New book edited by Tracy Chevalier and Simon Prosser
Illustrated by Leanne Shapton
Published by IndieBooks, 19th October 2011, Hardback, £12.95
With stories from:
William Fiennes, James Robertson, Richard Mabey, Tracy Chevalier,
Susan Elderkin, Rachel Billington, Blake Morrison, Maria McCann, Terence Blacker, Joanne Harris, Philippa Gregory, Catherine O’Flynn, Tahmima Anam, Maggie O’Farrell, Amanda Craig, Ali Smith, Philip Hensher, Salley Vickers and Kate Mosse.
How did the oak come to life? Why does the chestnut have white candles? Why does nothing grow under the beech (or does it?)? Why does the ash have black buds?
These and other questions have formed the basis for this enchanting new collection of short stories, specially written by nineteen of our best loved contemporary writers who were inspired by our trees and woods to produce these wonderfully imaginative and magical tales. The publication of Why Willows Weep is designed to help raise awareness of and funds for the Woodland Trust’s woodland creation activities. The UK is one of Europe’s least-wooded countries and the Trust believes it is vital to double our native woodland cover over the next 50 years.
The project is the brainchild of Tracy Chevalier and her husband Jonathan Drori, who is also a trustee of the Woodland Trust. Each story has been inspired by our trees and woods and the resulting tales have been brought together in this beautiful new hardback edition.
‘The whole thing has been immense fun and I’ve learnt a lot about trees on the way,’ she says. ‘There’s something about reading all the stories at once that makes you feel like you’re in a grove of trees, looking at them as individuals for the first time. Some are traditional fairy tales, some are more off the wall, others have the feel of Greek myths; taken together they not only extend our knowledge of trees but the fable as a literary form.’
The tales focus on UK native species, and all the authors have had a tree dedicated in their name at Heartwood Forest in Hertfordshire, where for the last few years the MAN Booker judges have symbolically planted trees to represent those felled in order to produce the hundreds of books submitted to the panel.
To buy copies of Why Willows Weep, visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/why-willows-weep
For every copy of Why Willows Weep sold, the Woodland Trust will be able to plant five native trees.
Trees are being planted as part of the Woodland Trust Jubilee Woods Project to celebrate the
Diamond Jubilee of HRH Queen Elizabeth
For all media enquiries or to request a review copy of Why Willows Weep, please contact Jessica Axe at FMcM Associates on 020 7405 7422 or Jessica@fmcm.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
About Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading charity championing native woods and trees. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees. Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.
About IndieBooks
IndieBooks is a new independent publisher committed to producing books that are important in the lives of our readers; and to building a community of book-lovers around our authors and titles. We are currently developing some exciting fiction and non-fiction projects for our formal launch in 2012. The IndieBooks team is proud to be working pro bono with the Woodland Trust to publish Why Willows Weep.