Lucy Writers want to provide not only a space, but a room and a home for women and non-binary writers, irrespective of experience or expertise
There are many individuals who are desperate to write, desperate to be heard, desperate to commit long-incubated thoughts and feelings to paper, to have their story or statements read aloud. But many of these writers struggle to find a space – whether online or in print – in which to develop their writing and use their voice. If you’re a new to the writing-desk-kind-of-writer this is additionally hard. Finding the confidence to approach national, let alone international, platforms and publications with a pitch is a feat in itself. (Never mind not knowing what a successful pitch actually entails). Compound all this with fear about one’s educational, cultural and socio-economic background, and what could be a truly brilliant writer in-the-making is suddenly no more. The pen has been put down, the notebook closed. That important opinion piece about citizenship and immigration remains unwritten. The art review or feature on gender disparity in film production untyped. Where do you go to if you’re an emerging writer? Who do you approach if you’re an ardent, eloquent, but inexperienced, journalist?
We at Lucy Writers want to provide not only a space, but a room and a home for women and non-binary writers, irrespective of their experience, expertise or socio-economic background. We recognise the need for women and non-binary writers, who are still trying to hone their craft, to have a safe space. A safe space in which to test-drive their ideas, savour words, refine their style, receive proper editorial support and guidance, build their confidence and, in turn, their careers. We also want to foster a sense of community, one where our writers can learn from and support each other, both on and offline.
Although we are a new platform (officially launched in September 2018, properly live as a site in January 2019), our community is steadily growing. Created in collaboration with Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, the platform is open to women and non-binary writers from all over the world. Essentially, our feet are planted in Cambridge, but our head looks outwards and beyond the UK through our writers who are based in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the US. Our editorial team are not only from around the world, but are currently situated in Australia, Kenya, Pakistan, Switzerland, the US and the UK. Having writers and editors from diverse places and backgrounds enriches our site, our content and our readership. It reflects the kind of journalism and writing we want to see, read and enjoy. It is indicative of the wonderfully diverse community that Lucy Cavendish College is known for, and continues to nurture and esteem.
Our collaboration with Lucy Cavendish College is a prized and precious one. From the college we inherit a staunch commitment to celebrating and bettering the lives of women who come from different cultural, socio-economic and racial backgrounds. We also inherit an incredible literary and journalistic legacy. A proud supporter of women in all creative fields, Lucy Cavendish College is equally devoted to providing opportunities to women writers. Its legacy of writing and journalism is impressive: from its first 1970s newsletter Lucely Speaking, to its current journals and blogs (Cavendish Chronicle, Nautilus); from its coveted Fiction Prize (open to women all over the world), to its Creative Writing Courses and Fiction Prize Festival, Lucy is undeniably rich in writerly creativity. It’s this we wish to share with women and non-binary individuals outside of the immediate college community. Regardless of how many letters you may or may not have after your name; regardless of class, profession, cultural differences, political or religious convictions, we first and foremost want to hear from those who aspire to write. In line with the college’s deep literary legacy we want to hear and publish the voices of the future.
We are a new self-funded site, but we’ve already achieved so much. We offer vital review opportunities – which is often the first step for inexperienced writers to be published – by providing press tickets to shows at Tate, Dulwich Picture Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, Royal Academy, Barbican, the V&A, the Royal Court Theatre, The Place, Sadler’s Wells, Royal Opera House and many other prestigious cultural institutions. We have many reviews and features on shows from such venues already on our site (see here). We have secured interviews with incredible figures such as Sharmaine Lovegrove (award-winning publisher of Dialogue Books), Botis Seva (acclaimed dancer, Olivier Award-winning choreographer and guest artistic director of the National Youth Dance Company), Joshua Nash (innovative choreographer and dancer), Vicki Igbokwe (choreographer and founding director of Uchenna Dance), the acclaimed poet Rebecca Tamás and have upcoming and soon to be published interviews with the novelists Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (author of Swan Song), Alice Clark-Platt (author of The Flower Girls) Laura Marshall (author of Friend Request and Three Little Lies), Sara Collins (author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton), Aljazeera journalist Orji Sunday, director of Dulwich Picture Gallery, Jennifer Scott and more.
We’ve also started to gain investigative pieces on period poverty in Nigeria, female fibroid medical mistreatment and more from writers like Jennifer Adaeze in West Africa. We’re also proud of opinion pieces that respond to current affairs and ongoing political issues. Furaha Asani’s important piece on the white washing of International Women’s Day and the silencing of black women academics, together with Sanelisiwe Gantsho’s thought-provoking opinion piece on Caster Semenya’s battle with the IAAF and Helen Long’s op-ed on how brands are irresponsibly marketing suicide to target young customers show that we are committed to publishing thought-provoking, hard hitting content. Such work in addition to the many intelligent and eloquently written reviews on dance, art and theatre by the likes of regular contributors, Shirley Ahura, Eirini Diamantouli (PhD candidate at LCC), Carla Plieth (MPhil student at LCC), Gabriela Frost (MPhil student at LCC) Kitty Wenham and Aysha Abdulrazak has taken Lucy Writers to another level and secured interest from press officers at cultural institutions around the UK.
We are also proud to showcase some excellent work from the Lucy Cavendish College alumnae community. Since launching in January our alumna have helped to shape our Arts, Film & Media, Environment, Creative Writing and Postgraduate editorial. In her feature on the Netflix series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Jane the Virgin, Film & Media Editor Sauleha Kamal discusses the importance of the female gaze in tele-serials, whilst one of her contributors, Genevieve Riccoboni writes about several investigative documentaries on Netflix. President of the alumnae Association, Judith Roberts, wrote a detailed feature on the New Woman in late nineteenth-century theatre, whilst Julia Bagguley has written astute features on the designer Christian Dior and artists Mary Fedden and Renzo Piano. PhD candidate Barbara Bollig continues to write inspiring reviews and features connected to her research on the Medea myth. Dr Florence Hazrat, our Postgraduate and Environment Editor has written two excellent features on environmental activist Wangari Maathai and women in academia.
Recently we were delighted to launch our Flash Fiction competition in collaboration with Retreat West, Byte The Book and our sponsor My Ly. The judges were impressed by the quality of all entries, some of which came from as far as the US. We were delighted to announce the winner as Emily Slade, a Lucy Cavendish alumna and graduate of the Cambridge Creative Writing MSt. Programme. She won with her comically dark micro-story, ‘A Very British Rebellion’, which you can read here and in this edition of Nautilus. We are confident that this competition will pave the way for future opportunities for all our writers and creatives.
We are proud of what we’ve achieved so far and are especially proud of the diverse range of content our site offers, but we want to take the platform further. Our aim is to develop Lucy Writers by improving the usability of the site and bettering its mobile scaling; by holding free workshops and panels for our writers, and creating new competitions and opportunities for all who are connected or contributing to the platform. Such plans, in addition to the continuous output of our talented contributors, will ensure that Lucy Writers is not just a safe space or room, but the home for all our current and future writers.
Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou,
Founding Editor-in-chief of Lucy Writers