We’re a quarter of the way through 2019 and it’s hiiiiigh time for another Wall of Fame to showcase all the seriously impressive achievements of our resident WHQers, because – as is a universally acknowledged truth – WHQers are the best dang writers in the world. (No, honestly, you guys are smashing it.)
So without further ado, here’s what our students, members, retreat attendees, reps and general WHQ hangers-on have been up to so far this year:
Amy Kitcher’s story, New Year’s Eve at the Nun’s Purse, published in Fairlight Press, and The Heart Beats Like a Drum in Dime Show Review, with another recently accepted at Fictive Dream and a longlisting in the latest Flash 500 competition. Phew.
Anika Carpenter’s flash Lineage was published in 101 Fiction.
Catherine O’Mahony has been longlisted for a competition that she can’t talk about until the results have been publicly posted (shhhhhhhh – we’ll update when she’s able to shout about it!).
Daisy Pearce landed a publishing contract with Thomas & Mercer for her novel In the Dark – due out this year!
Ditto Elle Spellman whose novel Running Into Trouble will be published by Trapeze books in 2020!
Hannah Doyle was shortlisted for the Bradt Travel Writing Prize (and got to go to a special award ceremony and everything!).
Hannah Mary McKinnon’s latest book The Neighbours was released in March.
Jan P McCarthy had a story published on Paragraph Planet on the 8th of March and a piece of prose-poetry published in issue twenty-one of Tigershark.
Jenny Kennedy was longlisted for the Ellipsis Flash Fiction Collection competition.
Jenny Rowe wrote, produced, and is starring in her one-woman play in this year’s Brighton Fringe! Tiptree: No-One Else’s Damn Secret But My Own will be on from the 6th to 13th of May.
WHQ co-founder and Brighton retreat rep Jo Gatford was longlisted for the Stockholm Festival First Pages Prize and is featured in the Best Microfictions 2019 anthology.
Katie Collins signed up with a literary agent!
Kerriann Corrigan Speers submitted a story for the very first time and immediately bagged a publication in Issue 8 of The Bangor Literary Journal.
Lisa Fransson‘s children’s book Älgpappan was published in Sweden this month, and she is also featured in The Best of British Fantasy anthology with her story The Moss Child.
Lorna Eifflaender was shortlisted for the Stockholm Festival First Pages Prize.
Our very own marvellous Manchester retreat rep Melissa Welliver was longlisted for the Mslexia Children’s Novel Award.
And our lovely Leeds Monica Dickson has had her writing featured in Reflex Fiction, jmww journal and the Writing On Air Festival.
Nicola Keller was runner-up in the Fish Memoir Prize 2019 with her memoir In This House AND was longlisted for Retreat West’s First Chapter competition.
Rachel Carter has been shortlisted in a competition (but can’t say which one until the results are released – natch!) AND has a manuscript under consideration by an agent…
Sam Nicholls was shortlisted for the WordsMag Winter 2018 competition.
Sara Butler wrote one of six plays that got accepted for Plays Rough London, to be performed at the Old Red Lion theatre in Angel on the 14th & 15th of April.
Sue Irving had her very first story submission published at Paragraph Planet on the 10th March.
And there are not one, not two, but three WHQers in Pure Slush’s Deadly Sins anthology: Envy! Congrats to Claire Hart, Alison Gibson and Jan P McCarthy!
LOOK AT THIS LIST YOU GUYS! You. Are. Smashing. It.
We’re so dang proud of our brilliant little WHQ crew, and, y’know, it’s probably just a coincidence that these fantastic writers are alumni of our procrastination-busting writing courses and writing retreats, right? Toooootally unrelated.
But honestly – we’re just as proud of anyone who submitted something this year, no matter the outcome, because getting your writing out there is what matters. If you don’t sub, you don’t get pubbed. So keep submitting, keep writing, rewriting, editing, improving, learning, and the only possible outcome is a whole lot more words to send out into the world. And we love words. LOVE THEM.
If you need a kick up the bum to get on the subs wagon, check out our #Submit2019 challenge and our monthly listings of writing competitions and opportunities. We also have a bunch of freebie courses to get you on the right track, including our Short Fiction Mini Masterclass and the Dos and Don’ts of Submitting to Lit Mags and Competitions, not to mention our free-to-enter Flash Quarterly Contest where you could win 12 months of Writers’ HQ membership!
See? You don’t really have any excuses, do you? And who knows – you could end up on our next Wall of Fame…
