A Novel Experience

Anne Hamilton, first guest speaker of the AWC 2026/27 season, led a fantastic night, fascinating us all with her experiences as writer and editor, offering expert tips and advice, and challenging us to think as wildly as we liked during the writing exercises.

Anne shared that her travel memoir, A Blonde Bengali Wife (2010), was crafted from the diary she wrote to remember the time she spent as a volunteer in Bangladesh – a country that she came to love and continues to cherish to this day.

Thinking creatively and collaboratively appears to come naturally to Anne, as we discovered when she intrigued us with tales of weaving together the stories of two individuals to create her novel The Almost Truth (2024) — winner of the Irish Writers Centre International Debut Novel Competition, no less! She also shared her fascinating account of the role she played in the collaborative team behind the novel Entitled (2023), by Gill Merton.

It may sound simple, Anne explained, but, as a writer, you must write, write, write! As writers, we spend a lot of time talking about writing, reading about writing, listening to others’ thoughts on writing – all very valuable, of course – but we must not do these to avoid our own writing.

Anne had plenty of tricks too, if the inevitable does happen, and we get a bit stuck or find we have, horror of horrors, produced a flat piece of writing. Throw in an unexpected scenario suggested Anne. What would your character do if the house was on fire? Would they be the first one out, screaming loudly? Or would they smoothly usher everyone out the building? You might never use the scenario, but it may just give you the inspiration or change of direction you need.

If it’s a problem with plot, why not play about with everyday routines and introduce unexpected outcomes. Why did Jim, who only went out to the shop for a baguette, return home with a sawn-off shot gun? What happened? Will you go for comedy, horror, a dystopian nightmare?

Anne’s take away message? Play about and have fun with your writing, be creative and think wildly, and most of all, remember to write, write and write some more!

Thank you Anne, for an informative and enjoyable evening.

By Jennifer  Lerpinière