Imogen Hermes Gowar

Last updated
Imogen Hermes Gowar
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Alma mater University of East Anglia
Genre Historical fiction
Notable worksThe Mermaid and Mrs Hancock (2018)
Notable awards Betty Trask Award (2018)
Website
www.imogenhermesgowar.co.uk

Imogen Hermes Gowar is a British author. She published her debut novel The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock in 2019; it won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

Contents

Personal life and early career

Gowar's great-grandmother was the engraver and sculptor Gertrude Hermes. [1]

Gowar studied archaeology, anthropology and art history at the University of East Anglia. [2] She then worked in museums, including in Visitor Services at the British Museum, while writing short fiction inspired by the exhibits. [2] [1] She also worked as a barista in London prior to publishing her first book. [1]

Writing career

In 2013, Gowar won the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Scholarship to study for a master's degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. [1] Her dissertation developed into her debut novel The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. [1] The novel won a Betty Trask Award in 2019 and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award in 2018. [3] [4] [5] It was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2018. [6]

As of January 2026, Gowar was working on a novel about Lady Eleanor Talbot (c.1436-1468), who was possibly secretly married to Edward IV. She became interested in Eleanor through working on an augmented reality tour of Norwich which tells Eleanor's story and which Gowar wrote and narrates. [7] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Brown, Helen (24 January 2018). "Imogen Hermes Gowar on mermaids, mummies and writing this year's must-read historical novel". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  2. 1 2 Gilmartin, Sarah (20 January 2018). "The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock review: Historical fiction at its finest". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  3. ↑ "Betty Trask Prize - The Society of Authors". 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  4. ↑ Flood, Alison (23 April 2018). "Women's prize for fiction shortlist favours new voices over big hitters". The Guardian. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  5. ↑ "Imogen Hermes Gowar, shortlisted 2018". Young Writer of the Year Award. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  6. ↑ "2018 Desmond Elliott Prize Longlist". locusmag.com. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  7. ↑ "Lady Eleanor Talbot". www.imogenhermesgowar.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  8. ↑ "Eleanor: an augmented reality walk". www.mutiny.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
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