For the third time running, Waterloo Festival, in collaboration with Bridge House Publishing, organised a writing competition over the winter along the theme of Transforming Communities. Writers were invited to interpret freely the theme in a 1000-word story. We announced the winners a few weeks ago.
As part of the celebrations, we'll be launching the digital anthology later in June. You can meet the editors and the winners in an online event on Friday, 12th June at 6:30pm. More details to come. Until then, meet some of the winners here! We invited them to send us a video or text introducing themselves and their work, as well as a book recommendation.
Next we received from winner Anne Forest.
Anne Forrest has been writing for over 20 years. She is certain that her North Wales childhood plays a huge part in her writing, the atmosphere of which, and the people she was surrounded by, are depicted in her common-folk biography My Whole World, Penmaenmawr published by Old Bakehouse of Abertillery. She is surprised that from this ‘rosy’ beginning, her interest in true crime and dark goings-on has developed into her favourite genre – the uncanny. It maybe something to do with the authors who influenced her: Enid Blyton and Cormac McCarthy, she cannot think of a more contrasting pair.
Of two unpublished novels, Lilies of the Valley made the ‘strong longlist’ in the Cinnamon Press Debut Novel Award 2018, and Quinn, was of interest to Honno of Aberystwyth, but after two re-writes they decided not to publish. Two short stories were published in Infinity Junction’s Not for Bedtime illustrates her observation on the darker side of human nature. Bridgehouse Publications has featured some of her short stories in CaféLit, and she was recently one of Gill James’ guest bloggers.
After completing a MArts at Bangor University in 2019 (English Literature with Creative Writing), she embarked on another Masters’ degree at the University of Chester (Writing and Publishing Fiction), in which she experienced Flash Fiction for the first time, and where the mine-field-world of publishing was introduced. Thrilled at being selected for the Waterloo Festival e-book 2020, she continues to submit her work to competitions and other publishing possibilities. She has a collection of short stories ready for publication, also an anthology which she and a fellow-writer are compiling.
Married for over thirty years to the late Edwin V Forrest RCA., an artist, Anne sees similarities in all forms of art, particularly the visual arts, and finds the tones required for both painting and writing are a balance of colour and tone; and of variations of light and dark.
Her website anneforrestwriter.weebly.com may be of interest.
Bridge House Publishing
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