Authors join English Heritage for writing competitions in the North
Historic buildings like Whitby Abbey have been inspiring creative people for centuries – from the poetry of Caedmon to the Gothic classics of Bram Stoker, and now two of Britain's top authors have joined forces with English Heritage to encourage budding writers of all ages to take inspiration from some of the finest historic sites in the North, and put pen to paper in two writing competitions.
Yorkshire-based author of supernatural stories including the best-selling "Shadowmancer", GP Taylor, will later this month launch the "Whitby Abbey: Pure Inspiration!"” competition, which will see authors competing for their stories to be published by English Heritage in a book of the same name later this year.
"When you are an unknown author, getting that first break can be extremely difficult – many of today’s household names will have been very familiar with rejection letters at the start of their careers, even though they now receive advances on new books of many thousands of pounds," says Graham Taylor, who sold his treasured Harley Davidson to fund the self-publishing of his first book, Shadowmancer, before he was signed up by a major publisher. "This competition will give several authors the chance to have see their works in print, hopefully uncovering some bright new talent for the future."
The Pure Inspiration campaign has a positive benefit to English Heritage, too, as marketing manager for the North, Nicola Bexon, explains: "Whilst we are highlighting Whitby Abbey as an iconic site, and encouraging budding authors to visit the site for inspiration, we can also benefit from the sales of the book, as all of the royalties from the book sales will go towards maintaining the ruins for future generations. The creativity of the writers will actually help support the source of their inspiration – it is a truly virtuous circle!"
Writers young and old who enter the competition will be following in the steps of several of the greatest writers from the last 1300 years – England's first recorded poet, Caedmon, was a monk at the Abbey shortly after its foundation in the seventh century, turning his hand to poetry after having an inspiration dream whilst asleep there. More recently, the Victorian writer of Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell, has written about the Abbey ruins, whilst Bram Stoker immortalised the ruins as the backdrop to Count Dracula’s arrival on British shores in the gothic classic that spawned a whole generation of vampire stories.
The Pure Inspiration competition runs from 19 May to 4 September 2009, with entries welcomed from writers of all ages and abilities – although they must share a common theme, using Whitby Abbey as an integral part of the story.
Meanwhile, 100 miles further North, at Belsay Hall, near Newcastle, award-winning author David Almond, who recently had his novel "Skellig" adapted in a major production for Sky One, is supporting a competition looking for short stories inspired by Stella McCartney’s Crystal Horse, a stunning creation of suspended crystals. David will be running writers’ workshops on 23 May, when he'll explain how he found inspiration for his own novels. Winners of the Belsay competition will receive signed books, and the overall winner will receive a year's free membership to English Heritage.
More information of both competitions, including details of how to enter, are available from the English Heritage website, at Whitby Abbey and Belsay Hall property pages.
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