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| Melissa Fu |
‘I am delighted to have won Words And Women’s 2016 Regional
Prize with my piece of creative non-fiction, Suite for my Father. The
Words And Women prose competition is especially dear to me because I saw a
flyer in 2013 at a local bookstore for the inaugural competition and it felt so
encouraging and welcoming that I decided to send in some writing.
Entering that first competition meant learning about Words And
Women and their important work. It was on their blog too that
I came across a post written by Leigh Chambers about the Angles writing group
she’d started in Cambridge. I got in contact with Leigh and eventually joined
the group. Angles has been an invaluable source of friendship and community for
me. I have Words and Women to thank for connecting me to these amazing writers!
I was a highly-commended writer for Words and Women: One
and that was my first writing success ever. It was such a boost to have come so
close to being included in the anthology! I loved the ethos of the competition
and entered again the next year. My first writing publication is a piece in Words
and Women: Two.
Because Words And Women has been an integral part of my
finding a place as a writer, I wanted to send them my very best work. Last
fall, I sent them a story that is deeply meaningful to me as well as one in
which I had carefully considered every word. Of all the pieces I have written
over the past few years, this is the one of which I am the most proud. It was
an absolute thrill to have it honoured as the 2016 regional winner.
As part of the prize, I had a session with Jill Dawson,
best-selling novelist and founder of the Gold Dust mentoring scheme. Before the
session, I sent Jill a longer piece and an overview for a book-length project.
Jill’s feedback was fantastic! It was clear to me that she had read my work not
only with a keen eye for structural and narrative possibilities, but also with
a generous respect for the soul of the story I want to tell. What I found
especially helpful was that she would pair a general suggestion about my
writing with specific areas in the piece she had read, showing me where I might
put her guidance to use right away. I could then take these ideas and apply
them to other pieces of writing. Jill offered just the kind of perspective and
boost I needed to give me the confidence to embark on my larger project. And,
we met in a great teashop in Ely that was new to me - always a bonus!
Thank you Jill Dawson and thank you Words And Women!
Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and lives in
Cambridge. Her work appears in Words and Women:Two, Words and Women: Four, Bare
Fiction, Envoi, Right Hand Pointing, and other publications.
With backgrounds in physics and English, she spent many years working in
education, both as a teacher and a consultant. In 2014 Melissa combined her
loves of writing and teaching to start Spilling the Ink, a small
business offering creative writing courses and coaching.
Her winning story Suite for my Father can be found in Words and Women: Four, available from Unthank Books.
