Conversations, dispatches and ideas from the Bush Theatre.
Here are the first two winners:
Who you are:
I am a Nigerian-born British feminist who is raising a son in today’s world. It’s important I mention who I am as a lot of my writing and thinking is rooted in being Nigerian, being British and being a feminist so that always goes first.
Why you started writing:
Because of Judy Blume and Mildred D Taylor. I was very much trying to discover who I was being raised within an all-white foster family in an all-white village. Telling stories at a young age – although I couldn’t articulate it – was my escape.
How you would describe your work:
True, free and honest.
Why you entered the competition:
I’m a creative person who loves to learn. This is where I get my inspiration from when I write. I like imagination and intelligence. We should always learn – whether that’s in a school environment or by opening up a newspaper or going travelling and finding out what else is in this world.
For me being a student in an educational sense, opened up something for me and entering this competition was my way of sharing that.
What winning the competition means to you:
It has allowed my writing to be exposed which is what I’m trying to do and it has allowed me to share my opinion on being a student and why it worked for me. Also winning this competition is fulfilling a dream of my work being published. I hope this is the start of more to come.
What you’d like to do in the future:
What I’m doing now: writing, mentoring girls and young women and storytelling in different ways on different platforms. I just want to keep on going.
VEE TAMES, SCHOOLS WINNNER:
Who you are:
My name is Vee Tames and I am 18 year old actress/writer in the final year of my A Levels.
Why you started writing:
Since childhood, I was always fascinated by how stories work and why we are so interested in them. I didn’t do any creative writing as such until I left secondary school as there weren’t many opportunities known to me to try it. At first, I only wrote scraps of stories and poems for my own personal reading but later I realised I wanted other people to read and hear what I was saying and thinking about the world around me. It was from that point onward that my interest in writing grew.
How you would describe your work:
Truthful. Engaging. Optimistic
Why you entered the competition:
I wanted to test myself by submitting a piece of work that was going to be read by people outside my close family. The benefit of an exterior deadline prevented me from going off track and I was able to meet the brief in time. The resources published weekly by the Student Guide throughout the competition period were crucial for when I got stuck in the writing process as I had no one else to turn to otherwise. Through their lesson plans, I managed to survive a playwriting process from start to end which was a great mini-achievement in itself. I was delighted with having a complete short sample of a play yet alone being announced as one of the winners.
What winning the competition means to you:
Winning the competition was wonderful and immensely gratifying. I had never written a play before so it came as quite a shock when I found out! Personally, one of the biggest prizes has been working with Jennifer Tuckett and learning about the mechanics of writing for the stage from an industry expert like her. She has trained and nurtured many writers before as well as writing high-calibre work so I knew I was in safe hands. There is a lot of graft involved in creating a good piece of work and Jennifer provided such wonderful advice and guidance that I wouldn’t have been able to receive without winning this competition.
What you’d like to do in the future:
I hope to carry on writing and making my own work. I recently finished a screenwriting residential with the BFI so I think I’d like to continue experimenting with other forms of storytelling and see what arises from that process.
Next time, the final part of this blog series will introduce the other three winners of The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting competition: Monique Geraghty, Mufaro Makubika and Miriam Battye.
For more information on and to attend the launch of The Student Guide to Writing: Playwriting book on 9 May click here. The event has now sold out.
