One surprising and very welcome pleasure of this year has been connecting with so many writers. We began 2020 fearing that such connections would be harder to come by, in our new and unwelcome circumstances. But as we worked on editing our recovery anthology, A Wild and Precious Life, and on teaching our courses online for the first time, we’ve been comforted and excited by the communities that have sprung up, and the way writers have kept in touch, not just with us but with each other. Good news stories came our way – writers sending work out or finding an agent; finishing a novel or getting a story published. These always made us happy, so we decided that in the final month of 2020 we should celebrate as many of these achievements as we could, and share them with you.
Good news, it turns out, has not been in such short supply after all. Here are just some of the writers we’ve met, through the anthology and through London Lit Lab, and the great things they’ve achieved in the world of writing this year. There have been many more, not on this list. And there have, as always, also been struggles and disappointments – so to writers who are still striving, take heart and encouragement: good things happen, and above all, it is the writing itself that matters. We get to see so many wonderful stories as they emerge on our courses, and each time we do, it is a thrill and a privilege. Thank you to everyone who has shared their words with us this year; they have been the greatest boon.
Good writing news of 2020:
Lauren Miller’s story ‘Lord Pitt’s Lost Pleasure Garden’ was longlisted for the TSS Cambridge short story prize, and her story ‘Practice’ was published on The Fiction Pool.
Nada Holland’s debut novel Motherborn will be published by Lendal Press in February 2021.
Gillian Laker’s story ‘Touch’ was shortlisted in the Saveas Writers’ International Writing Competition 2020 and will be published in their forthcoming Post Apocalypse anthology, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker.
Carolyn Stockdale’s story ‘Starling’s was published in Fudoki Magazine, and her story ‘Skulls Like These’ will appear in Dark Lane Anthology Vol 10 next spring. Another story, ‘High Tide’ will be published in Seaborne Magazine in March.
Laurane Marchive’s story ‘Milk’ was highly commended in the Bridport Prize 2020.
Lisa Fransson’s story ‘Exonerves’ appeared in Wild Women, issue 8 of the TulipTree review, and her Bluebeard story ‘Blue’ was published in the Villains anthology from Iron Fairie Publishing. She was shortlisted for the Bridport Flash Fiction Prize, and her poem ‘The Shape of Grass’ was published in Issue 52 of The Dawntreader. Her flash ‘Sleepless Nights’was published in Reflex Fictions’ anthology A Girl’s Guide to Fly Fishing.
Valerie Doulton published her book, Harriet Martineau & Charlotte Bronte a Sketch of Their Relationship.
Dan Draper placed third in the Aurora Short Fiction Prize, and won the prize for Best Writing from the East Midlands Region for his story ‘The Room.’
Lynn Genevieve was accepted onto the Creative Writing MLitt Programme at the University of Glasgow
Sarah McPherson’s story ‘Bold Mary’ was published in Fudoki Magazine.
Lianne Dillsworth’s debut novel Age of Monsters will be published by Windmill in early 2022.
Iain Rowan’s story ‘The Wildness’ was published in Supernatural Tales 45 in November. He was also placed second in the Costa Short Story Award 2021 and shortlisted for a Northern Writers Award.
Anthony James’ short story ‘The Summer on the Brink’ will be published in Fire and Water: Stories from the Anthropocene (Black Lawrence Press) in 2021. He also completed his novel On Fate’s Election Day, which depicts a broad cast of characters representing contemporary Britain against the backdrop of the pandemic.
Hannah Austin signed with a literary agency, and is now represented by David Godwin.
Jamie Guiney’s piece ‘Lockdown’ was published by Epoque Press.
Scott Manley Hadley’s second book, The Pleasure of Regret, was published by Broken Sleep Books.
Sadie Nott’s story ‘Writ Large’ was published in the Mechanics Institute Review, and her story ‘I Am a Rock’ was published in Reflex Fiction. She was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize.
Máire T. Robinson has a short story in the latest issue of Southword Journal.
Jennifer Howse was a Flash Fiction Finalist in the London Independent Story Prize.
Sybil Ruth’s story ‘The Rose’ was published in Litro Magazine.
Polly Hall’s novel The Taxidermist’s Lover was published by Camcat Books in December.
Peter Jordan’s collection Calls to Distant Places won the Eyelands Book Award for best short story collection.
Helen Rye had a story published in The Best Small Fictions Anthology 2020. Two of her stories were shortlisted in the QMD Flash Fiction Prize, and her piece ‘The Lost Girls’ won third place.
Lois Hambleton had poems published in the Last Stanza Poetry Journal, The Muse, and The Poetry Bus’s Covid Diaries (forthcoming).
J L Hall’s story ‘Save me From the Dogs’ was published in the Rebel Alliance Anthology (Patrician Press). Her poem ‘When the Stars Fell’ was published in Surfing and her poem ‘Hear My Heart’ in To Whom It May Concern (both anthologies from The Federation of Writers Scotland).
Wishing you all much writing cheer for 2021 and beyond,
Lily and Zoe