WINNERS OF ABOUT WRITING COMMISSION

Art & Theatre / Events in Norfolk and Suffolk October 11, 2014

WORDS AND WOMEN ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF ‘ABOUT’ NEW WRITING COMMISSION IN THE EAST OF ENGLAND.

Words and Women has announced the four winners of ‘About,’ an exciting new writing commission to create 4 texts for performance and the page. The Arts Council funded project will help develop work which explores the life of women and their relationship to place within the East of England.

The winners are Tess Little, Thea Smiley, Lilie Ferrari, Jenny Ayres who will not only be given paid time to write but will be mentored by Words and Women as well as theatre director Adina Levay and performance poet Hannah Jane Walker.

The resulting new work will be published in Words and Women’s second anthology and performed on International Women’s Day next year.

The competition received 50 entries from all over the region. There was a wide range of compelling and extremely competitive and high quality entries. The judges had a very difficult task.

‘We received a great mix of entries from women writers in the region. Many wanted to write about fictional characters, others about historical characters such as Boudicca and Imogen Holst. Many of the places featured were in Norfolk but we had proposals set on the Suffolk coast and in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Hertfordshire too. The quality of the entries was fantastic and we’d like to thank every writer who sent work in.’ said Lynne Bryan, co-organiser, Words and Women.

‘I have really enjoyed reading so many of these entries. There are some very strong stories which deserve a public life. It is wonderfully rewarding to be able to commission new writing and we’re very grateful for Arts Council support. In keeping with our ethos, women at all stages of their writing careers have had the chance to win one of the commissions, those with some publishing and performance success and those with significant merit but who are as yet, unpublished or unperformed,’ added co-organiser, Bel Greenwood.

Details about our short prose new writing competition (£600 and publication in Words and Women: 2 can be found on www.wordsandwomennorwich.blogspot.co.uk

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Words and Women supports and celebrates women writers in the East of England. This year saw the launch of its inaugural anthology of regional women writers, published by Unthank Books, Words and Women: One, shortlisted for the national Saboteur Awards.

See more at www.wordsandwomennorwich.blogspot.co.uk

Our Winners:

Born in Norwich, Tess Little 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.

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, where she worked 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.

Thea Smiley 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.

Jenny Ayres 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.

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