Somehow, my baby Mothership Writers is five years old. I count it from April 2019, the very first session of the pilot programme, held at St Werburghs Community Centre here in Bristol, but the project was really born in 2018 when I pitched the idea to the Arts Council and got a grant to see it through. I remember coming up with the name Mothership Writers on the bus to UWE, while working as a Fellow for the Royal Literary Fund. It was a time of uncertainty for me, I was out of contract with my publisher and while I was working on a new novel I knew there no guarantees (and I was right! I had a six year gap between publications …). Mothership proved to be such an anchor point, and the initial grant a real validation and encouragement. I've got such happy memories of those first sessions, feeling the magical energy in the room, the surprising hush of the babies (honestly!) as the mums wrote. I remember telling another writer about my plans and he (yup, he ....) thought babies in the room was a crazy, even terrible, idea. Even then, with no evidence to the contrary, I scoffed at his cynicism. So nice to prove yourself right, right?
In the five years since its inception I’ve run well over 200 workshops with new mums – the majority now on Zoom – launched Born in Lockdown, published our Dispatches from New Motherhood anthology and the Mothership Notebook with Esther Curtis, raising funds for Project Mama and Sands. Mothership has continued to be such an important part of my creative life, and I'm always humbled by the love, strength and courage of our writing mamas. Showing up through the haze of sleep deprivation, though mental health struggles, through the everyday-extraordinary intensity of those early months and years of motherhood. It's always inspiring. And often very moving too. I love our sessions together.
When I launched Mothership Writers I couldn't find anything quite like it, so it's been great to see the growth in this area and increased opportunities for mums to explore their creativity as PART of their maternity experience, rather than apart from it. While I haven’t run as many courses as I’d like in the last couple of years - hectic novel schedule, ahoy! - I'm really excited about the one in September – and welcoming a whole new crew. It’s all sold out but I do always keep open two spots for those who couldn't otherwise afford to take part - these fully-funded places are awarded on trust, (no need to prove financial circumstances) and are so important to the spirit of Mothership. If you want to know more, get in touch.
I'm so grateful to everyone who's helped with Mothership along the way, and the very many amazing people who've joined us over the years. THANK YOU. Roll on the September sessions. And the next five years!