Five authors have been announced as recipients of the prestigious Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence scheme.
The 2023 Writer in Residence programme at the Library, based in Hawarden, Flintshire, will see writers live and work within the Grade I listed neo-Gothic Victorian building for up to a month.The selected writers will also take part in events at Gladstone’s Library, which boasts 26 residential bedrooms, three purpose-built reading rooms set across two floors, and a collection of tens of thousands of books and archival items.The 2023 Writers in Residence are Poet Jane Yeh (Discipline), memoirist N. West Moss (Flesh and Blood), Sophie Rickard, one half of graphic novel creators the Rickard Sisters (The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists), journalist and short essayist Margarita Gokun Silver (I Named My Dog Pushkin) and Jude Piesse, non-fiction author (The Ghost In The Garden: in Search of Darwin’s Lost Garden).Louisa Yates, Director of Research and Collections at Gladstone’s Library, said: “Every year presents a challenge to the shortlisting team and to our external judging panel as they try to whittle down the final selection.
“The award is very competitive, and we saw high-quality and imaginative submissions in many formats, from plays to children’s books to historical novels and short story collections.
“We are so pleased to be able to offer places to our 2023 authors. As well as presenting diverse books, they all represent engaging writing and fascinating, fresh perspectives.”
The scheme, which began in 2011, is supported by sponsor Joanna Munro and was created for Gladstone's Library by salonnière and author Damian Barr (Maggie & Me). Damian is currently hosting The Big Scottish Book Club, a new four-part Salon inspired series featuring the finest names in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Since then, more than 50 writers have taken up a place, sleeping at the library, eating at the on-site Food for Thought restaurant and making use of the Reading Rooms.
US-based Writer and creative writing tutor N. West Moss (top left), said: “I’m one of those writers who feels like we want to be with other authors, so I’m very excited. My mother died recently and she was a big part of it (the book) and I just wish I could tell her; she would be excited too. It’s so strange that in the week of her death I was offered this incredible writing adventure; that in the moment I was grieving, I was given something to look forward too. It (Wales) is a beautiful country and it is a dream come true for a writer to live in a library.”
Margarita Gokun-Silver (top right), who has lived in Russia, the US and now Madrid, and whose works have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, The Guardian, said: “It was a really lovely surprise to be offered the residency. When you are shortlisted, you are very happy but you try not to jinx it. I never win anything!”
Sophie Rickard, who produced graphic novels of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist and No Surrender with her sister, artist Scarlett Rickard (middle left), said: “I’m so excited. I feel like I’ve been given a golden ticket. It's such beautiful surroundings. There’s also something about being offered the residency that feels like being taken seriously as there’s a lot of imposter syndrome in creative writing, adaptation and graphic novels – the medium I’m working within. I have only just started calling myself a writer so it’s a boost.”
Jane Yeh, a London-based lecturer in Creative Writing at the Open University (middle right), said: “I’m surprised and extremely grateful (to receive the residency). I’m thrilled to have been given this time and the luxury of having a place to stay. The generosity of the library and the sponsor is really extraordinary. The chance to live and stay in there and just focus on my work is a huge luxury and something you do not come across often in your life.”
Jude Piesse, a lecturer in English Literature at Liverpool John Moore’s University, (bottom left) said: “I don’t live that far away, and I have visited before, so I feel really connected to it. I wrote the last chapter of The Ghost in the Garden at Gladstone’s Library, right in the middle of Storm Dennis. I can’t think of anything I would rather do. I think it’s an incredibly inspiring place.”
To find out about the Writers in Residence talks and masterclasses at the Library, click on the 'events' tab above. News about the 2024 application cycle will be shared through the Gladstone's Library newsletter. Register for this on the front page of this website.