Let's Have A Catch Up | Part Two: MA End of Year Show

And so the catching up continues. This one is all about the end of  my MA...

Wednesday the 26th of June was our end of year show. The day that you realise all of the hard work was worth it and now it's pretty much over. It was a night of celebration and also the launch of the anthology.

Paper and Ink is a collection of work from some of the staff and students at Birmingham City University. It's a fab read and what made it even more special for me this year was that my work was published in it.


The four years that I have spent at university have been amazing. It turned out to be everything I imagined and more. I understand that not everyone needs Uni for their careers or the dreams in their hearts. But I know for a fact that the opportunities I've had, people I've met and invaluable knowledge I have gained is down to my time at university.

The people I have met during my MA have been the best. I was delighted to be on a postgraduate course purely because of the scope of people that you meet. There's no doubt that I'll be making the effort to keep in touch with the friends I made. And as we keep on writing, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone see their dreams become reality. Maybe we can even get a cheeky collaboration done.

My time in education may be over (for now) but my MA was the perfect finish. After my BA, even though I had achieved my 2:1, I didn't quite feel finished. So when I was offered the place, it was really a no-brainer for me.

I've learnt so much about the industry that I plan to be part of for many years to come. I have made friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. Don't get me wrong, it has been A LOT of work but worth every moment that I spent sitting up late reading or sitting in the library. Studying whilst working full time wasn't easy either but I wouldn't change a single thing. Truth is, unless I'm doing several different things at once, I don't feel fulfilled. I've been go go go, since well, forever.

Anyway, back to the evening itself. A few of the contributors to the Anthology did readings for those who attended. We had everything from memoir, to poetry to fiction. My personal favourites were from some of those who were actually on my course.
Although I chose not to do a reading on the evening (which I now regret), I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Any excuse to get a little dressed up and celebrate. Then, in true celebratory style, we popped into the city centre for a couple of beverages. (Well actually, I drove to my rehearsal at church, then zipped back. Priorities people, it's all about priorities).

Whenever I flick through Paper and Ink, which I must admit, is at least once a month, I feel a little tearful. I'm a sentimental kinda girl and it symbolizes not only the achievement of actually being published but the immense journey of been on at uni. One day, I hope that my own novel will be published, where every page in the book is exclusively my work.

Here are a few iPhone snaps from the evening itself...

The finished article

Yep, that pretty much sums me up

Some of the MA crew, sharing their work



And that's it. We all had a fabulous time. I turned an extract of my novel into a short story and that's what was printed in the anthology and I hope to be making significant progress on The To-Do List over the next few months.

Why not stop by and have a browse around, as there are more posts in my little 'catch-up' series. And I'd love to know what you've celebrated the last few months - so, leave a comment or tweet me and let me know what's been going on. 

Love,