F. Sky’s the Limit

SKY’S THE LIMIT

For authors who make it onto the Emerging Writers Programme, access to the Library and unrivalled peer support are just a hint of what’s available to help with their craft, says Alison Flood

Anastasia Taylor-Lind is a war photographer, working for major publications from National Geographic to TIME magazine. She began working on her first collection of war poetry last year, and acceptance onto The London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme felt “like a creative door” had opened for her. “It was an affirmation that I was on the right path, finding a way to combine poetry and my photojournalism work,” says Taylor-Lind, whose first collection, One Language, is out on 1 March from independent press Smith|Doorstop. Ask any of the 100+ writers to have made it onto the Emerging Writers Programme, and they say something similar. “So much of writing for me is about confidence. It can feel indulgent, you question whether it’s OK that you’re choosing to write when we all have competing responsibilities,” says Lianne Dillsworth. “When I received the email to say my application was successful, it was an incredible boost. My main emotion was relief – getting a place on the Programme gave me permission to prioritise my writing.” Dillsworth’s novel Theatre of Marvels, about a young Black British woman performing in one of the freak shows that were so popular in Victorian-era London, was pre-empted by Windmill within 24 hours and will be published in April.

Carole Hailey did an MA in creative writing at Goldsmiths and a PhD in the same subject at Swansea University. But it was only when she landed a spot on the Programme that she felt justified in calling herself a writer.

Hailey, 51, had been a lawyer before giving it up to go back into education. When she got a call to tell her she was one of 40 authors to be selected by The London Library from hundreds of applicants for the Programme, “it genuinely was the first time that I felt validated as a writer”. “I thought, if they think I’m good enough to pick me, then it’s OK to say I’m not just an ex-lawyer,” she says. “You have to have a certain amount of potential to get onto an MA or PhD but, frankly, you’re paying for it. This was the first time I thought it was worth giving up my career, and the very nice income that I had, to try to be a novelist.” She has gone on to land a deal with a major publisher for the book she was working on during her London Library year, a fictional memoir written by a grieving daughter.

Daniel Janes, who now writes for popular Netflix series The Crown, feels similarly. “When I applied, I was a researcher. I’d done short plays, I’d made short films, but I wasn’t enormously professionally advanced,” says Janes, 32. “Before, if people asked me what I did, I’d come up with euphemisms, and say I dabbled in writing. But being in a world in which our writerly status was acknowledged and encouraged, and meeting people who were in the same position, means I don’t have those reservations now.”

Mónica Ibarra Parle, who was on the first year of the programme, agrees. “I’ve been working on a literary novel for a long time, and have writing groups I belong

“I don’t think it’s good to write in isolation. It’s really important to have a group around you” – Krystle Zara Appiah

to, but writing young adult fiction was a new challenge. It was wonderful to find a great group of writers to read my work, who were talented and thoughtful readers, and have such a vast map of the genre,” she says. “Every time I’m stuck they’re ready with a book recommendation, an offer to read a tricky passage or just a sympathetic ear. Beyond that, they were my lifeline during the pandemic. I don’t know that I would have retained any sense of self as a writer without them, juggling paid work with home-schooling my two children.” The Emerging Writers Programme is now in its third year, with applications recently opened for the fourth. It offers authors – across all genres – writing masterclasses and events, which have included major names such as John O’Farrell, Edward Docx, Jane Feaver, Hannah Lowe, Moira Buffini and Nii Ayikwei Parkes, as well as one year’s free membership of The London Library, literary networking opportunities and peer support. There is no application fee, and the Programme is funded through philanthropic support from individuals, and a range of trusts and foundations. The only stipulation is that applicants must be over age 16, and “working or planning to work on a specific project, with the aim of publication or production, have a clear idea of how they might use the Library’s resources to achieve that aim and be willing to fully participate in all elements of the Programme”. “There are elements that you need to be a writer: time, space and resources, and guidance helps, too,” says Claire

Berliner, who runs the Programme. “We wanted to create something that was for everyone, so no age limits, no genre limits – they just couldn’t have been published, or have had a mainstream production of their work.” Hailey appreciated this aspect of the Programme. “I really liked the fact that age wasn’t an issue, because so many emerging writer things are for those under 30,” she says. “I understand that, but it can be a bit demoralising to be an older new writer.” In the first year, the Programme received 600 applications for 40 places, the second year 800, and the third, 1,000. Expert judges – a mix of authors, publishers and agents – selects each year’s participants; the 2021/22 cohort includes poets, playwrights, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, novelists, children’s authors and graphic novelists, spanning in age from early 20s to early 60s. Alumni range from Gaar Adams, who spent the Programme working on his book Guest Privileges, which explores queerness and migration in the Arabian Peninsula, to Amber Medland, whose debut novel Wild Pets came out from Faber last summer. “We ask applicants to submit a writing sample and a brief description of what they plan to work on throughout the year,” says Berliner. “We ask them to talk about their writing, or what makes them interested in it, and in the Library and the Programme. We’re basing the decision on the whole application to see if they really want to get involved, and want that development, that community.” The culture of peer support was definitely the most important part of the Programme for Janes. “We still meet every month, which encourages us to produce stuff. Writers need external pressure, and we create a friendly climate of encouragement.” As part of the mixed-genre group of authors, Janes says his peers have encouraged each other to experiment. “We can find new frontiers in our writing and not feel restrained by anything, shoot at the moon. The missile won’t always land, but it’s great to launch it,” he says. Towards the end of the Programme, writers are given guidance about the book industry. Many, says Berliner, have landed book deals, been published or signed with agents.

Natasha Hastings, who was in the first cohort of Emerging Writers, was signed up by HarperCollins

“Writing young adult fiction was a new challenge, and it was wonderful to find writers who had a vast map of the genre” – Mónica Ibarra Parle

Children’s Books in October for a magical historical series aimed at 10–13-year-olds; Krystle Zara Appiah has signed a six-figure, two-book deal with The Borough Press for her debut novel.

“I’d written a draft when I applied, but I needed a place to edit. I had some very noisy neighbours,” says Hastings, who was 25 when she landed a place on the Programme, and is now 28. “I absolutely loved it. It was so motivating, being around people who have published books or are about to. I grew up seeing books on shelves, but didn’t realise it was a career I could have. It was only when I was in The London Library, and would speak to writers, that I saw that this was actually a job that people did – it was amazing, so motivating.” Appiah was already immersed in the publishing world when she applied for the Programme, working as a children’s books editor; although she had a draft of her novel, she wanted the “accountability” that the Emerging Writers Programme would provide. “I liked the idea of having that really intentional year, to give me a kick up the bum and make me work on it,” she says. “I set myself a goal, which was to finish the draft and start the next book, which I did. The other writers were brilliant – we have a WhatsApp group and still chat regularly. I don’t think it’s good to write in isolation – it’s important to have a group around you.”

The chance to work in The London Library itself – with its historic collection dating back to 1841, when founding subscribers included Charles Dickens and John Stuart Mill – has also been important to participants, although lockdowns put paid to regular in-person visits. “It was a bit spotty for our cohort because it coincided with lockdown, but there were times when I’d go every weekend,” says Janes. “I took a week off work and spent most of it at the Library. I like to work in the Art Room, near the snuffboxes and shoemaking section.” For Hailey, located in North Pembrokeshire, a quick trip was difficult, but the online resources were “fantastic”. “I had to do research around the use of contraception in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” she says. “I thought I wouldn’t find anything. But I found more than I could possibly read.” To Berliner, the peer support is absolutely key to the Programme, and it continued even through lockdowns, with the instigation of Zoom meetings where the authors would work in each other’s company. “To write something is a mad thing to do, it’s a shot in the dark, it takes forever, it’s solitary. Part of it is knowing that there are people who are as mad as you, but it’s also being able to talk about what you’re doing,” she says. “If you find people who are interested in the same things, who are struggling in the same way, it’s helpful. The London Library itself is a community – that’s what a lot of people love about it, and it’s also how it was started, by a writing community. It’s always been an inclusive space for writers.” • Alison Flood is the Guardian’s books reporter

From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vols 1 and 2, anthologies of writing by alumni of the first two Emerging Writers Programmes, are available to download from The London Library’s website, for Kindle (£2) and in print (£8). For more information, including on 2022/23 applications, visit londonlibrary.co.uk/emerging-writers-programme