Songwoman
Winner, Small Press Network's Most Underrated Book Award, 2019
One woman’s quest to defend her culture.
Haunted by the Roman attack that destroyed her home, Ailia flees to the remote Welsh mountains in search of the charismatic war king, Caradog, who is leading a guerrilla campaign against the encroaching army.
Ailia proves herself an indispensable advisor to the war king, but as the bond between them deepens, she realises the terrible role she must play to save the soul of her country.
Set in Iron-Age Britain, Songwoman is a powerful exploration of the ties between people and their land and what happens when they are broken.
Text Publishing 2018
Media and Reviews
C3R Radio (approx 14:40) A woman, learned in spirtual ways, helps to lead the tribes fighting against the Romans during the iron age in Ilka Tampke's 'Songwoman'.
ABC Radio National: Bookshelf (approx 4:00) Ilka Tampke's Songwoman
ABC Radio National: Bookshelf Novelist Ilka Tampke joins Kate and Cassie
BBC Sounds: The Essay Unearthing Britannia's Tribes: Boudicca - Warrior Queen
Books + Publishing ‘Songwoman’ wins 2019 Most Underrated Book Award
Guardian Writing is tough. My book went so unnoticed I won an award for it
What People Are Saying
“Songwoman is a sparkling piece of writing, shot through with complex moral struggles and questions about what it means to belong to a place. Ilka Tampke transported me into the mind of Ailia, into her intense relationship with war king Caradog and her even more intense relationship with the land. Fine-tuned historical research blends seamlessly into this gripping story of a young woman fighting to stop the destruction of her home.”
— Jane Rawson, author of From the Wreck
“Gripping”
— Readings
“A story about a woman who is following her destiny in Celtic Britain.”
— Cassie McCullagh, RN Bookshelf