Alison Dudeney

MA Creative and Critical Writing, Class of 2022

Always wanting to write prose, somehow I started with poetry! After years achieving little, except a bulging set of box-files and a rather full external hard drive, I decided I would love to do an MA in Creative Writing. After moving to Suffolk in 2019 my chance came. I’d joined a local writing group and was so encouraged by the tutor and fellow writers that I realised the time had come to do that MA.

I’ve always been a bit of a pioneer, so I was drawn to the University of Suffolk’s inaugural Creative and Critical Writing MA. The balance between creative and critical writing was intriguing and I welcomed the slightly scary academic rigour. I did the course over 2 years which gave me time to read and think.

During the pandemic, we were allowed to attend lectures in person (masked) or remotely. The presence of fellow students was a crucial success factor for me; the dynamic of challenge and support which helped me grow.

The Creative and Critical writing module considered themes of monsters, mothers and movement; through post-human and other philosophical lens. For the assessment I chose to view the origins of the pandemic through Monster Theory and wrote a short story fictionalising a life experience. In Children’s Literature I began to write the character in my novel, transforming my story into a novel for adults in Writing Historical fiction. In Adaptation I explored a fresh genre of Ecogothic fiction using an M R James’ ghost story as my base text. For Dissertation I researched and developed my novel further.

I was very proud to graduate in 2022 with a distinction. I loved the course; it didn’t feel like work; there was so much support and encouragement from all the brilliant tutors and the camaraderie of fellow students.

After graduation I took a break from writing but read voraciously. The MA widened my horizons; I thirsted for new writers, different genres. My reading practices altered; still enjoying a story well told, I was now thinking about the writer’s development of character, plot, and influences. Suddenly I wanted to be writing again. I joined a short course for experienced writers at NCW where I wrote a random scene involving two characters which formed the basis of my future competition entry.  Over the next month I wrote and polished a synopsis and 10,00 words for the deadline of the Women’s Prize Discoveries 2024 competition. It was a tall order, Christmas wasn’t quite cancelled, but I spent a lot of time at my desk in December.

Submitting my 10,000 words and synopsis spurred me on to get this novel finished. I had a week’s retreat in Devon to focus on writing and forgot about my entry! It was a complete surprise when I discovered a few months later I was one of sixteen long listed from over 3,000 entries. I was stunned. Validation. Could I now call myself a writer? It was exciting seeing the press releases announcing the Discoveries 2024 long-list. The judging panel included the author, Kate Mosse. Prizes included an invitation to the exclusive Women’s Prize Summer Party, a year’s subscription to audible and a writing course. I was speechless when some weeks later I was told I was in the short-list of only six.

I didn’t win, but that doesn’t matter because I feel I’ve already won; the achievement will help me in my endeavour to find an agent and publish my novel, when it’s finished. The Summer Party was fun, meeting my fellow long listers, seeing the winners of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Non-Fiction announced, rubbing shoulders with famous authors (I won’t name drop) and free champagne!

My focus now is to finish my first draft by Christmas and find an agent. Looking back, it has been such an amazing writing journey and without the MA I would never have stood a chance of being shortlisted for the Women’s Prize Discoveries 2024. The MA has given me a valuable set of tools for the craft of writing and many lens to view the world from. It has been an invaluable experience and certainly changed my life!