Welcome to my website, where I lurk when I should be writing.
Over the last couple of years it’s been a privilege to have a job that can be done alone, at a desk. I’ve finished and edited my novel-in-progress, The Carriers. I’m excited now to be sending it out on submission. I was also thrilled when it made the longlist of the Grindstone Novel Competition (as A Thousand Grains). I’m at work on the next one…
I had a wonderful boost to my writing last year, when my short story The Ishtar Pin was shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize. Being able to attend the ceremony, read an excerpt – and meet other writers – was amazing.
During the isolation of lockdown, it was such a gift to be part of a collaborative project: the brilliant 100 Voices anthology [above right] (Unbound, 2022) edited by Miranda Roszkowski, who had the idea of asking one hundred women what achievement means. The resulting book is inspiring, moving – and often very funny. I’m proud to be part of it.
It’s great to be back doing ‘normal’ things, like cinema trips. I recently saw Cate Blanchett in Todd Field’s Tár, which has divided critics and audiences. It got me thinking – does a writer have responsibilities, and if so, what are they? You can read my view on my blog.
You can be intrigued by my work here.
The last couple of years reminded me that I’m happy being an armchair traveller. Recently I’ve been re-reading one of my favourite books: Nicholas Shakespeare’s biography of Bruce Chatwin. It’s stuffed full of great quotes, but this, from Thomas Keneally, seems apt: ‘Economists think that economic indicators are the metaphor for humanity. Novelists think that stories are the true indicator of human existence.’
In our unpredictable, scary world, the creative act of writing, and the empathy it engenders, feels more necessary than ever.
Sarah Hegarty 