Angela Jackson

I wrote my first novel, The Emergence of Judy Taylor, while I was working as a psychology lecturer, often writing between the hours of midnight and 3am. Fast forward a few years — during which I lost my writing voice and, thankfully, found it again, performed a one-woman show and tried my hand at stand-up — I am now with a new publisher, and my second novel, The Darlings, will be published in 2020.

The Emergence of Judy Taylor was overall winner of Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award, and was selected as Edinburgh Waterstones Scottish Book of The Year. It reached No1 in the UK Kindle comedy chart, No2 in fiction, and No1 in France and Germany’s fiction charts. I subsequently wrote and performed The Darling Monologues at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

Having worked with learners in FE and HE from non-traditional backgrounds (including no school qualifications, excluded students, and learners with additional needs), I’m happy to talk to groups about the pleasures of creative writing, and the challenges of a writing career.