miles from an incitement to murder. I trust that steps are being taken to ensure that the police are aware of this.”
Extract from email sent to then Yorkshire Post journalist Chris Burn
Curtis Brown announce Discoveries Prize author shortlist
Publishers Curtis Brown’s 2025 shortlist of six unpublished novels-in-progress has been chosen from over 2,600 entries, on the strength of the opening 10,000 words and a synopsis. The titles were selected by Chair of Judges Kate Mosse CBE, international bestselling novelist and Founder Director of the Women’s Prize, and her judging panel: acclaimed authors Dreda Say Mitchell MBE, Chloe Timms and Claire Kohda, Curtis Brown literary agent Jess Molloy and Curtis Brown Creative’s Founder and Managing Director Anna Davis. The shortlisted authors come from a broad mix of backgrounds and include a sustainability professional, a teacher, a recent MA graduate, a former waitress, a copy writer and an opera singer.
They are:
Muti'ah Badruddeen, A Bowl of River Water
Sophie Black, The Pass
Shaiyra Devi, The Persistence of Gravity
Jac Felipez, A Long Ways from Home
Rosie Rowell, Down by the Stryth
Lauren Van Schaik, Seven Sweet Nothings
Aurora Prize for writing (12 weeks until deadline)
The Aurora Prize is a national writing competition, with its heart ion the West Midland, seeking outstanding new writing in short fiction and poetry. Judges include some of the region’s leading literary lights, with names such as Joanna Cannon, Casey Bailey, Mahsuda Snaith, Alison Moore, Jon McGregor, Malika Booker, Helen Mort, Debris Stevenson, Shreya Sen-Handley and Georgina Wilding. In 2025 judges also include T.S. Eliot Prize winner Joelle Taylor, reading poetry, and multi-award-winning author Irenosen Okojie, judging prose.
As well as receiving a cash prize, first place winners feedback from a leading agent, free Society of Authors' membership, an SoA advisory session and tickets to a masterclass from the judge of their choice.There are also second-place, third-place and regional prizes, which include up to £150 cash and a free ticket to The Writers' Conference 2027. ( how to enter linked in headline)
Amnesty International speaks out after publishers are arrested: The organisation has reacted to the Russian security forces' detention of at least 10 book publishing professionals in Moscow on “extremism”-related charges over alleged “LGBTI propaganda” in books published by affiliated printing houses,
“In their ruthless campaign against LGBTI people, Russian authorities have now come after book publishers, accusing them of ‘extremism’ for merely doing their job: bringing books to readers. This shameless heavy-handed use of state apparatus against literature is as absurd as it is terrifying. One thing is clear: no amount of bans, arrests or prosecutions will erase the existence of LGBTI people in Russia, or anywhere else. History has shown that attempts to supress identity and censor knowledge are ultimately futile. Love and knowledge will always endure over hatred and repression. The detained publishing professionals must be immediately released, the criminal charges against them dropped and the ongoing persecution of LGBTI people, organisations and initiatives in Russia must be brought to an end.” Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia Director
On 14 May, Russian security forces detained at least 10 individuals in Moscow as part of a criminal investigation into alleged “involvement in the activities of an extremist organization,” “participation in the activities” of such an organization, and “organizing its work using official position” (Article 282.2(1.1), (2), (3) of the Criminal Code) for publishing LGBTI-themed books. At least 10 individuals were taken in for questioning.
Among the books named in the case is The Summer in a Pioneer Tie (translated in English as Pioneer Summer), a bestselling novel by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silvanova depicting a same-sex romance between two Soviet teenagers. The authors were arbitrarily designated “foreign agents” by the Ministry of Justice in February 2024. Other titles include Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and Becky Albertalli’s Leah on the Offbeat and Love, Creekwood – all published by Popcorn Books between 2019 and 2022.
Thanks for reading! Please don’t forget to like, subscribe and share and I always love to hear from you. N
