(Notable Mention in N2tS Flash Fiction Competition 2025 with 'Pricks'; published in N2tS 2025 Anthology)

My journey into writing began with a submission to a national children’s writing competition when I was nine, for which I was astonishingly shortlisted. I artfully Blu Tacked the letter of congratulations (complete with the hand-written caption of ‘I am going to be a child author!’) up on my bedroom wall, convinced it was going to be the beginning of an illustrious and fruitful writing career. I then had a multitude of failed attempts at writing a Jacqueline Wilson-esque novel in a beautiful artist’s notebook decorated with a pattern of peacock feathers on the cover. Years later, I tore each page out of the notebook and binned them out of vast embarrassment of my younger self. I wish I had kept it for posterity, if not for a fond nostalgic browse during a clear-out of the attic.

Though some of my writing is lost to time, my biggest project to date is fortunately still alive and kicking. As with many other writers of my generation, I came into my own upon my discovery of fan fiction; reading and writing it. At the time, my monster three-hundred-thousand word story was the most important thing in my life — I would spend hours writing every day, have a chapter updated twice every week, and felt an accomplishment above all else when I finally finished. I am so glad to be able to bring my former passion for writing back as I emerge into my adult life.

Other than my anonymous fan fiction, my published projects are zero to none (prior to New2theScene's 2025 Anthology), as a student who has had little time to do anything other than read old books and write essays for the past three years. However, since my bachelor’s in English has ‘with Creative Writing’ tacked on to the end, I have been able to elevate my writing into something far beyond a hobby. ‘Pricks’ itself was written as part of my final assessment for a fiction-writing module after I found out I had the ability to wield so much power with so few words. My love for (and skill in) writing flash fiction has flourished in a way I could not have imagined at sixteen.

I grew up in the suburbs of Manchester, and have benefitted from its rich culture and history that has inspired so much of my writing. This is the case particularly in my creative writing dissertation, which I set in Manchester’s gay village. Manchester is a city of love but also resistance, something that I find invaluable, and one that is unapologetically queer. Queerness, though not explicit in every single one of my stories, is ever-present in my writing, alongside all other aspects of my identity and beliefs. I’m vegetarian, pro-Palestine and a socialist who believes writing can be one of the most powerful forms of protest.

I’m not sure what the future holds for me, but I would love to go back to university for a postgraduate degree in creative writing. For now, though, I’m taking a break from academia, and in the meantime finishing my current work in progress: a queer feminist fantasy novel inspired by the anchoresses of late medieval Britain.

I can finally feel the illustrious and fruitful writing career my child self-wished for coming well on its way.