Half Day Writing Workshops – May 15 – 17, 2020
Spring Writing Weekend at Templeton House, Kintbury, Berkshire. May 14 – 17, 2020, Contact us for bookings >
Author Q&A with Iain Maloney
Iain Maloney is the author of three novels – The Waves Burn Bright, Silma Hill, and First Time Solo – and a haiku collection called Fractures. Iain is also one of our BPA editors. In anticipation of his latest work, a memoir entitled The Only Gaijin in the Village, we asked him a few questions about his experiences as an author. …
Spring Writing Retreat – May 14 – 17, 2020
Spring Writing Weekend at Templeton House, Kintbury, Berkshire. May 14 – 17, 2020, Contact us for bookings >
Author Q & A with Saskia Sarginson
How and why did you get into writing? I’ve always wanted to write. When I was little, I used to entertain my younger brother and sister with made-up stories. Despite loving writing, I didn’t believe ‘author’ was a viable career choice. I knew I needed to earn a living, so I went into journalism. I…
Pitch Prize Winners Announced
Christmas has come early for eight lucky winners of our inaugural Pitch Prize. Super agent Nelle Andrew of Peters, Fraser & Dunlop has selected her winners from over 300 entries across all genres. Each of the writers will have a one on one meeting with Nelle in the New Year. At the meeting writers will…
Over 300 submissions for Pitch Prize
Our inaugural Pitch Prize with Peters, Fraser + Dunlop agent Nelle Andrew attracted over 300 entries. Writers submitted their opening 500 words and synopsis for the chance to pitch their novel and receive feedback from Nelle. Up to 10 winners will have a one on one meeting with Nelle in February 2020. The standard was…
Ask a Literary Agent: Laetitia Rutherford
Before I became an agent, I started out in Fiction Marketing at HarperCollins – a fantastic starter job, gained from applying to an ad in the Guardian (neither interning, nor nepotism involved!) After three years, I wanted to get closer to books but wasn’t sure how. With the scarcity of editorial jobs, and some uncertainty…
Inspirational workshop, talks and editorial help at May retreat
Our May retreat at Asthall Manor in Oxfordshire took place last weekend. 10 writers spent four days in glorious sunshine in an inspiring and creative environment working on their novels and getting some help and advice from our guest tutors and BPA editors Sara and Emma. The highlight of the weekend was an afternoon workshop…
Writing Advice with Mandy Robotham
Mandy Robotham is the author of “Breeder”, the story that was awarded the runner-up prize in the BPA First Novel Award Competition 2018. After completing a masters in creative writing at Oxford Brookes University, Mandy has won several prizes for her short stories. Our judges particularly enjoyed the tension and structure of Mandy’s writing and so we…
Writing Advice with Jules Lampshire
Jules Lampshire is the winner of the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award 2018 for her novel My Poor Deluded Girl which she wrote while attending the six month Faber Academy Writing a Novel programme in 2017. Our judges praised her work as being “one of those real moments in fiction where a reader can put themselves…