At Brunel Winter Graduation I was delighted to learn that I had been awarded the 2024 Creative Writing Prize in partnership with literary agency Johnson & Alcock.
I began studying Creative Writing part-time at Brunel University in 2022 after leaving a job in Marketing and Communications. I began the course feeling burnt out and hungry for inspiration. Over the next two years I found plenty – from reading George Saunder’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy and Helen Cullen’s The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually in my Elements of Fiction class and gaining invaluable feedback from my peers in our group discussions; laying the foundation for what would later become my dissertation in Planning a Novel; and returning for my second year to study The Art of the Monologue with Bernardine Evaristo and Angela Ekaette Michaels. I have never been particularly good at public speaking – before taking the class I would often feel my throat close up when addressing a crowd. I remember once, during my undergraduate at Leeds University, watching the piece of paper I was reading from shaking like it had a life of its own. But the techniques I learnt during our classes changed that, and in August of 2024, I was able to feel genuinely relaxed on stage when reading at the launch party of Borderless – an anthology I co-created alongside five other students at Brunel University (Alexia Guglielmi, Sundus Hassan-Nooli, Mahjaben Hussain, Harshita Kaushik and Neelam Sharma) in tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah.
Before it was time to start my dissertation, I learnt about the publishing world in Writers at Work where we gained insights about traditional and self-publishing routes, as well as other work avenues that writers often explore. For my project, I dived into the archives at the Bishopsgate Institute, which later helped bring the historical aspects of my novel to life.
My novel, which I plan to finish by the end of 2025 (now it’s in writing I’ll have to hold myself accountable), is split between two perspectives – Zoya and her daughter Guddu. Zoya leaves India after Partition and tries to forget the life she left behind, but Guddu, who wishes to unearth what has been hidden, immerses herself in a world of punk, activism and rebellion. In the first section of my novel, the reader follows Zoya through 1950s London as she tries to build a home in a hostile environment. My dissertation supervisor, Daljit Nagra, was able to guide me through areas I found difficult and advise me on ways to improve the flow of my writing.
However, post-dissertation, I found it challenging to continue writing without the structure and deadlines my MA gave me. I believe having the Creative Writing Prize is a testament to the ongoing support Brunel shows their student post-graduation, as meeting with Charlotte Seymour at Johnson & Alcock has rekindled my drive to write. Charlotte has encouraged me to look at my work from different perspectives, as well as pinpointing parts I could develop. The prize also means that once I have finished my manuscript, I gain a full readthrough, editorial feedback, and the possibility of representation by Johnson & Alcock. Knowing this has taken the pressure off what can seem like an overwhelming process of writing a manuscript to completion and sending it off into the ether hoping someone, somewhere will read it. However, even without the prize, attending Brunel has meant that I have gained a very supportive network of creative writers, where we send one another passages for feedback and make sure we meet our self-imposed deadlines.
Prior to attending Brunel, completing and publishing my own novel seemed a bit like a pipedream, but post-graduation it feels far more obtainable.
(Mira Mookerjee)
(image copyright Mira Mookerjee)
Congratulations to Brunel University of London Creative Writing Prize Winner Mira Mookerjee and to Runner-up Lauren Earle, from the Brunel University of London Creative Writing Team and all at Brunel Writer!
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