Fran Brosan (MSt Creative Writing) won the prize with her short story Drip Feed. Read about her journey as a creative writer.
Could you tell us about yourself and your studies, and how you got into writing?
I did a degree in English Literature, but with a full-time job, a husband, and four daughters, my involvement with literature had been swallowed by day-to-day life. I wrote a lot of reports and proposals for work, which were always pretty dry, so I went to a weekend course at Madingley to see if it would inspire me. It was a magical couple of days and I fell (back) in love with creative writing. It didn’t make a blind bit of difference to my reports, but it did set me on the path to a Diploma and then the MSt, which I applied to do after I’d retired.
What is your short story about?
Coercive control and gender politics – but that makes it sound rather grand. In truth, it’s about how you never really know what goes on inside a marriage. Whilst it’s a story of domestic abuse, I’ve tried to make it light, rather than setting it in an atmosphere of deprivation. I wanted to explore how, even if you are an educated, middle-class woman with a ‘comfortable home and a happy disposition’, you can still feel trapped, and can be abused. And it’s about how things on the outside never look as they feel on the inside, whether that’s a relationship or how you feel personally.
How did it feel to win the prize?
Amazing. I was thrilled to be on the shortlist and, having read everyone’s opening paragraphs, I was so impressed by them that I had no expectations of winning. When you share a piece of work that you’ve written, I feel it’s like putting a tiny piece of your soul on the table. So, when people like it, it’s a huge boost.
Lizzie Speller, who led the judging, is my tutor, but she was utterly discreet and gave me no hint of knowing (and also I should add she was totally professional and told the other judges up front, even though the entries were unnamed, that she thought she recognised my style). She’s been such an inspiration during this second year of our MSt, and we laugh a lot!
What would your advice be for someone else who wanted to try creative writing?
Well, in my case I’d say it’s never too late – as I have only really picked this up in the last few years. But to anyone of any age, I’d say write what you want to write. Don’t try to write like anyone else, or to satisfy what you think someone else’s expectations are. To give you an example, we once had a writing prompt which showed a rich, verdant jungle with a river winding through it. I was struggling to write something that would evoke the feel of the jungle, but I have never been to one so I was wallowing around without making any progress. Then I suddenly had an idea about a slightly spoiled young woman being taken in a canoe down this river and being really fed up about the heat, the insects and worrying about ruining her (expensive) shoes. For me, that was the right story to write from that prompt. So don’t judge yourself, don’t say, what I write isn’t nearly as good as what they are writing. It’s just different. If you like putting words on a page, then do it. And of course, if you want to be better at putting words on a page, do one of the Creative Writing courses at Madingley. The MSt has been incredible – allowing us to write poetry, plays, scripts, fiction and nonfiction. You will learn so much.
