Every day this week, in advance of opening our submission window for 2021/22 we are profiling our 6 Academicians of 2020/2021. Meet Rob Schofield.
I have been writing full time since receiving an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter in 2017. My story The Latest Draft of Me was highly commended by the judges of the Manchester Fiction Prize and another, Late Capitalism, appeared in The Blue Nib. Terry Toast was long listed for the Exeter Writers Short Story Prize and appeared in issue 29 of Prole Magazine; and Jana was shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize. In 2019 I was shortlisted for the Adventures in Fiction New Voices prize. The essays I wrote recording my progress as I worked through The Artist’s Way were published as part of The Blue Nib’s The Write Life series. I moved back up north in 2020 and have enjoyed becoming part of the northern writing community, not least as part of the Northern Short Story Festival Academy. In July 2021 I was honoured to win a Northern Writers Award for Debut Fiction.
I have learned so much from the monthly Northern Short Story Festival Academy sessions and enjoyed working closely with my fellow writers. I am sure that my writing and confidence have improved as a result of my time as an Academy member and I would encourage other emerging writers to apply for the next Academy as soon as the opportunity to do so arises.
Rob publishes stories, extracts, essays and works in progress on his website robschofield.uk.
You too can join our Academy. We’re opening our submission window on Monday 23rd August. Read more here.
