Adelina Patti next for author

Fresh from seeing her first book in print, Josephine (Jo) Hammond has her sights set writing a new biography of the legendary opera star Adelina Patti.
The Pembrokeshire-based author is a former student of the MA creative writing class at Trinity University, Carmarthen, and confesses she is fascinated by the life of one of the most highly-regarded singers of the 19th century.
“Until I moved to Wales, I hadn’t heard of Madame Patti. But when I did I just found the whole story fascinating,” said Mrs Hammond
“Why did she choose to tuck herself away in Craig-y-Nos (Adelina Patti’s estate in the Swansea Valley)? I just developed a huge curiosity about her life and had to find out more.
“Yes, there have been biographies of Adelina Patti before, but they have been pretty dry. My intention is to create something livelier with wider appeal.”

Mrs Hammond’s debut book, called Battle in Iraq: Letters and Diaries of the First World War, focuses on the life of her grandfather.
It is a moving and unusual story of a British engineer who becomes caught up in the horrifying events of the First World War and vividly illuminates life - and death - on the Mesopotamian Front.
At the outbreak of War, William Reed had recently arrived in the region to work as a marine engineer. By the time fighting ceased in 1918, not only his own life but the whole course of the history of the Middle East had been transformed.
In this gripping history of Iraq during the First World War, Josephine Hammond skilfully weaves together her grandfather’s diaries, placing his personal adventures against the backdrop of the unfolding drama of war.
Battle in Iraq offers an invaluable record of events in Iraq during the First World War as well as sensitively drawing out the unavoidable parallels with the contemporary conflict and the long-term consequences of international interference in the region.
Mrs Hammond said she found the MA creative writing course at Trinity a great help.
“I studied there back in 2005 and the course tutors, Menna Elfyn and Paul Wright, were very helpful.
“It sharpened my writing skills and made me much more focussed on form and structure. It allowed me to develop a coherent structure to my writing.
“I would definitely recommend it to people who recognise they have a talent for writing and are wondering about how they can develop and use that talent.”
Josephine Hammond was born in London but brought up in West Africa. A graduate of University College, London, she taught languages for many years and now runs her own business in Pembrokeshire. She is the author of several short stories and poems and has also published magazine and newspaper articles.
This is her first book.
Battle in Iraq is published by the Radcliffe Press.