Featured image: Abi Daré by Edith Powell

The largest conference for aspiring writers in the North returned to Manchester for its tenth anniversary, giving budding writers access to a busy day of panel talks and creative workshops.

The National Creative Writing Industry Day (NCWID), hosted by Comma Press and the Manchester Writing School, featured two panels committed to guiding new writers through the publishing landscape.

The day began with a keynote speech and Q&A from New York Times Bestseller, Abi Daré, author of The Girl with the Louding Voice (2020) and And So I Roar (2024). Daré spoke of her storytelling journey from Lagos, Nigeria to a law degree in Wolverhampton, charting her unconventional route into writing. “Writing is a lifelong thing,” she said.

Daré added: “It shouldn’t matter how well your book does, what matters is putting in what it takes and loving the craft.”

The ‘Building your Portfolio’ panel featured Debbie Taylor, founder and editor of Mslexia, Paul Knowles, editor of the Manchester Review, and author A. K. Blakemore.

The second panel, ‘10 Year Anniversary: Engaging with the Industry’, hosted by author and lecturer Lara Williams, featured past NCWID attendees Sarah Jasmon and Greg Thorpe as well as Theo Jones, Senior Contracts Advisor at the Society of Authors.

Participants were then offered the choice between four workshops, ranging from ‘Writing the Transgressive’ with Alison Rumfitt and ‘Developing Character’ with Jessica Moor. They also received the opportunity to gain valuable feedback and experience pitching to agents and editors, in two one-to-one meetings.

Sarah Cleave, lecturer at Manchester Met in Publishing and Creative Writing, said: “The Manchester Writing School has partnered with Comma Press on a number of industry initiatives over the years as we have a shared goal of levelling the publishing playing field, and providing new opportunities to aspiring writers.”

Speaking on the publishing divide between the North and South, Cleave added: “Although the landscape has slightly shifted in recent years, the publishing industry can still feel very far away for aspiring writers. This is why the NCWID is so important. It brings the industry to us. It gets agents, authors and publishers together in one room to demystify the process, and forge new connections and ideas.”

Ra Page, founder and CEO of Comma Press, talked about the importance of “connecting aspiring writers with the industry”.  Page said: “It’s very difficult to manage being a novelist if you’re also trying to develop a career, make ends meet and face all the other financial pressures on you, which is varying for everybody.”

He added: “Being a writer is about finding space, finding time, finding gaps and that’s increasingly difficult when the cost of living goes up or if you live in an expensive city like London or, increasingly, Manchester. So it’s about encouraging writers to keep finding those spaces.”

Attendee Julie Iddon, a graduate MA Fine Art student at Manchester Met, talked about her experience after the speech: “I really enjoyed the keynote speech. Abi Daré was really warm, positive and humorous, talking about her experience.”

Carson Wolfe, a current second year MFA student at Manchester Met, echoed these sentiments: “I loved her, I really enjoyed the way that she told the story of her journey into getting published and how personal it was. It was storytelling.”

Wolfe added: “My favourite part was the pitching, meeting people in the industry, getting a little taste of what that will be like.”

“One of them said she was quite interested in my work and to keep her in mind when the book is done. That feels encouraging, they were both very positive about it, they said it was a great idea.”

Throughout the day, there was a clear emphasis on building connections between agents, editors and publishers. The advice and knowledge imparted at the event, on a process that can feel daunting to new writers, proved to be invaluable.

For more information about the Manchester Writing School, subscribe to the Manchester Writing School Mailing list. For more from Comma Press visit commapress.co.uk.