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WHO ARE WE?
Jonathan Myerson
has been teaching Creative Writing for over twenty years – most recently at City University London but previously at Bournemouth University, for the Arvon Foundation, and for the Writers Practice
He is the author of two novels, Noise and Your Father, both published by Headline Review, with a third on the way.
As a dramatist, he has written for TV (The Bill, Medics, EastEnders), extensively for radio (Life and Fate, The Way We Live Right Now, The Clintons and Number 10, which won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Drama). He was Nominated for an Oscar for his animated film of The Canterbury Tales, which also won a BAFTA. His two most recent podcast series – Nuremberg and Nazis: The Road To Power, both dramatised retellings – have registered over eight million downloads to date.
"I just wanted to tell you, I got a deal with Atlantic a couple of weeks ago in large part thanks to your help I think. I really do appreciate all the thought you put into the book, and your suggestions....I really like that you're brutally honest; I've had people read who've just commented on the odd semi colon when it obviously needed more than that.”
Vanessa Tait, author of The Looking Glass House
Clare Allan
has many years experience teaching Creative Writing on City University's MA Novel programme, at Kingston University, and for the Arvon Foundation. A hugely popular teacher, she has been nominated by students for a number of awards.
Clare was winner of the inaugural Orange short story prize in 2002. Her novel, Poppy Shakespeare, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, the Orange Prize for New Writers, and the Mind Book of the Year. The film adaptation, starring Anna Maxwell Martin and Naomie Harris, won a BAFTA.
Her second novel is forthcoming from Bloomsbury, and she is also completing a memoir on life with an unholy three-legged dog. Her column on matters relating to mental health, ran in the Guardian from 2006 to 2018, and she has published widely across the media
"It's not often you finish a first novel by a writer and you are seized by the need to read her second immediately"
Nick Hornby in Shakespeare Wrote for Money
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"Clare is an extraordinary writer and an extraordinary teacher. She always goes the extra mile to provide an engaging learning experience and her sessions are a joy from beginning to end. As a student you have a sense that Clare cares very much about you and your novel. Her insights on your work offer clarity and possibility that you might not see for yourself and her open encouragement frees your creativity and imagination. I would recommend her to anybody."
Alexandra Benedict
has over ten years of teaching and editing experience. Since 2009, she has helped her university and private students develop their writing from initial ideas to full novel. As a Royal Literary Fund Fellow, she taught at the Universities of Greenwich, Canterbury Christ Church, and Kent. She also taught, and subsequently ran, the highly successful Crime Thriller strand of City University’s Creative Writing MA.
Alexandra specialises in Genre Fiction as both a tutor and a writer. Described as ‘one of the rising stars of supernatural crime’ by the Sunday Express, Alexandra writes under the pen name A.K. Benedict. Her first novel, The Beauty of Murder (Orion), was nominated for the e-Dunnit award and crossed literary fiction with crime, horror, and science fantasy. Her second book, The Evidence of Ghosts (Orion), spanned crime, horror, and romance; and her third novel, The Stone House (BBC Books), entwined sci-fi with crime. Her fourth novel will be out Autumn 2021
An award-winning audio dramatist, Alexandra has written Doctor Who and Torchwood radio plays for Big Finish along with adaptations of horror classics for Audible and BBC Sounds. Her short stories have been featured in many anthologies including Best British Short Stories 2012 (Salt), Best British Horror 2018 (NewCon), Great British Horror 1 (Blackshuck), New Fears (Titan), Phantoms (Titan), Exit Wounds (Titan), and Invisible Blood (Titan).
"Alexandra is the editor who will tell you what your manuscript needs and then tell you how to deliver it. Not only is she a fabulous writer herself, but she is also a great teacher, a very different skillset. She has been my editor, tutor and mentor for four books and has taken me from unpublished novice to published, best selling and award winning author. She will tell you what you need to hear to make your manuscript sellable which is the single most useful thing anyone can give the unpublished writer. I can honestly say I learnt more in one afternoon with her than I did in 6 months of creative writing courses. She is the magic sprinkling of gold dust in my creative process, my personal secret. If you are lucky enough to get the chance to work with her, grab it with both hands!"
Alex Callister, best-selling author of the WINTER series.