New Signing: Hirmynd, Long Going

At 50, Sophie Calon’s father was a celebrated lawyer. At 55, he was found dead on a garage forecourt at Christmas. Meanwhile he had pinballed between homeless shelters, prison cells, and dry-out hostels. His story is a lesson in how alcoholism corrodes a person – and a family.

Hirmynd, Long Going is a powerful, unflinching memoir that sings with Calon’s love for her eccentric, witty father while recounting his drink-fuelled disintegration. In telling his story, Calon explores her family’s instability and pain as well as her own survival. “Throughout my childhood, our family’s struggles couldn’t be said aloud. I hope that, together with readers, we can all come to deeper understandings about addiction, grief, and how we could break destructive cycles,” Calon says.

For readers of This Ragged Grace (Octavia Bright), The Stirrings (Catherine Taylor) and Strong Female Character (Fern Brady), Hirmynd, Long Going is a compelling, frank and vivacious memoir that casts new light on the complex issue of addiction.

“Calon writes with clarity and unflinching honesty of the weight of responsibility of being the eldest child amidst the chaos of a parent with an addiction to alcohol. A stunning debut I found impossible to put down.” Rebecca Parfitt - Commissioning Editor, Honno

Rebecca Parfitt at Honno acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Philip Gwyn Jones at Greyhound Literary. For all other rights enquiries please contact philip@greyhoundliterary.co.uk.

Sophie Calon is a new young Welsh writer, born and raised in Cardiff during the Cool Cymru era. She first came to prominence when she undertook to read a woman writer from every country on the planet. She read Classics at Oxford University and did an MA in Journalism at Cardiff University. She has worked across the human rights field on campaigns including global press freedom, women’s rights in the Pacific and Asia, and climate action. Her writing was published in the anthology Tales of Two Londons, and has been shortlisted for the 2021 Wild Writing Prize and published by Short Fiction. She lives with her husband, daughter, and their two cats on a hilltop near Hay-on-Wye, where they are bringing nature back to their farm. Hirmynd, Long Going is her first book.

Praise for Sophie Calon

“Strikingly memorable and as electrifyingly compelling,” Philip Gwyn Jones, Greyhound Literary

“Hugely impacting and searingly honest, Sophie Calon's work is a powerful piece of memoir: bold, bruising and yet beautiful.” James Canton, Grounded

“Sophie Calon’s writing is deeply real and moving – she is a talent to watch.” Jessica Andrews, Milk Teeth

Hirmynd, Long Going will land on shelves in June 2025.