Gold Dust and me
When I look back on my journey to novel publication choosing to embark on the Gold Dust mentoring scheme was an important milestone.
Up to that point I’d had several ideas for novels, some of which I had started but abandoned (I have drawers and boxes full of opening chapters, character profiles, passages of dialogue, roughly … read more...
Gold Dust student on Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize shortlist.
For the second year in a row, a Gold Dust writer being mentored by Jill Dawson is on the shortlist for the Lucy Cavendish Prize. Annette Gordon has been invited to an event at the Cambridge college on May 22nd to meet the judges and agents and editors who are seeking … read more...
The beginning of the year saw not one but three book launches for Gold Dust graduates. Guinevere Glasfurd – mentored by Louise Doughty, Shelley Weiner and Sally Cline – launched her first novel The Words in my Hand at Heffers, Cambridge; Joyce Gould, mentored by Sally Cline, launched her book Witchfinder General in the House of Lords and Rosie Nixon … read more...
Some lovely advance praise for the soon to be published novel The Words in my Hand by Guinevere Glasfurd, who was mentored for Gold Dust by Louise Doughty. This will be published by Two Roads (an imprint of John Murray Press) on 14th January 2016.
The Words in My Hand is the reimagined true story of Helena Jans, a Dutch … read more...
Some terrific news this month of book deals and short-listings for our Gold Dust graduates.
Five of Jill Dawson’s mentees have had good news this month. Sarah Duguid, mentored by Jill Dawson in 2010, has become a published novelist. Her novel Look at Me (previously called The Visitor) will be published by Tinder Press in 2016. Sarah says of writing … read more...
Kirstin Zhang, mentored for Gold Dust by Romesh Gunesekera, has won the Harpers Bazaar short story competition 2015. She has also been signed to an agent at AM Heath and says of being mentored by Romesh: ‘Gold Dust Mentoring is really worth its weight in gold’.
Rosie Nixon, taught by Jill Dawson on a week’s course in Morrocco, has signed … read more...
Gold Dust Mentor – and distinguished biographer – Sally Cline has a phenomenal track record in getting her ‘mentees’ published and shortlisted for awards, and this year is no exception. For the fourth year running she has a mentee on the prestigious Tony Lothian Prize, theonly UK prize for an un-commissioned first time biographer or memoirist. This year the lucky … read more...
Antonia Honeywell, ex-student of Jill Dawson, and of two other of our mentors, has just signed a book deal with Orion for her novel The Ship. Antonia was mentored on Writers Pool, a mentoring scheme Jill set up in 2004, a fore-runner to Gold Dust, where Antonia was mentored for a year by the novelist Katharine McMahon. Antonia went … read more...
Charlotte Macleod, mentored by novelist and playwright Louise Doughty, is having another play broadcasted on Radio Four. Charlotte’s second play, Dotty Rogers: My Life in Movies will be broadcast on 24th May 2013.
Charlotte says of her time with Gold Dust, being mentored by Louise: ‘Louise is a professional and has demanded the same professionalism of me. When my work … read more...
Two writers mentored by novelist Jill Dawson have found success this month. Doreen Massey has had her short story The Upside Down Trees, set in Alaska, accepted for publication in the anthology Love on the Road. Love on the Road 2013 will be an anthology of stories about love and travel. The organisers write: ‘In April, we chose the … read more...
