Opportunity Knocks

This week on the Granta blog, Saskia Vogel looks at the findings of Vida’s recent survey of women in the literary arts, and points out a few places where new writers might get started.

So, do women submit enough work for publication? Or does the blame for unbalanced gender representation in the literary world lie with the editorial department? Regardless of the reason, VIDA’s recent survey of literary magazines – that revealed that men consistently outnumber women both as reviewers and as published authors – has certainly sparked a debate. And there is no simple answer for either party.

Success is always a combination of talent and luck. If we define luck as a meeting of preparation and opportunity, then the best way to engage with this debate may simply be to take more action. (I was surprised to find out that only a quarter of submissions to Tin House were by women.) If you feel that your voice is underrepresented, you may just need to warm up your printers and buy a book of stamps. London is ripe with development opportunities for new voices. I picked out a few that caught my eye because of their focus not only on creative development, but also for the chance to be in direct contact with industry professionals.

On 5 May, Curtis Brown is launching Curtis Brown Creative, a three-month creative writing school for fifteen debut novelists. Students who show exceptional talent will get professional representation., Agents will provide guidance and criticism during the course, which will be held in the company’s offices. The deadline for this summer’s course has passed, but a newsletter on the site will keep interested applicants posted about further courses.

The Tibor Jones agency goes a step further with the Writers’ Studio, their mentoring and development scheme for non-fiction, fiction and screenplay writers. The first intake is this autumn. In addition to cultivating and refining a student’s creative work, each student is assigned a mentor in the industry. Again, the best candidates will be considered for representation.

For playwrights, the yearly submission deadline for the Verity Bargate Award should already be in the diary. The Soho Theatre, who runs the award, is looking for a bold, brave and entertaining new voice to award the 5,000 prize and the residency at the theatre. They will announce their latest find on 26 May at 5 p.m.

The Royal Court Theatre continues its work with young playwrights between eighteen and twenty-five, but has programmes without age restrictions too: ‘Unheard Voices’ (developing voices unheard on the British stage) and ‘Critical Mass’ (for Black, Asian and other ethnic minority playwrights). The theatre also hosts a Young Writers Festival, and the ‘Rough Cuts’ series for works in progress.

At Granta, we promote emerging writers with our New Voices series, which accepts submissions at any time, and publishes six stories a year. To submit stories, send them by post to 12 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QR. ■

Granta’s next issue, called the F Word, focuses on women and power. Out in May, it will feature contributions by Edwidge Danticat, AS Byatt, newcomer Taiye Selasi and Croatian writer Maja Hrgović.

Previously on the Granta blog: Ollie Brock on a literary mystery in the Galápagos Islands, and Yuka Igarashi on Elif Batuman’s theory of debit and credit.