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Author's undisclosed earlier work revealed
The acclaimed writer Raynor Winn, known for her 2018 memoir The Salt Path, previously published a novel under a pseudonym in 2012, her lawyers have confirmed. The revelation contradicts Winn's repeated claims that The Salt Path was her first book.
The forgotten novel
Winn's earlier work, How Not to Dal Dy Dir, was released by Gangani Publishing, a company she co-owned with her husband, Moth Winn. The book was written under the alias Izzy Wyn-Thomas and marketed as part of a prize draw to win their home in north Wales. Few copies were printed, and the title remains difficult to find.
The National Library of Wales lists it as Wyn-Thomas's sole publication. The novel's blurb describes it as a "darkly humorous" exploration of Welsh rural life, weaving together stories of farmers, accountants, and local cultural figures.
Contradictions in Winn's public narrative
Winn frequently stated that The Salt Path was her first written work. In a 2020 interview with Waterstones, she claimed it was "the first thing I've written since I was a teenager." Her husband echoed this, telling the same interviewer he had no idea she could write before The Salt Path.
However, records show Gangani Publishing was registered in 2012, with Winn (under her legal name, Sally Walker) listed as a shareholder. The company operated from an industrial estate near Bangor, Gwynedd, while the couple lived nearby in Pwllheli.
Controversial prize draw and financial disputes
Gangani Publishing promoted How Not to Dal Dy Dir through an online forum for smallholders, offering a chance to win the couple's home, Pen Y Maes, as a prize. The property was advertised as "free of mortgage or legal charges," but Land Registry documents revealed it carried both a mortgage and a high-interest debt.
The debt stemmed from a 2008 loan taken to repay £64,000 Winn allegedly embezzled from her former employer, Martin Hemmings. The loan, transferred to another lender in 2010, carried an 18% interest rate. Offering a mortgaged property as a prize could constitute fraud, though local authorities confirmed no investigation was ever launched.
In a 2025 statement, Winn acknowledged the prize draw was "a mistake" and said it was canceled with refunds issued to participants. She also expressed regret for "any mistakes" made during her time working for Hemmings.
Local reactions and industry fallout
Few copies of How Not to Dal Dy Dir circulated, but one reader, farmer Matt Swarbrick, recalled buying it after seeing the forum ad. "It felt like we were on a similar journey," he said, though he couldn't remember details of the prize draw.
A Pwllheli bookseller, Stephen Lloyd Wright, denied refusing to stock the book but had no memory of the request. Another local bookshop stocked five copies but said the title "didn't sell."
"You would've thought, as director of the publishing house, he may well have said, 'Would you like to help me out?'"
Stephen Lloyd Wright, Pwllheli bookseller
Awards and publishing repercussions
The Salt Path won the £10,000 Christopher Bland Prize in 2019, awarded to debut writers over 50. The Royal Society of Literature, which administers the prize, told the BBC that self-published works were eligible in 2019 but later changed the rules.
Penguin, Winn's publisher, delayed her fourth book indefinitely in 2025, citing the author's "considerable distress." The release date was later pushed to 2028. Penguin Michael Joseph, which published The Salt Path, declined to comment but previously stated it had conducted "necessary due diligence."
Winn's response
Winn and her husband declined the BBC's requests for an interview for the podcast Secrets of the Salt Path. Her solicitors confirmed her authorship of How Not to Dal Dy Dir but did not address other questions, including the identity of the bookseller referenced in online posts under the Wyn-Thomas alias.
