About Kate
From there to here (with thanks to Writers Centre Norwich, who kindly published this account of my writing journey in January 2018) Ten years ago, newly freed from a lifetime of teaching by a diagnosis of Parkinson's, I considered my options. Despite my love of the landscape of rural north-east Cumbria, after years of driving everywhere, squeezing writing into the spaces in between, I was ready for a change. A year camping out on my brother's couch in Cambridge helped me towards a distinction in the creative writing MA at Anglia Ruskin University and an Arts Council Escalator Award for emerging writers. And I emerged! A research trip to Argentina, a first draft of a novel dealing with the disappeared and interest from agents and publishers at the Escalator showcase were the evidence: this was it. I was a writer. I had arrived. The next eight or nine years followed a path familiar to many: a laborious rewrite of the novel, a 'nearly but not quite' response from publishers and the advice to 'put it in a drawer and get on with the next'. The next was a new departure, following my interest in the natural world and its importance for a healthy life: a residency at the Botanic Garden in Cambridge, also supported by Arts Council England, and a short story collection inspired by the garden. Some luck with individual stories but no success placing the collection. 2015: suddenly it seemed as if half the world was on the move. Horror and disbelief combined with visits to the Calais camp with local volunteers to prompt a return to the political and the seeds of a new novel, set in Bulgaria, based on our responses to the refugee crisis. The Station Master won a full manuscript appraisal in Adventures in Fiction's Spotlight competition for new writers with the sobering result: more rewriting! Meanwhile, I still had Parkinson's, of course. In Cambridge, though, I'd rediscovered my passion for Argentine tango and found others keen to explore how a dancer with the condition could be helped to dance well. I'm not sure at what point this became an exploration of the therapeutic potential of the dance or quite when our early interest in the research became an article and then a book. Several drafts and abortive attempts at self-publishing later, Parkinson's & the Tango Effect: my Year on the Dance Floor was launched with crowd-funding publisher Unbound just before Christmas. Creative non-fiction is probably the most accurate description and Unbound's creative approach to publishing seems the ideal partner. A writer? people say. How lovely! So where can I buy your books? I watch their eyes glaze over when I reply and wonder if I'm any further forward. How will I ever emerge fully? Most days I answer my own question: just like walking, one word then another. I'm heartened by a recent tweet from a favourite author, Jonathan Taylor: 'Never liked the term "Masterclass". There's no such thing as a "Master" of writing. We're all beginners always.' As in tango... * |
![]() The Bridgehead My first novel, The Bridgehead, was set in Argentina and tells the story of The Disappeared, those whose lives were erased by the forces of repression in the name of national security and order. A young woman, Maria Esquivel, is imprisoned and tortured in a secret detention centre for supposed subversives. Her child, Elena, is born in captivity and taken from her at birth. Thirty years later, Álvaro Becerra, retired member of the Argentine armed forces, believes that he has been able to put the past behind him. Unsettled by the funeral of a colleague, he embarks on a journey which forces him to confront the horror of his country’s heritage, as well as the extent of his own guilt. The process of his internal disintegration is mirrored in the external conflict as the net closes round him. The stories of Maria and Elena emerge through his narrative. * |
Hello Goodbye The eighteen stories in this collection are linked in their exploration of a sense of loss. They are also rooted in place, be it in the fells of north-east Cumbria or a remote village in Mexico. Despite the similarity of theme, the stories vary in tone: from the pain of sudden bereavement in 'Flora' (long-listed for the 2011 FIsh Short Story Prize), to the wry humour of Phyllis Palmer as she learns to love her lapses in memory and the surprises these bring. |
The book explores the remarkable impact of Argentine tango on my experience of Parkinson's. Although backed up by reference to the relevant research, it is essentially a personal account of the physical, social and emotional benefits of my tango habit, and I believe it makes a significant if modest contribution to the data from the perspective of the dancer with Parkinson's. Parkinson's & the Tango Effect was launched with award-winning crowd-funding publisher Unbound in December 2017 https://unbound.com/books/tango/ * |
The Station Master
Getting on for 2 years since our trip to Bulgaria and our brief visit to Elhovo, one of the main settings for the novel, and not far off a year since my full manuscript appraisal in the capable hands of Adventures in Fiction's Marion Urch. A tough taskmistress, Marion had many criticisms of my draft which, much as I feared, needed more - much more - work. Fortunately, Marion also saw the promise in what I had written and I was ultimately sufficiently encouraged by her comments to tackle a redraft. Meanwhile, author and novel are now featured on the Adventures in Fiction profiles page
Another encouragement emerged in the person of author Chris Bailey, whose book 'Railways of Bulgaria' I came upon online. As well as parting with one of his few remaining copies of the book, now sadly out of print, Chris has proved tireless in reading and providing feedback on whatever I send him, patiently correcting my mistakes - turns out he's an expert in all things Bulgarian as well as its rail networks - and coming up with creative solutions to problems in the narrative. I'm beginning to feel that every writer needs a Chris Bailey just an email away!
Not surprisingly perhaps I've had to put The Station Master on hold for the time being whilst the crowd-funding for Parkinson's & the Tango Effect runs its course but I hope to pick up the threads again soon, and my plan is to return to Bulgaria in late summer/early autumn, when I hope to revisit Elhovo, discover more about the country's railways and experience the phenomenon of big bird migration with the help of Dimiter Georgiev's Neophron Tours.
Another encouragement emerged in the person of author Chris Bailey, whose book 'Railways of Bulgaria' I came upon online. As well as parting with one of his few remaining copies of the book, now sadly out of print, Chris has proved tireless in reading and providing feedback on whatever I send him, patiently correcting my mistakes - turns out he's an expert in all things Bulgarian as well as its rail networks - and coming up with creative solutions to problems in the narrative. I'm beginning to feel that every writer needs a Chris Bailey just an email away!
Not surprisingly perhaps I've had to put The Station Master on hold for the time being whilst the crowd-funding for Parkinson's & the Tango Effect runs its course but I hope to pick up the threads again soon, and my plan is to return to Bulgaria in late summer/early autumn, when I hope to revisit Elhovo, discover more about the country's railways and experience the phenomenon of big bird migration with the help of Dimiter Georgiev's Neophron Tours.