Anthea Morrison writes about the value of winning prizes and finding a writing community:
In December, my story You Have What You Want, published in Words and Women: Two last year, won the Margaret Hewson Memorial
Prize. The award is open to all students on the Creative Writing MA at Royal
Holloway University, and was set up by literary agent Johnson and Alcock in
2010. Margaret, quite a character by all accounts, was joint-director of the
agency before she died in 2002, and the prize was established in 2010 to honour
both Margaret and her firm belief in encouraging new writers. In January I went
to collect my cheque for £500 from Anna Power and Ed Wilson at J&A, still
very much in a state of shock.
When Anna came
to talk to us on the MA course about the process of submitting to an agent, and
what they are looking for, she made it clear that it was much harder to sell a
debut collection of short stories from an author without one or two published
novels under their belt. Although it doesn’t follow from this that they would
choose a novel extract over short fiction for the prize, I still felt
disheartened and nearly didn’t bother entering my work. As it turned out, Anna
said that all the judges were ‘won over by your clear, spare prose,’ and she and
Ed have offered to read my work and mentor me as I progress towards producing a
collection of short stories.
The prize means
a lot to me for three reasons. Firstly, it fulfilled its aim of providing
encouragement, as it came at a time when I was struggling to motivate myself to
start the dissertation for my MA, and keep producing new work. All but the most
confident of writers seek validation in some form, and it really has helped me
to keep going. Secondly, although there is absolutely no implication that
J&A will sign me up, it does mean I have a relationship with an agent, someone
I can ask for advice and guidance, and this is something I feel lucky to have
when it’s so hard to get a foot in the door with an agent. Thirdly, when so
many competitions or journals do not offer payment or prize money, £500 is a
very welcome reward. I decided to spend the money on furthering my writing, so what
better than an Arvon course, especially when I found one for short-story
writers called ‘Working Towards A Collection.’
I spoke to two
earlier recipients of the prize, Judi Sutherland for her poetry submission in
2012, and Nora Gombos for her novel extract in 2011, to see what winning the
prize meant to them. Judi told me:
‘It was a great boost at the time but I don't think it has made any
difference to my writing life. I'm primarily a poet, but getting published as a
poet is difficult, especially if you are a middle-aged woman with no track
record; the poetry world is crammed with people like me, although I flatter
myself that my work is a bit different. I still don't have a book out, largely
because poetry books make no money.’
Nora Gombos said
she felt that winning the prize validated her writing, but she feels that the
submissions from the MA are so varied in style and genre, that the choice is necessarily a very
subjective one.
“Although it was great to win the prize, I think the annual course
anthology (Bedford Square, published
by Ward Wood Publishing) is equally important as agents get to see everyone’s
work. In fact, most of the students in my year were contacted by agents on the
back of the anthology, including myself. Johnson and Alcock had also offered me
representation, and while I was very flattered, I decided to wait until I have
finished the novel before signing with anyone.”
Nora has stopped
working full-time in order to focus on her novel, but she is well aware of how
hard it is to get published, even if an agent does sign her up. Whilst it may
be even harder to publish a full collection of short stories or poems in book
form, there are at least endless competitions and journals to submit single
short pieces to, which, if accepted, can help establish a track record for a
writer that might attract an agent’s attention. By comparison, competitions
accepting novel extracts are far fewer.
As well as having
individual poems published online and in magazines and anthologies, Judi has
taught poetry, and set up an online poetry journal, The Stare’s Nest. I asked her if this involvement with the writing
community has in any way compensated for her frustration at not getting a
poetry collection published:
“I agree that it's great to be part of a writing community, but
every day I see poets getting
book deals and I'd like the same. Magazine publication
once felt great, but now I've got a few under my belt it isn't enough. This
leads to a sort of bipolar life - being convinced your writing is great,
because your friends tell you so, but actually it can't be, it must be bad because
nobody wants your book... I think that is a very common anxiety, not being able
to judge whether your work is good or not. I really do want a book published. In February, eight of my poems appeared in a tiny chapbook alongside eight from
another poet, in a series called "Dark Matter", which is a start. I'm
not going to give up but it is a hard slog. Onward and upward!”
Nora says she
doesn’t currently have any involvement in a wider writing community, and that
she is focusing all her energy on completing her novel:
“I will probably enter the novel for some competitions when I’m
closer to finishing it and I feel it’s ready. Prizes and awards seem to have
become more important now that getting a book deal is so hard.”
Personally,
I am under no illusions about the likelihood of getting a debut short-story
collection published, even if I can write one that is good enough. That still
feels more like a dream scenario, one that could come true, but a dream
nonetheless. And while I’m dreaming, I take a lot of pleasure in smaller
publishing successes, and involving myself with a community of writers. I can
understand the need for writers working on a novel to lock themselves away in
order to give themselves the necessary focus, but writing is such a solitary
pursuit that I find I cannot do it in isolation, especially as my job as a
freelance copywriter means I work from home.
I am lucky enough to belong to the Angles
writing group in Cambridge. Several of us have studied for an MA in Creative
Writing, and the quality of both the submissions and the critical feedback is
high. As well as critiquing each other’s work, the group provides vital support
and encouragement. This might be advice on how to respond to an agent’s request
for revisions, listening to someone rehearse for a public reading, or
recommending places to submit work. We bolster each other when self-doubt
creeps in, we share our rejections as well as our successes, and just meeting
with committed writers each week gives us a sense of being in it together. Former
Angles members Guinevere Glasfurd and Penny Hancock are now published
novelists, other current members are signed to agents, and many of us have had
poetry or short fiction published online. Oh, and we’re rather pleased that three
of our number made it into the Words and
Women: Two anthology in 2015.
I have helped
organize and promote the last two Words and Women events to launch the
anthology in Cambridge, and have found this voluntary work to be another
positive way of supporting and being a part of the writing community. Other
voluntary work that Angles members take part in include teaching extra-curricular
creative writing groups at school, stewarding the Cambridge Literary Festival,
and for Angles chair Leigh Chambers, being Writer in Residence at Cambridge’s Rock
Road Library.
Maybe Judi is
right, and once I have a few more stories published I won’t float around on Cloud
Nine for weeks after one is accepted. When (or if) I have a collection I can’t
find a publisher for, I may well share her frustration. But for now, a book
deal is not the Holy Grail of writing. For me, writing is about more than that.
It’s about collective and community endeavour and support, and advancing each
other’s work. I am pleased with my online publishing successes, thrilled that
my story made it into the Words and Women anthology, and proud of my Margaret
Hewson Prize. All of these have introduced me to new people in the writing
community, opened my eyes to other opportunities, and helped me to do what we
all struggle with at times, to just keep putting those words on the page.
You can find links to Judi Sutherland’s
published work at www.judisutherland.com
Anthea
Morrison grew up in Hertfordshire and has lived in
London, Cambridge and New York, where she first realised her passion for
creative writing at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Now back in Cambridge, she is
an active member of the local Angles writing workshop. Anthea is studying for
an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway University
"As a playwright based in
East Anglia, the opportunities to develop and share work are
somewhat… well… dull… compared to the spotlight promised by London... although that
comes with quite a hefty price tag! Which is why opportunities to see and be
part of new writing festivals in East Anglia are so valuable. INK Festival,
based at The Cut Theatre, Halesworth, is one such event that inspires audiences
to come see professional emerging writers, directors and actors create new
work. 
