My award opened up a new chapter

Feb 2 2010 by Barbara Hodgson, The Journal

AS THE launch of this year’s Northern Writers’ Awards offers another chance for hopefuls to kick-start a literary career, BARBARA HODGSON hears a success story.

THERE are certain people who just make things happen. Carolyn Jess-Cooke, from Gateshead, is surely one of them.

Anyone planning to enter this year’s Northern Writers’ Awards – now open to applicants – can take heart from the former winner’s ‘can-do’ approach.

Her poetry collection, Inroads, which so impressed competition judges in 2008, is published this month and Carolyn has a second publishing deal, this time for a novel.

She has more books on the go, including a children’s story, and that’s all aside from the four academic books written by the 31-year-old who moved to the North East from Northern Ireland in 2005.

Oh, and she’s a mother-of-two (with a third child on the way) who works full-time.

“I have to write,” explains Carolyn. “Some people run to let off steam; some play music; other people write.”

So, you rather get the impression Carolyn would have reached her goal regardless. But, she says, her Northern Writers’ Award gave her an essential push and was the financial cushion she needed to devote time to a writing career.

“The awards can help in so many ways,” she says. “For me, the financial side of things was excellent. It can be an opportunity to buy time off work, take an extended holiday, do courses or pay for childcare.

“I did a poetry course once a month, which really gave me a push to get to the final stage of my collection.”

“It really helped me with deadlines and the opportunity for feedback, which is so crucial to a writer.”

Inroads includes a range of themes.

“The main one is motherhood and pregnancy. I’m quite interested in that journey, and journeys between generations and family; themes of belonging and home,” she says.