Named

A Story of Names and Reclaiming Who We Are

Camilla Balshaw

$29.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Bedford Square Publishers
05 June 2025

Memoirs; Philosophy of language; Sociolinguistics; Social & cultural history; Society & culture: general

A fascinating and beautiful mix of memoir, global naming trends and reclaiming who we are.

What's in a name? Everything we carry, and everything we are.

Our names are a shadow we carry around with us. They are part of who we are. Our names are a marker of our self-identity and our sense of self. Our names have the power to shock. They have the power to heal, and they have the power to trigger conversations around race, class, social mobility and belonging. But what is a name? What do our names tell us about ourselves? And why do they matter?

Named is a fascinating exploration of names, global naming conventions and identity politics woven into a moving, personal narrative about the finding of family and self. At the intersection of memoir and social and cultural history it is a truly fascinating book about the seemingly ordinary and every day.

The author's own narrative about her estrangement from her Nigerian father, the grapples with her Jamaican mother and her journey towards identity is woven through the chapters making it an engaging and intimate investigation of what makes us who we are.

By: Camilla Balshaw
Imprint: Bedford Square Publishers
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 220mm, Width: 141mm,
ISBN: 9781835010716
ISBN 10: 1835010717
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 05 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Camilla Balshaw grew up in Luton. Her work has been published in the Observer and the Guardian. She has an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. Her writing has been shortlisted and longlisted for a number of competitions. She lives in rural Norfolk. This is her first book.

Reviews for Named: A Story of Names and Reclaiming Who We Are

'Utterly fascinating, insightful and meaningful. Balshaw has sensitively unpicked the loaded act of naming and carrying a name through her own story. Named is non-fiction for people who think they don’t like non-fiction.' Bonnie Burke-Patel, author of I Died at Fallow Hall