Pauline Kiernan – Jericho Writers
Jericho Writers
167-169 Great Portland street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF
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Pauline Kiernan

Pauline Kiernan - Editor

Dr Pauline Frederica Kiernan is an award-winning playwright, commissioned screenwriter and prize-winning short story writer.

She has been a literary consultant for 12 years and has taught Creative Writing on Oxford University’s Creative Writing Undergraduate and MA programmes.

Pauline is a former lecturer at the University of Oxford and a Shakespeare scholar, and was appointed Leverhulme Fellowship at Shakespeare’s Globe to work with Mark Rylance and the directors and actors in its first six years as dramaturg and research resource.

She is the author of the snappily-entitled Screenwriting They Can’t Resist: How to Create Screenplays of Originality and Cinematic Power. Break The Rules and is a theatre and film consultant. Her monographs, Shakespeare’s Theory of Drama, and Staging Shakespeare at the New Globe were published to worldwide acclaim, and her best-selling Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s Most Outrageous Sexual Puns was an Observer Book of the Year. She is currently writing the first of a series of crime novels set in Italy, and a book about Keats.

Testimonials

“Having your work evaluated as a complete novice is a daunting prospect, however, Pauline offered encouragement and praise while giving sound advice on how to improve and move forward with my work. The improvements made and encouragement given, gave me the confidence to pursue the avenue of writing as a potential career and as a result I have know been accepted on a full time University MA course in Creative Writing.”

- F.B.

“Dr Pauline Kiernan’s mentoring and script reports are like taking a masterclass in screenwriting. She infused a confidence and belief into my writing when I felt like I had hit a dead end. I really felt Pauline heard my voice in the writing and encouraged me to tell my own unique story. Her support and advice has been an inspiration.”

- S. Lachlan Benwell

“I am grateful to you for taking the time and trouble to respond to my concerns. I feel greatly heartened and will now rework the book in the light of your suggestions.”

- S.R.

"Thank you so much for taking your time to read my project. I am grateful for the extra work that you have done on it. It means so much to me. Thank you. I am sure I will require your services in the future."

- E.E.

"I want to say how moved I am that you worked so hard on my material. I have incorporated every change you suggested. And I have learned a lot from your edit. You must be a wonderful teacher and I feel privileged."

- Roman R.

"Thank you so much. I will study it with a fine tooth comb!"

- Jason B.

"I'm really impressed with the level of editors at Jericho. This is my second experience with the editing service and it has not let me down. Thanks to Pauline the text is clearer and full of pertinent comments. I recommend it 100%."

- Adrián V.

"Thank you so very much for your report. It has been fantastically useful. I am enormously grateful for all you had to say and will diligently work through all the things you've pointed out. It is the first time I've had a crit back in which I really felt the critiquer got what I was trying to do."

- Alison B.

"Thank you so much for your thoughtful, detailed comments and suggestions on my short stories. I am relieved that you think that they work well."

- Pnina S.

WHY WE LOVE PAULINE

A Shakespeare scholar and award-winning playwright, Pauline is your go-to editor if you need feedback on a play or a screenplay. She also does do manuscript assessments for novels and memoirs .

WHAT PAULINE SAYS ABOUT EDITING

Working with writers to help them create work of originality that’s worthy of publication or performance is a passion that never seems to diminish for me. I loved being a teacher at Oxford which showed me how crucial it is to focus on how to develop the individual’s strengths and to gain self confidence in their work. That’s why, above, all, it is important to help writers realise their potential by finding their unique voice. This has been my goal in all my creative writing classes and workshops, and in my literary consultancy work. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a writer, or aspiring writer, create work that is the best it can be.

Quite often, I see work that has potential but requires some rethinking – a ‘re-framing the picture’ to enable the writer to see where things have gone a little awry. Also, some manuscripts fall down on style and grammatical errors. I enjoy line-editing as well, for this reason.

It’s all about supporting the writer’s individual vision.

Genres Pauline specialises in

Fiction
Short Stories & novellas
Plays and screen scripts
Literary (Including ‘bookclub’)
Non-Fiction
Memoir/autobiography
Other Narrative Non-fiction

Pauline's published books

Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s Most Outrageous Sexual Puns

Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s Most Outrageous Sexual Puns

Staging Shakespeare at the New Globe

Staging Shakespeare at the New Globe

Shakespeare’s Theory of Drama

Shakespeare’s Theory of Drama

Screenwriting They Can’t Resist

Screenwriting They Can’t Resist

Client successes

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