We have our winners!

Congratulations to Jenny Ayres, Lilie Ferrari, Tess Little and Thea Smiley, the winners of About, our commissioning competition, supported by Arts Council England.

We received 50 brilliant entries for the competition and after much deliberation chose the following writers and their projects….

Jenny Ayres:

Jenny is a north Hertfordshire based writer, actress and mum. After studying at The Central School of Speech and Drama, Jenny was invited onto the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and in 2005 won the London Lost Theatre Festival with her one woman show ‘The Fourth Photo’. Jenny then travelled to Milan and Budapest, where she was commissioned to write two short films, before her first short story, ‘…but that’s who you are’, was published in 2007. Jenny continues to write for the stage and screen today, most recently working as Writing Director for a community based theatre project entitled ‘Through a Child’s Eyes’ in conjunction with Letchworth Arts Centre.

Jenny’s piece, ‘Trouble and Strife’, will explore the vital, but often unknown, work of the Hertfordshire railway women of World War Two. In the face of grueling manual work, frequent prejudice and nightly bombing attacks women worked to maintain our railway lines, not only keeping the country moving but changing the world of women’s work forever. From train sets to train drivers - the railway is a man’s world…until war comes.

Lilie Ferrari:

Lilie Ferrari worked in the South of France and California before gaining a Master’s degree in French Literature. She then went to work at the British Film Institute in the Television Unit, taking a particular interest in popular drama and soap opera. From there she went to the BBC as a Script Editor and subsequently began her career as a full time writer.
She was co-creator and writer for the long running medical drama series The Clinic for RTE, and has written episodes of Peak Practice (Carlton), Dangerfield (BBC),Casualty (BBC), Berkeley Square (BBC), Holby (BBC) and numerous episodes of EastEnders (BBC). She co-created storylines for 60 episodes of the returning series of Crossroads, winning the ITV commission for Carlton Productions. She has also storylined for Family Affairs (Channel 5), and Playing the Field for Tiger Aspect/BBC.  Lilie has worked as a soap consultant in Finland and France as well as advising on a proposed new soap opera for Saudi Arabia. She has also had four novels published, and is currently working on her fifth.

Her proposal is based on a real woman called Jane Sellars, who was sentenced to hang in Norwich in 1631.  Looking at research around issues of vagrancy at the time, she would like to give Jane a voice, and tell her story.

Tess Little:

Born in Norwich, Tess  studied history at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Her research focused on les femmes tondues – French women punished after the Liberation for collaborating with Germans in the Second World War. During her studies, Tess wrote non-fiction articles for student publications, and her short story ‘The Stitches’ was published in a student anthology. She has worked as a freelance journalist and previously gained experience at the New York Times in Paris, Ralph Appelbaum Associates in New York and Thomson Reuters in London.

Tess’s proposal, ‘Beyond the Britannia Barracks’, will explore the story of Anguish, a nineteen-year-old prostitute repeatedly detained at the Norwich prison on Plumstead Road in the 1880s. Based on archival research, the life of Anguish will be written into a fictional monologue. Voices of her cellmates – arsonists, thieves, drunkards and child abusers – will permeate the script, weaving together prison storylines. From pavements to courts and cells, the plethora of characters at Plumstead Road epitomised lives of countless impoverished women living in the East of Victoria’s Britain.

Thea Smiley:

Thea lives in Suffolk with her husband and three sons. A recent UEA graduate, she writes prose fiction, and plays for radio and the stage. Her first play was performed in 2012, and in 2013 she was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. In Boudicca of the Bungay Straight a ceaseless wanderer, and ‘lady of the road’, delivers a monologue in which she becomes increasingly convinced that she is the re-incarnation of the warrior queen Boudicca.

On Sunday 12^th October we will post the judging report and also the names of our 12 commended writers who have won a place on The Tough Room workshop run by poet Hannah Jane Walker.


Many many thanks to everybody who entered.

Eve, Grace and Mollie interview Meg Rosoff

On May 21^st Meg Rosoff gave two workshops on voice to 50 girls at The Hewett School, Norwich, as part of our young women’s writing project which is supported by the Co-op Community Fund. Meg kindly agreed to be interviewed by Eve, Grace and Mollie in her lunch-break between workshops. Eve, Grace and Mollie then wrote the interview up for us to post on our blog.  Many thanks to Meg and  the girls for the lovely piece. 

Our Interview with Meg Rosoff 

Meg Rosoff, photo by Geoff Pugh

We enter the Hewett School Library to find Meg sitting at the table, laid with lots of food. When she saw us she quickly swallowed what she was eating and ushered us to come and sit with her. Earlier she informed us that she is 57, she has cropped hair that is chestnut brown, she wears stylish black glasses and dresses in an informal, relaxed, laid-back sort of way, very much like her personality, later on, though, she told us that appearances don’t matter.  She kindly offered us all a cake and we obliged happily, and started our interview.

We asked her if she knew Stephen King, as she had a quote from him in one of her books (There is No Dog), she laughed and replied,

“No I haven’t, though my sister is neighbours with him, and sees him daily in the shop, that’s the closest I am to knowing him!”

 Although she has been in England since she was around 20, she has still maintained an American accent. We thank her for her answer and proceed.

“So, if you had a chance to go back in time and change something, what would you change?”

“Well,” Rosoff begins, “Of course I would go back and stop everything that Hitler did,”

We looked at her inquisitively, then she exclaimed

“Oh, do you mean, in my own life?”

We nod.

“Well, I would...” she stops, sighs and continues, “I would stop my sister from dying”

We look at her with sympathy, but let her carry on.

“I did well in school, so people told me to go to Harvard, and I did, but I hated it,”

She looked at us, to make sure that we were paying attention, pleased she went on.

“But if I didn’t go to Harvard then I wouldn’t have ended up here in England writing books and publishing them, because I left, and came here.”

We then asked some more questions, the next was,

“What advice would you give any young child who wishes to be an author?”

“Hmmm” she thinks devouring the question like a sweet.

“There are three things” She announced proudly, “Number One: Every writer starts of as a reader; you need to read loads, whether it be books, milk bottles or even the back of a cereal box, just read loads. Number Two: Write all the time. You’ll need practise, you don’t have to write whole stories, and just jotting down notes is good enough. Number Three: don’t rush, I call it the Lindsey Lohan Look, she started acting when she was just 14, and look how she has ended up! Just take your time, and you’ll get there.”

We then asked her what gave her inspiration and she replied,

“I take my dog(s) walking on Hampstead Heath I usually find inspiration there, I even wrote a whole book, entirely based on a dog I’d seen there!”

We then ask her where she does all her writing, she ponders on the question and then says:

“I do have a writing desk, though I usually end up in my bed, its more comfortable!”

We ask if there are any people that inspire her, she doesn’t need much time on this one, straightaway she answers:

“Sally Gardner.” (Author of the costa children’s book award 2012’s Maggot Moon.) “Sally Gardner is my saviour.”   She announces matter-of-factly.

“Whenever I need help with a book, I go straight to her, she is especially good plots, she is the queen of plots!”

Unfortunately then the bell rang and we thanked Meg for all her time and help and left. Overall we think that Meg Rosoff is an amazing person as well as a hardworking author and it was a privilege to meet her!

By Eve, Grace and Mollie.

Words And Women receives funding from the Co-Op

We have just received a generous grant from the Co-Operative Community Fund to help progress our work with young women writers. This is great news as we have great plans! On our Young Women Writers' page you can read a little about the history of this initiative. Then early next year we will reveal in detail the work we will be doing with young women writers from The Hewett School in Norwich in their spring and summer terms. In the meantime we would like to thank the Co-Op and Hayley Ross of The Hewett School too for their support.

Words And Women on youtube

Here's a short film of our International Women’s Day celebration this year. With many thanks to Culture works for filming the event and Jean Hogg for her brilliant editing.

In addition to those we’ve named in the credits, we’d also like to thank The  Norfolk And Norwich Millennium Library and The Forum Trust for all their assistance and support, and to Sarah Passingham and her team for running the bar in the Fusion Digital Gallery.

Not forgetting too Norfolk County Council for supporting us through the Arts Project Fund.

A couple of amendments to the credits:

‘Songteller’ should read ‘Storyteller’ – sorry Kelly!

And Antonia Smith and Helen Holderness are the wonderful Girl Debois.

Young Women’s Reading Event

The Young Women’s Reading Event in the Norfolk And Norwich Millennium Library on the 8^th March was very successful despite a few microphone-height hiccups.  The quality of the readings was very strong and Matilda Pine played and sang with verve and originality. Charlotte Creed, the library’s Community Development Worker for young people aged 13-19 wrote in her evaluation of the ‘astounding’ quality of the entries.  The event attracted an audience of around 50.  The young women performed with confidence and what they said was thought-provoking, emotive and brave.

It was a very difficult task to select just one of the pieces for the book token donated by Jarrolds.  In the end, we awarded the prize to Mary Donegan from the Hewett School for observation, wit and great use of dialogue. 

All the writing had its strengths and there was a particular energy, style and excitement about it all.

We, the organisers, applaud all the girls who took part.

Thanks to Charlotte Creed and Gwen Parker at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, Hayley Ross and Danny the librarian at The Hewett School, Matilda Pine and all the girls.  And thank you too to Jarrolds for the book token and to Hodder & Stoughton for donating hardback copies of Jenn Ashworth’s The Friday Gospels  which we were able to give to all of the girls who took part.

More photos/Matilda Pine

Here’s a photo from our event in the Fusion Digital Gallery. This is Lynne Bryan and Belona Greenwood, the organizers of Words And Women, welcoming everybody. The images to the left and right of them are images from the Drawing Exhibition which is still on in the Forum Atrium until Monday 11^th March.

And here's a photo of Matilda Pine who sang for us at the Young Girls Reading, 8^th March in the express section of the Norfolk And Norwich Millennium Library.

Matilda is 17 years old and is studying photography, performance studies and film studies at the Hewett Sixth Form in Norwich. She’s a young singer songwriter and has been writing and performing her own songs for about 3 and a half years at festivals and many other events. She says she really enjoys performing and wants to pursue it as a career, and then open a coffee shop.

youtube- http://www.youtube.com/user/matildapine

Young Women’s Reading

I was thinking earlier, that being a teenager is hard but then I thought, being a mother must be really hard.  I suppose being a teen mum is the hardest job in the world. But I wouldn’t know, I’m just little old me, muddling along.  Muddling along with someone else holding the reins, holding the keys, holding the lock shut.         - Vanessa 

This is the first year that we will stage a reading open to young women writers like Vanessa.

Words And Women in partnership with Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library’s Community Development Worker – Young People, Charlotte Creed invited  girls from Years 10 - 13  at The Hewett School to write about anything close to their hearts. The project was championed by Hayley Ross, an English teacher at the school, and a core of strong writers emerged. These writers have been joined by a handful of other participants from youth groups associated with the library.  The result is a strong selection of prose and poetry which is compelling, honest and revealing of the lives of young women today.  The threads and themes exploring self-esteem, bullying, family relationships, living with loneliness and finding a place in the world are intertwined with courage, insight, humour and grace.

The girls will be able to take part in a workshop to help them read extracts of their work in public and the full pieces will be posted on this blog and put together in a short printed anthology. Hodder And Stoughton have kindly donated a hardback copy of Jenn Ashworth’s The Friday Gospels  to each of the girls and Jarrolds are offering a book token to the extract judged most outstanding.

The reading will take place with music from Matilda Pine at 5pm in the Express Section of the Millennium Library on March 8^th.

Expanding… Expanding…

2013’s event would be a little bit bigger we decided. It would grow but not too much, just enough. We wanted to keep the homespun, friendly feel. We wanted to keep it fun to organise as well as to attend. So we talked it over with Mitchell Albert from the Writer’s Centre Norwich (www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk) who suggested we grow sort of sideways, tour some of our readers. Great idea we thought. Then a few more great ideas later, the event is expanding and expanding - in the nicest possible way. Here’s what we hope will happen at Words And Women 2013:

-       A reading of their own work by young women writers from local secondary schools and groups to take place in the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library

-       An art exhibition in The Forum Atrium by local women artists. 

-       A reading by older women writers in the Fusion Digital Gallery with compere, short theatre, music and wine.

-       And a tour of this reading as part of The Breckland Literary festival.

More details will follow as we confirm names and times. But already speclal thanks to The Forum Trust Limited (www.theforumnorwich.co.uk) for agreeing to house the art exhibition and the evening read.