| A “magnificent” piece of prose by English and Creative Writing graduate Issie Ashdown Croucher has scooped First Prize in a major novel writing competition run by The Mail on Sunday.
Issie, who writes under the name Isabel Ashdown, was awarded the prize by a panel of judges that included the renowned authors John Mortimer, Michael Ridpath and Fay Weldon.
Together, the judges praised the opening of Issie’s novel as “magnificent”, adding that her writing “made every word work and left the reader anxious to read on”.
The competition, which attracted a bulging sack of entries, set writers the task of writing the eye-catching opening to a novel. Entrants were told to stick to 50-100 words of prose and to include the word ‘tip’ somewhere in the passage.
Issie’s entry was taken from a short story that she wrote on a module in children’s writing, run by University of Chichester English Department senior lecturer Karen Stevens.
Issie, who is now studying on the University’s MA programme in Creative Writing, said “I’ve been working on my novel for over a year now, alongside paid work and study, and of course there are days when it seems like a tall mountain to climb! This kind of endorsement gives a writer much needed encouragement to stick with it through the highs and lows. I’m delighted.”
At an awards lunch in October, Issie will meet the judges and receive her prize of a week’s Arvon writing course and £400 in book tokens.
Issie is now busy weaving her prize-winning opening into the body of a full-scale novel, and plans to complete her first draft in the next six months. Issie told us, “Studying for the MA gives me a vehicle through which I can write to deadlines and workshop my writing with other serious writers. Once I’m happy that my work is well polished and ready I will start seeking out a suitable agent. But until that time, I’ll just continue to enjoy the writing!” |
