Jenny Knight - Editor
Jenny Knight is a prize-winning author of short story and memoir, and a contributor to Kit de Waal’s celebrated Common People anthology (Unbound, May 2019). Her latest book, Wild Moon Rising, will published later in June as one of the three lead titles of a brand-new imprint from HarperCollins – Akan Books.
An experienced editor, mentor, copy-writer, copy-editor and proofreader, she’s enjoyed 25 years’ successful freelancing for clients and publishers including Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Routledge, and her writing on writing and the publishing world has appeared in Book Machine, National Writers’ Centre and Restless.
Jenny has won or been shortlisted in competitions including Bridport, Fish, Arvon, ACE/Escalator, Yeovil, Riptide and SWWJ. She is an Associate Artist with the National Writing Centre, has a degree in English Literature and Drama, and studied Creative Writing at UEA.
Instagram @jennyaknight Bluesky @jennyknight X @knightjennyk
Testimonials
– Katy Massey, author of ‘Are We Home Yet?’ (Jacaranda, 2020)
- Ella H.
– MJ Riley, author of ‘The Bad Things’, ‘After She Fell’, ‘Dark Waters’, ‘Gone in the Night’ (Killer Reads, Harper Collins)
WHY WE LOVE JENNY
Whether you want a full manuscript assessment or need someone to edit your work on a sentence-by-sentence basis, you’re in good hands with Jenny. She has a meticulous eye for detail and wants nothing more than to help you reach your writing goals. She’s taught creative writing in prisons, teaches Masterclasses for Litro and has spoken on panels and held workshops on the writing process, getting agents and dealing with rejection – including for PrimadonnaFest and the Lockdown Stay-At-Home-Fest.
WHAT JENNY SAYS ABOUT EDITING
I have such a backstory with writing – it took me 20 years from starting out to securing an agent – I’ve learned a lot I wish I’d known earlier! I’m passionate about analysing other writers’ work and find helping writers immensely rewarding – I know how hard it is to write a novel, short story or memoir, and the challenges of making it the best you can. I want to inspire writers to dig deep, produce their best work and increase their chances of reaching their goals.
I offer clear insight into what isn’t working, covering all narrative bases, but only alongside suggestions of what might work better. I’ve had my own writing editorially assessed and know how much this can help – but also how it feels! As a professional copyeditor and proofreader I’m always happy to factor in line-editing/copy-editing if required.
I love stories about women, sex, death, family, midlife, working-class experiences, WWII and also short stories. I also love memoir, narrative-non-fiction and have worked on an array of topic-led books.
What Jenny works on
Manuscript Assessment
Developmental Editing
Agent Submission Pack assessment
Post-editorial guidance
Line-editing
Copy-editing
Proof-reading
Opening Section Review
Genres Jenny specialises in
Jenny's published books
Common People
Working-class stories are not always tales of the underprivileged and dispossessed.
Common People is a collection of essays, poems and memoir written in celebration, not apology: these are narratives rich in barbed humour, reflecting the depth and texture of working-class life, the joy and sorrow, the solidarity and the differences, the everyday wisdom and poetry of the woman at the bus stop, the waiter, the hairdresser.
Here, Kit de Waal brings together thirty-three established and emerging writers who invite you to experience the world through their eyes, their voices loud and clear as they reclaim and redefine what it means to be working class.
Wild Moon Rising
A powerful and moving debut novel about coming of age again post-marriage and post-menopause.
Claire’s life isn’t how she thought it would be when she moves into Hunter’s Moon. Her long marriage is over, her children have flown the nest, and her work as an illustrator no longer satisfies her. She isn’t sure who she is now or what she wants from her life.
It wasn’t always like this. Once, she had desires and ambitions.
When her octogenarian neighbour, Tansy, suffers a fall, Claire’s solitude is broken. Under the older woman’s guidance, she finds solace and a new sense of purpose in regenerating her wild garden. And as the plants grow, Claire retreads the bittersweet journey that brought her to the second half of her life.
This is a story of love. Of friendship and desire, of art and nature, of finding love for yourself and for life itself. It is a story of coming of age, once again, of giving up one’s safety net and embracing a new life beyond.