Last Saturday,
a mild and bright October day, six women met in a subterranean chamber in the
heart of Norwich. The purpose of the meeting? To learn what ‘About’ was
about.
The competition had
appealed to me because of its playful approach to form, and its focus on one
woman’s relationship with a place in the East of England. So, I had written my
proposal and sent it off. I had not anticipated winning. Indeed, I was so convinced
of my failure that I immediately began to work on a submission for Words And
Women’s prose competition. I was also unprepared for the mixture of
astonishment, delight, and excitement that I felt on hearing the news and, as I descended the stairs
to the meeting last Saturday, I felt as though the whole city could hear my
nerves jingling.
I arrived in the depths
of the building and was greeted warmly by our mentors, Lynne, Bel, and Hannah,
and my fellow mentees. Photographs were taken, then we settled into the session,
introducing ourselves, talking about our expectations, and discussing our
proposals.
It was an illuminating
and constructive three hours, during which we considered a range of possibilities
for the development of our characters and themes, and thought about how we could
make these work both in performance and on the page.
By the time I climbed
back up into the sunlight, the jingling of my nerves had changed to the more
positive and pleasurable buzz of creative thought, and I had an improved
understanding of ‘About’ and what it will involve. It is, beyond doubt, a creative
challenge which will test, invigorate, and inspire us all and, with a bit of
luck and a lot of hard work, we will produce four good pieces of writing for
International Women’s Day.
Thea Smiley was one of
About’s Category 2 winners. A recent UEA graduate, she writes prose fiction,
and plays for radio and the stage. For find out more info about About and Thea
see our dedicated blog page 'About comp'.
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