{"id":6857,"date":"2022-05-25T16:31:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T15:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/2022\/05\/25\/writing-lonely-life-and-meeting-kindred-spirits-balm-soul-meet-finalists-2021-manchester\/"},"modified":"2022-05-25T16:31:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T15:31:48","slug":"writing-lonely-life-and-meeting-kindred-spirits-balm-soul-meet-finalists-2021-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/writing-lonely-life-and-meeting-kindred-spirits-balm-soul-meet-finalists-2021-manchester\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Writing is a lonely life, and meeting kindred spirits is balm to the soul&#8221;: Meet the finalists of the 2021 Manchester Writing Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\" id=\"docs-internal-guid-87d3feef-7fff-bfe2-75a5-68b6912d8f88\">With less than a week before the winner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/writingcompetition\/\">Manchester Writing Competition<\/a> 2022 is announced, there\u2019s no denying what this prestigious award could mean to any one of the accomplished <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/english\/about-us\/news\/story\/index.php?id=15107\">writers being showcased<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Since Carol Ann Duffy (UK poet laureate 2009-19) introduced what has become the \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/writingcompetition\/\">UK\u2019s biggest literary awards for unpublished work<\/a>\u2019 in 2008, more than \u00a3200,000 has been awarded to an array of celebrated poets and short-fiction writers.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Open internationally for submissions from both practised and new writers alike, each year the competition offers a \u00a310,000 prize for both the Manchester Poetry Prize for best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for best short story.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">With notable references to our post-pandemic world and the current political climate, thousands of entries from around the globe have been whittled down to the final 12.<\/p>\n<h2>Manchester Fiction Prize shortlist<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Danny Beusch<\/li>\n<li>Shelley Hastings<\/li>\n<li>Sarah Hegarty<\/li>\n<li>Leone Ross<\/li>\n<li>Nicholas Ruddock<\/li>\n<li>Naomi Wood<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Manchester Poetry Prize shortlist<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Courtney Conrad<\/li>\n<li>Laura Paul Watson<\/li>\n<li>Peter Ramm<\/li>\n<li>Alyza Taguilaso<\/li>\n<li>Jane Wilkinson<\/li>\n<li>April Yee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Below are some of the skillful few in the run up to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.co.uk\/e\/manchester-writing-competition-gala-prize-giving-ceremony-tickets-315467891957\">big day<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Sarah Hegarty (Fiction):&nbsp;The Ishtar Pin<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Residing in Guildford, Hegarty studied for her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Chichester while her sons were still small.<\/p>\n<p>Since they flew the nest 20 years ago, she\u2019s been dedicating the majority of her time to writing novels and short stories, while also working with children as a writer in residence at George Abbot school.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>She expressed&nbsp;her delight in being shortlisted: \u201cI still can\u2019t believe I\u2019ve been included in such an impressive group and wonderful community of writers. Everyone has been so encouraging and welcoming. Writing is a lonely life, and meeting kindred spirits is balm to the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The inspiration for Hagarty\u2019s piece arose from watching news reports of war-struck civilians trying to preserve items of cultural importance.<\/p>\n<p>She explains:&nbsp;\u201cI wanted to explore the conflict between the legacy of an ancient civilization and the societal impulse for change \u2013 and sometimes, destruction. And I wondered what would happen if a family had to deal with this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-6852\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/8b42df49-8dfa-4ecc-aae9-d1a4b9b5ed5d-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Among an array of short stories featured within varying anthologies, Hegarty recently celebrated her debut into non-fiction, which was published in the 100 Voices anthology this year.<\/p>\n<p>She modestly refers to her \u201cnovels-in-progress\u201d that have achieved first place or been shortlisted for awards, while humbly remarking that works submitted to other contests have gone \u201cAbsolutely nowhere!\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">For aspiring writers, she fully endorses letting \u201cfellow obsessives\u201d read their work. \u201cDevelop your own sense of what you want to achieve with your writing, and pluck up your courage and send your work out.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe long list is your friend. Someone, somewhere, saw something in your work. Hold on to that. Revise, revise, revise and keep going. It seems obvious but the biggest revelation to me was that spending more time at my desk improved my writing.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2021-Manchester-Poetry-Prize-shortlist.pdf\">Read Sarah Hegarty\u2019s short fiction entry here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Shelley Hastings (Fiction), What I Need To Tell You Now<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Hastings lives in South London with her partner and two children. She\u2019s been published numerous times across print and online, in conjunction with small presses such as the Southword Journal, Thi Wurd, and the Mechanics Institute Review.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She\u2019s also earned several accolades for her work, including first place in the Se\u00e1n O&#8217;Faol\u00e1in Short Story Prize and The Aurora Short Fiction Prize. Hastings is currently embarking on writing a novel, and has almost completed her debut collection of short stories, titled Can You Feel It?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI have loved the excitement of being part of the fanfare for such an established prize. I\u2019m really looking forward to the gala and hearing everyone read, while getting to celebrate together in person. Writing can be lonely. It also feels good to have my story out there in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-6853\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/526ccd7f-f792-4229-9831-a53965543da1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/526ccd7f-f792-4229-9831-a53965543da1.jpeg 689w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/526ccd7f-f792-4229-9831-a53965543da1-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hastings isn\u2019t short of hobbies outside of writing either, from swimming with her kids to \u201cmaking crap pottery\u201d. She insists that activities like this are essential for encouraging creativity, as well as not dwelling on technique. \u201cGet the words down and find the heat in what you are trying to say and let it grow from there.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She continues: \u201cI wrote this story when we were starting to emerge from lockdown and I wanted to reassure myself that the shit would eventually subside.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;I found the loss of connection with people at that time hard and the digital alternatives very unsatisfying. I wanted to write about the grief of that, and of searching for meaning when everything around you feels like it\u2019s falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2021-Manchester-Poetry-Prize-shortlist.pdf\">Read Shelley Hasting\u2019s short fiction entry here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Danny Beusch (Fiction), The Firm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Beusch is an accountancy educator from Birmingham, who found inspiration for his piece from his unpleasant experience as an auditor. Within his story, he sheds light on the \u201cstifling\u201d, \u201crestrictive\u201d and \u201cjudgemental\u201d culture present within his former workplace.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI think&lt;&nbsp;as a gay man in a relatively conservative environment, I felt that particularly acutely,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">So when I see Twitter posts from big firms and companies bragging about their inclusive workplace culture, it makes me angry because I know for a fact that the reality is often very different.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;I tried to channel this anger and frustration into my story &#8211; using some surreal elements and a bit of humour to show up the hypocrisy of modern day capitalism.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-6833\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/3fcbeb19-2411-438e-9042-d96e1c515688-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/3fcbeb19-2411-438e-9042-d96e1c515688-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/3fcbeb19-2411-438e-9042-d96e1c515688-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/3fcbeb19-2411-438e-9042-d96e1c515688-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/3fcbeb19-2411-438e-9042-d96e1c515688-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/3fcbeb19-2411-438e-9042-d96e1c515688-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Beusch began writing short stories in 2020, recently contributing to Confingo Magazine and earning numerous shortlisted and long-listed spots in several competitions.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s an advocate of writing workshops as a starting point, noting how the opening paragraphs of The Firm were written in a session taught by writer Kirsty Logan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI think it&#8217;s also important to write your story and then leave it &#8211; the temptation is always to submit, but you&#8217;ll have loads of new ideas if you come back to it a month later,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cTo be on the shortlist for the Manchester Writing Competition is my biggest writing achievement by far. The other writers are incredible.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;It&#8217;s always felt like a dream, a wish, a hobby. It\u2019s given me some confidence, and I&#8217;m hoping that will keep going when self-doubt creeps in, encouraging me to be more ambitious in what I set out to do.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2021-Manchester-Poetry-Prize-shortlist.pdf\">Read Danny Beusch\u2019s short fiction entry here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Nicholas Ruddock (Fiction), Sweet Boy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Recently retired as a physician, Ruddock lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife Cheryl, with whom he shares four children. Although not writing to share his work until the age of 57, he\u2019s been extremely driven since, with three novels and a book of short stories now published, and a children\u2019s book due in 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe inspiration for Sweet Boy was the ongoing epidemic of accidental opiate overdoses,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt made me think of Prince, the musician, and all the vulnerable non-Prince types, who did not have his cultural cachet but who had to deal with the same issues. The story emerged in its present form after about twenty variations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-6854\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673.jpeg 2387w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/9ba9a725-a413-4abf-b8b8-5bb66c055673-2048x1151.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Winner of the Bridport Prize twice, Ruddock has also been shortlisted for the London Sunday Times Short Story Award in 2016 and the Moth Magazine Poetry Award in 2019. Outside of writing he&#8217;s an amateur musician, art lover and sports enthusiast, notably hockey and cycling.<\/p>\n<p>He advises a lifestyle of working a job outside of fiction writing, to sustain balance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Offering guidance for writers, Ruddock suggests: \u201cDo the work daily, get words down and don\u2019t worry too much initially about where you\u2019re going. There\u2019s always time to revise, but you need inventory.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Reflecting on becoming shortlisting and joining a community of writers as a result, he expresses fulfilment from sharing the experience with his fellow finalists, \u201c[We\u2019re now] all in the same boat, after floating around on my own.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2021-Manchester-Poetry-Prize-shortlist.pdf\">Read Nicholas Ruddock\u2019s short fiction entry here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Alyza Taguilaso (Poetry)&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Based in Alabang, Muntinlupa in the Philippines, Taguilaso is a doctor, currently carrying out residency training for General Surgery. Her love for poetry began before medical school, while obtaining her degree at Ateneo De Manila University.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She\u2019s thrilled by the prospect of being more widely read: \u201cWhen I first found out about being shortlisted I almost didn\u2019t believe it. I think I laughed in disbelief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Aside from literature, Taguilaso practices watercolour painting, enjoys playing video games and surrounding herself with animals. The latter played inspiration for her poem, Cactus Potato, which is \u201cbasically a poem about keeping hedgehogs as pets\u201d.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She\u2019s a proud career for \u201chedge-beests\u201d herself.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the rest of her portfolio is not so lighthearted, with her poem \u2018Suwerte\u2019 discussing a multitude of political and social issues, including fake news, threats to democracy and mistreatment of healthcare workers. Taguilaso expands, \u201cIt draws upon the idea of resilience, and how it\u2019s used to justify terrible conditions for my people. I want Flipinos to go beyond accepting that, when what they really deserve is fair pay and good governance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-6855\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/54b4d308-f218-4377-951d-2f6fd6ed285b.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/54b4d308-f218-4377-951d-2f6fd6ed285b.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/54b4d308-f218-4377-951d-2f6fd6ed285b-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/54b4d308-f218-4377-951d-2f6fd6ed285b-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/54b4d308-f218-4377-951d-2f6fd6ed285b-768x768.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Taguilaso\u2019s final submission, Agustina During the Last Week of October, was written the day her sister attempted suicide. She expresses her confliction between viewing illness from a professional viewpoint, versus how relatives perceive particular conditions to be shrouded in shame.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Overall, her advice to aspiring writers is clear cut: \u201cRead, read, read, and then write.\u201d She\u2019s been widely published across print and online, from publications such as Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons and Kritika Kultura. Taguilaso also acted as fellow on numerous writing workshops in the Philippines, and more recently, she was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize 2021.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRead comic books, read stuff by people you\u2019ve never heard of, read menus, read instruction manuals, read pop-up books, read anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Taguilaso also suggests recording submission deadlines chronologically for motivation, and insists that writers should not take rejection personally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, I had 24 rejections, two acceptances, and two pending submissions. Most rejections I\u2019ve encountered come from the work not being fit for said journal or competition, so I think it\u2019s 70% a matter of finding the right home for one\u2019s pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2021-Manchester-Poetry-Prize-shortlist.pdf\">Read Alyza Taguilaso\u2019s poetry portfolio here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Laura Paul Watson (Poetry)&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Watson lives in Colorado, USA, and routinely immerses herself in the local writing classes. She details how some of her shortlisted poems \u201care the product of the encouragement of lead Mark Doty\u201d and her supportive community of fellow workshoppers. Watson obtained her MFA from the University of Florida, and until recently, she remodelled homes alongside her husband, as a General Contractor.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAside from what feels like the constant insistence of the natural world to be included in a poem, illness, and recovery, has been a large part of my life lately, and so, it&#8217;s been in my poetry,\u201d Watson explains, referring to her 2021 breast cancer recurrence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-6856\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/468be98c-8a5c-460b-ac74-4dcb8b5b675f.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/468be98c-8a5c-460b-ac74-4dcb8b5b675f.jpeg 563w, https:\/\/satellite.mmu.ac.uk\/northernquota-old\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/437\/2022\/05\/468be98c-8a5c-460b-ac74-4dcb8b5b675f-169x300.jpeg 169w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 563px) 100vw, 563px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>She adds:&nbsp;\u201cThe last time I went through cancer treatment in 2018, I ignored my writing practice and resolved to plough through the surgeries and chemotherapy and radiation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This time, however, the \u2018through\u2019 is not guaranteed, and I knew I needed to find a way to live with cancer and all its uncertainty and hope. A poem allows me to condense an overwhelming emotion into a more knowable thing. Poetry makes cancer seem more manageable.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Watson has published her poems extensively, some in the upcoming spring issue of the Southern Indiana Review.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She also achieved second place at the Bridport Prize in 2016, and an honourable mention for Bellevue Literary Review Poetry Prize last year. Despite her accomplishments, she\u2019s \u201chumbled\u201d to have her work shortlisted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cPoetry can feel like a very solitary practice. I sometimes forget there&#8217;s an audience who I can reach [out] to and who reaches back. The Manchester Poetry Prize has reminded me of how supportive and far-reaching the poetry community is. Even though I haven&#8217;t met the other short-listers, I feel proud to be in their company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmu.ac.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/2022-05\/2021-Manchester-Poetry-Prize-shortlist.pdf\">Read Laura Paul Watson\u2019s poetry portfolio here.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With less than a week before the winner of the Manchester Writing Competition 2022 is announced, there\u2019s no denying what this prestigious award could mean&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1615,"featured_media":6852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4972,1],"tags":[4934],"class_list":["post-6857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorised","tag-manchester-writing-competition-poetry-fiction-mmu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - 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