Heather Smith
Heather Smith was born in Brighton, England in 1950. She studied English and Philosophy at Manchester University for two years before, aged twenty, she made the move to Mallorca, Spain.
A degree in Spanish Philology from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) followed and, in 2017, she was awarded an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes University.
Since retiring from teaching A-level English at a Majorcan secondary school, she dedicates her time to translation projects, running a book club and her own writing which she does in both English and Spanish.
In 2018 she published a book of poems: Poems of Joy and Melancholy (Ars Poetica, Oviedo, Spain). She contributed to a book of stories about Oxford in Spanish: Relatos de El Trueno Dorado (Editorial Sapere Aude). Having recently finished a fictionalised memoir, she is currently writing short stories.
Heather is a widow and has two sons and four grandchildren.
Literary Fiction
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The Last Months of Violet Koski, Unsent Letters
The Last Months of Violet Koski
Spanning four decades and travelling from the island of Mallorca to England and Ireland, The Last Months of Violet Koski is a touchingly beautiful story that reminds us we are all connected.
Isolated and seemingly alone in their worlds, a bullied child, a drug addict, a homeless man and an old woman in a nursing home are brought together through empathy, profound communication and the complex interconnections that surround us all.
But how can Gabriel, the down-trodden child, ever bridge these geographic, cultural and age divides? How is he connected to each and how can he possibly show them that there is still love in their worlds?
Expansive in its reach and beautiful in its prose, The Last Months of Violet Koski is a testament to the human condition and our need for connection.
Unsent Letters
On her seventieth birthday, Elspeth announces that she is taking time off to travel by herself to Spain, Italy, England and Ireland, all places which have a special significance to her.
What she doesn’t tell them is that she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
During her travels she writes a letter to each one of her family and friends in which she opens her heart and describes how they have influenced her life.
All Elspeth’s letters are penned against the backdrop of the social and political changes that occurred during a half century of living on the island of Mallorca, and her initial struggle to adapt to a foreign culture after her marriage to a Mallorcan.
These are Elspeth’s last days, and these are the unsent letters she must now send.
