A wrap-up of the Historical Novel Society Conference 2022

At the start of September. I had the good luck to attend the Historical Novel Society Conference 2022 in beautiful, historical Durham, England.

It was a weekend conference, held in the UK in even years, and the US in odd years. Last year, I attended the US Historical Novel Society virtually. You can see my 2021 wrap-up here.

England is much closer to my home in Rome, and so I was thrilled for the chance to go on a weekend get-away to a gem of a historical town, to meet historical fiction authors and attend interesting sessions on all things historical fiction.

I’m so glad I did!

We were housed in dorms of Durham University, and the conference took place in its university spaces. There were plenty of sessions from which to choose – historical author talks, sessions covering trends in historical fiction, promotion and marketing, and research. There were interesting sessions on writing historical fiction from the perspective of an historian and the preparation of medieval food, taught by medieval historians at Durham University.

And yes, I gained many “practical” skills – like how to prepare a peacock for a medieval banquet, with care taken to preserve the peacock’s beautiful plumage. Sure I’ll be testing this one out at my next dinner party!

And, of course, being surrounded by a stunning medieval town was a major plus for a conference dedicated to historical fiction.

It was also a treat that the opening dinner was in Durham’s impressive castle. What a fabulous venue to chat with our fellow historical fiction authors. Conference lunches and coffees were another great time to meet and mingle.

Loved the HNS Conference castle dinner!

So happy that I was able to attend this fascinating historical fiction conference – and I’m already looking forward to Historical Novel Society 2024 – to be set in Devon.

If you’re a historical fiction author, be sure to take a look at the Historical Novel Society website … and think about joining the next conferences in the US in 2023 and the UK in 2024!