Paul Anness Follow

Paul Anness was born in East Ham, London, after the second world war, when rationing had finished, but before the end of National Service.

His first job was at Billingsgate Fish Market with his Grandad, Johnny Ringshaw. He used to walk a mile to Johnny’s house at 4.15am every day to get a lift.

Paul attended East Ham Grammar School, then got a place at Manchester University, paid for by the local council, to study English and American Literature. His thesis was on Ernest Hemingway.

He found a job after university as a management trainee at Allen & Unwin publishers, and worked afterwards for Hutchinson, Ebury Press, Quarto and Octopus.

He started his own company in the late 1980s, which has since published over 2500 different titles, mainly non-fiction, beautifully-illustrated books about cooking, gardening, history and crafts; and children’s books of fairy tales, folk tales, history and craft projects. As an author, this is his first adult novel