Chloe Daykin
Chloe graduated with an MA in Creative Writing in 2014. In her final year, her debut, Fish Boy, won the Northern Writers Award. Since then, she has been commissioned for three more books by Faber & Faber.
About Chloe's career
Describe your current role:
I’m a children’s author, workshop facilitator and occasional playwright, This means I write books on commission for Faber & Faber (and sometimes plays). I do national and international festivals and events, including talks (and workshops) at schools across the UK.
I also really like setting up projects for people in tricky situations who need a bit of creativity.
It’s a wonderful fun course with brilliant staff. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it gave me the confidence to really be brave and get my work out there.
I’ve been very lucky to win some lovely awards - a Northern Writers Award, the Julia Darling Travel Award, the Edward Stanford Children’s Travel Book of The Year and a Society of authors WIP award for my latest book.
And had some very lovely times with my books - The Guardian’s best books of the year, The Times Book Of The Week, The Bookseller Book Of The Month, Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Children’s debut of the year, Waterstones unofficial Book Of The Month and had a lovely Arts Council Award to travel across Peru!
I have an agent - the brilliant Catherine Clarke MD at Felicity Bryan - who is particularly excellent to run work by and work with.
How did you get into this field after studying Creative Writing at Newcastle?
I won a Northern Writers Award in 2014 whilst in the final year of my Creative Writing MA. From there, I went on to get an agent and my debut novel Fish Boy when to a bidding war among publishers where I chose Faber & Faber. Since then, I’ve been commissioned for three more.
Studying Creative Writing at Newcastle University
How has studying Creative Writing at Newcastle helped you in your career?
The course helped me to experiment with different forms and really hone my craft with essential skills and top writing tips. They’re a brilliant team at the uni. I was able to write the beginning of an adult novel, a young adult novel and a children’s one and pick which one I wanted to finish. In the end, it was the children’s novel that went on to become Fish Boy.
What advice would you give to a student interested in studying Creative Writing?
Definitely do it! It’s a wonderful fun course with brilliant staff. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it gave me the confidence to really be brave and get my work out there. I’d also think about experimenting with different forms before you start to test out your strengths and see what you fancy.
What was the best thing about studying Creative Writing at Newcastle?
The team of writers teaching it (with such a great and wide range of expertise) combined with all the events going on at the NCLA - you get to meet, listen to and learn from lots of writers. And see some cracking plays in the toon too! Plus, I had a brilliantly supportive bunch of classmates, which made all the difference. With special thanks to Margaret Wilkinson, Ann Coburn, William Fiennes and the wonderful David Almond, who really shaped me as a writer.
