From Submission to Spotlight: The Journey of a Festival Friday Night Live Winner

If I can win a writing competition, then you can too.

I received notification that I was in the Friday Night Live (but on Saturday) Final at London Festival of Writing on 21 June 2024. I was visiting Italica, an ancient Roman city just north of Seville in Spain, when the email landed. Later that evening, as the sun dipped towards the horizon, I was perched on a golden beach in Algorrobo Costa watching successions of waves fold over before spilling onto the shore. In my journal – it goes everywhere with me – I wrote:

“Friday Night Live (FNL) – I’m one of the lucky eight. How did that happen?”

            Back in 2022, I entered First 500, Jericho’s online competition, with a much less polished opening of my novel. That piece was Highly Commended, though not in the final. But it was encouraging. Much writing time passed.

I completed Jericho’s Ultimate Novel Writing Programme (UNWP) in Spring 2024. And signed up for my first ever Festival of Writing (LFOW). I drafted my historical novel, MANUMISSION*, during the course. I remember preparing my First 500 words carefully before entering FNL. After all, every writer knows their opening page is vital to hook readers with a clear setting and atmosphere, questions raised, and most importantly, a character that readers can invest in. I entered FNL without expectations. For me, it’s easier to set expectations low, rather than be disappointed I didn’t win.

London Festival of Writing 2024 was a fantastic experience. On the day of the Grand Final, I immersed myself in fantastic workshops, learning so much my brain was fit to explode with new ideas. I revealed my horrid imposter syndrome to fellow writers only to discover this is totally normal and affects many creative people. At one point, I took myself off to practice my piece. I read it aloud, slowed the pace, and really thought about what the words meant to me.

The competition took place before the gala dinner. The room was enormous, set for a banquet, and full of people. Finalists were called to the stage in turn to read their work. There’s a special magic forged when a writer’s words fall into the space between them and their audience. After reading, literary agents on the panel gave each finalist generous feedback. Many of us received full manuscript requests. Amazing!

When MANUMISSION won, Debi Alper congratulated me and told me to remember to breathe, the best advice. I’m still grateful and astonished that fellow writers voted for my work. That was the first time I read to a live audience in the room, although I have previously read at online events. Nerves on the day were alleviated by my amazing writing group. Thank you, gang! We were all mentored by Dr Anna Vaught on the UNWC. Friends for life now. We cheer each other on.

Being a FNL winner is an incredible honour, but it also has practical benefits. Two literary agents wish to see my novel when it is ready. I’ve used the prize to help me grapple with tricky structural and line edits. I’m currently on the fourth editing round. My novel is creeping closer to becoming the book I first envisioned.

If you are going to the next LFOW (and you should go – it’s a transformative experience), you are eligible to enter FNL. Believe in your story, hone your opening page, and share it with trusted readers for valuable constructive feedback. Then work on it, and work on it some more. And enter the competition.

I wish you GOOD LUCK!

Kate Sheehan-Finn

*A bit about my book:

At the heart of MANUMISSION, a historical epic set in the second century AD ancient Roman Empire, is an overarching question: who is Barates of Palmyra? This question arose when I first read the bilingual inscription that Syrian Barates commissioned to commemorate his Romano-British wife and freed slave, Regina of the Catuvellauni. The memorial was set up in Arbeia, South Shields, near Newcastle Upon Tyne, in Northeast England. So, what was a Syrian man doing in Britain more than 1800 years ago? MANUMISSION jumps into the gaping holes in the historical and archaeological record to recreate Barates’ adventures.