Alexander Halford is a surrealist fiction writer based in Wapping, London, where the tides, cobbled streets and slow river light have become quiet companions to his creative life. A physicist by training and a tech professional by trade, he arrived at fiction by a wonderfully unlikely route—what began as a sudden spark of curiosity grew into a full creative pursuit.

His debut novel, Venus in Chains, blends his fascination with philosophy, the human mind, and the hidden codes behind human behaviour. First drafted at his favourite window table in a small café overlooking the docks, the book carries the imprint of that landscape: still water, changing skies, and the sense that meaning can be uncovered in the ordinary if you look long enough.

Influenced strongly by the psychological richness of Russian writers such as Nabokov, Dostoevsky and Turgenev, Alexander approaches fiction as an excavation of inner worlds. He is currently working on his second novel, which continues this journey through themes of identity and self.

Walton Street Writers is a writing group founded by Sara Banerji. We meet regularly to share our writing, and thoughts on life, americanos and flat whites. We aim to be helpful to each other, and offer observations in an open and uncritical way. We have published several anthologies including Tales from a Bookshop, Tales from a Café, and most recently, Côte Tales (2024) which you can find on Amazon.

Writers whose work features in Côte Tales:

Anne Harrap, Catherine Hurst, Charles Bidwell, Harold Roffey, J.M Kennedy, Jane Spiro, Jenny Burrage, Keith McClellan, M.S. Clary, Neil Hancox, Sara Banerji, Valerie Dearlove and Simon Howard.

Additional members of Walton Street Writers not mentioned above are Maria Armero, Carol Lange, Sheila Johnson and Julie Dyson.

Several members have published novels, memoirs and poetry, and collections of their own stories.

Oxford eBooks (est 2010) specialises in Digital Publishing services for authors and publishers alike. Their typesetting, publishing and eBook production services are fast, accurate and well priced. They also now produce beautifully recorded and edited Audio Books. Come talk with Andy about your project and how he can make your book a reality.

Archidustrial is a small publisher founded by Nick Haseltine, an architect with a long-standing interest in the connections between industrial architecture and landscapes, cartography and mapping, and social and community history.

From an early age, Nick was fascinated by the industrial environment around him—studying old maps, watching ships move through the local harbour, and exploring the dominant silhouettes of pit wheels and power stations across nearby coalfields and coastal marshlands. These early observations developed into a wider interest in industrial history and design, and in understanding how industrial buildings and infrastructure not only supported economic activity but also became an integral part of both local identity and a broader social history.

Through Archidustrial’s publications, using photography, drawings, and prints, each project seeks to record and share the character, history, and continuing significance, and often fast disappearing, landscapes in the UK, Germany, and the USA.

Chris Andrews Publications has produced guide books, coffee tables and souvenir books in Oxford for over 40 years. The company also publishes calendars, cards, posters and fridge magnets. All are photographed, designed and produced by ourselves. We also publish books and cards in the Cotswolds, Chilterns, Channel islands and Belfast.

Geoffrey was born in East London in 1948 and grew up with his parents and two brothers in Winchmore Hill. He attended St Pauls C of E Primary School and, having failed his 11+, moved on to Winchmore Secondary Modern School. Here he studied for his O and A Level GCEs before taking up a place at City University to read Civil Engineering. A career with Consulting Engineers, Contractors but primarily Local Government served him well and now retired he lives with his wife in Buckinghamshire.