Quote Originally Posted by Luis Anaconda View Post
"About 18 months ago, Imogen Hermes Gowar found herself the focus of a publishing bidding war. What started as a 10-way auction for her debut historical novel, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, was whittled down to three final bidders. Gowar favoured Harvill Secker, but its bid of £205,000 was the lowest. “We went back and asked, ‘Can we have it in guineas?’”

Gowar, 30, tells this anecdote in the graveyard of St Nicholas Deptford, as we tour the historic sites of the southeast London neighbourhood. I laugh delightedly, because — as well as cannily upping her advance by a shilling in every pound to £215,000 — this negotiation mirrors a pivotal deal in her novel."

Jesus ****ing wept
Look at this. She is this sort of person.

"Imogen Hermes Gowar studied Archaeology, Anthropology and Art History before going on to work in museums. She began to write fiction inspired by the artefacts she worked with, and in 2013 won the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Scholarship to study for an MA in Creative Writing at UEA."

An MA in creative writing. Like you can teach someone to write, ffs. Fúcking world obsessed with being at school populated by fúcking eternal students thinking everything can be reduced to fúcking learnt 'facts'. What of art? What of imagination? What of the joy of creativity? Is joy to be found in an MA?