Report from the (Sprayed) Edge: Kay Wilson and The Women’s Prize
Kay Wilson goes to the Women’s prize for fiction
A fantastic piece from new author Kay Wilson who recently attended the Women’s Prize even in London.
What is the event like? Why should you go and who did Kay meet?
The Women’s Prize logo
This event to celebrate women in fiction was in a central London park with attractive marquees, even the loos were pretty.
Kate Mosse, author and founder of the prize is an impressive figure. Her hosting was just the right mix of authoritative and friendly.
The tone was set by a clip of the first guest Julia Gillard, a former Australian Prime Minister who is now chairman of the Wellcome Trust. She talked about her love of fiction which started with Nancy Drew mysteries where she enjoyed the female lead character, unusual at the time.
This was followed by To Kill A Mocking Bird where she was rooting for Scout, the sassy main protagonist. Julia said she rated this book as Scout had agency and the way it unpacked racism.
Demystifying publishing
The next session I went to was on demystifying publishing with author Olivia Ford, editor, Rebecca Hilsdon, agent Jess Molloy, chaired by Irenosen Okojie.
The panel’s main points I took away were they loved a book with a hook and great setting, with a killer character. As in gripping, not actually a killer! They said good fiction is writing from the heart and makes you feel something. They also advise writers to enter competitions and to enjoy the journey not just the book at the end.
To help writers they also suggested booking time in to write as you would an appointment.
Deborah Moggach and Nina Stibbe
This session was followed by a hilarious discussion between author Deborah Moggach, who wrote The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Nina Stibbe, author of Dear Nina. They became landlady and tenant respectively after Nina decided to run away from her Cornwall life to London. Deborah dispensed valuable advice to ensure Nina’s life turned a corner and she found happiness. The results are in Went to London, Took The Dog, Nina’s latest book.
Their advice was more about life in general than writing and all the more beneficial as a result. It included ‘stop clearing up and just enjoy yourself’. And ‘never have a second bowl of cornflakes as they’re not going to be as good as the first! Their relationship reminded me of Morcombe and Wise in bed. An easy and supportive friendship with humour at every turn.
The highlight of the whole day was the Kate Mosse interview with Helen Fielding creator of Bridget Jones Diary.
Helen explained that she stole things for Bridget to say and do, from her friends at first. When she felt nervous about whether the story would work Helen said she decided to take the ‘sing like no one is listening’ approach. The success of the book took her totally by surprise.
Phrases like the smug marrieds and the mythology of big knickers are now used in everyday life thanks to her novels.
One of the issues she said she was passionate about is how women from 40,50,60 are so misrepresented. ‘We’re still vibrant, having fun. Don’t stop being yourself.’
Thank you Kay! What a wonderful event to attend. Thank you so much for writing about it!
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Stand Up Mam
Twitter: @kaywilsonwriter
