Meet Sarah, the winner of this year’s Lucy Cavendish Student Fiction Prize. In this exclusive interview, Sarah shares her thoughts on winning the prize, her background, inspirations, and how she balances writing with the other aspects of her life.
Congratulations on winning the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize! How does it feel to receive this recognition?
Sarah: Obviously it is always splendid to have other people tell you that you have done something clever. It is always a bit disheartening when you are the only one who thinks so! Anyway, I am jolly pleased.
Can you tell me a bit about your background and your interests?
Sarah: I am an old lady trying very hard not to give in to senility and arthritis. I have got four grown-up children, and I will be sixty next year, and I have decided that when I grow up I would like to be a writer, so I am giving it my best shot. Apart from that I drive a taxi, late at nights so that I can do what I like during the day, and also because it is far more interesting than the day shift when people all want you to help them with their shopping. At nights people have splendidly riotous arguments in the back, are drunk enough to tell you all their secrets, and behave badly enough to be interesting. I have had all sorts of wicked rascally goings-on in my taxi; one customer set another one on fire once. I made him get out before he scorched the seats.
When I am not driving my taxi, I write things and do the housework. There is a lot of this because our house is heated by a log burner and it makes a lot of dust. Also, there is always firewood to be sawn up. I have an online diary which you can find at Windermere Diaries if you are interested in reading what an elderly lady has got to say about taxis and firewood.
Can you tell us about the moment you found out you had won?
Sarah: When I found out I had won, I was very surprised, and it was all right to be pleased as well because my friend Emma, who was also on the shortlist, had already won something else, so it didn’t matter. I don’t like to win things when other people are disappointed. If you entered and were disappointed then good luck for next year, and if it’s any consolation, I had already blown all of the prize money on the fuel to get there.
What inspires you to write? Are there any specific books or authors that have shaped your writing style?
Sarah: Walking and thinking. I take the dogs out over the fells every morning – I live in Windermere in the Lake District – and every day we climb the nearest hills and look at the lake from the top of it. I like to watch the seasons changing, a little bit every day. Anyway, that is when I do all of my thinking, plodding along and contemplating ideas. Being by myself is nice. You can’t think of things with all the din of life going on all around you, televisions and radios and Audible stories and all the rest of it. Ideas come in the silence. I am the most terrific low-brow philistine when it comes to reading. I like to read things in between customers in the taxi, so it needs to be something I can put down easily and that doesn’t need too much concentration. I loathe books where people are talking about how miserable they are and like books with a jolly good adventure or an interesting story. Big print helps because I am getting a bit short-sighted. Also, I read a lot of non-fiction. I like to learn new things. Nobody shaped my writing style. I write what I am thinking.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers hoping to achieve success?
Sarah: I couldn’t possibly advise anybody how to succeed because I am not yet successful. I am a grumpy taxi driver. Except to say to be the best you can. Nothing is ever perfect the first time round. Keep making it better.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?
Sarah: I am never not writing. It’s what I do when I stop doing housework. I am the most boring person to sit next to at a dinner party.
How do you balance writing with other aspects of your life?
Sarah: I get everything else done as quickly as I can and then get on with it. Some days there isn’t time. Other days I am still writing at midnight. It is the nice thing I save as a happy moment so I can do it with a clear conscience. Only everything else has got to be cleared first.
Sarah’s journey to winning the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is truly inspiring! For more of her delightful musings, visit her online diary.