Gail Aldwin

Settled in Dorset since 2006, Gail Aldwin has lived in many different places including Outback Australia, Papua New Guinea and Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain. Her short fiction has been placed in national and regional competitions and in 2012 she won first prize with a submission of flash fiction to the Winchester Writers’ Conference. Her writing appears in print anthologies including Dorset Voices (Roving Press, 2012), The Last Word (Unbound Press, 2012) and The Best of CaféLit 3 (Chapeltown Books, 2014). Gail works with schools and teaches creative writing in community settings. In 2013 she co-facilitated the Pen Pals Project for the Dorset Writers’ Network delivering workshops to people with dementia and their carers. Gail is currently undertaking MPhil studies in creative writing with the University of South Wales. You can find Gail @gailaldwin and http://gailaldwin.wordpress.com

Credentials

Gail Aldwin in 60 seconds

When did you start writing?

2006 I settled to writing seriously when I moved to Dorset.

What do you love about short stories?

I can read a complete story during a gap in my timetable.

Do you write in other forms?

Yes. Flash fiction is an antidote to the slog of completing a novel.

What distracts you from writing?

Nothing much... I'm horribly focused.

Outside of writing, what are your other passions?

I want to speak Spanish fluently.

What is your favourite book?

The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy.

Who are your favourite writers?

Orhan Pamuk, John Updike and Barbara Kingsolver.

Where is your dream location?

Chapel Porth, Cornwall.

What one item would you put into Room 101?

Semolina pudding.

Do you have any advice for new writers?

Read and write in equal measures.