Catching up with Nia Tunnicliffe SWF24 First 5 Pages Prize Winner

Nia with her Grand Prize Certificate at SWF24 in Stockholm, Sweden

We wanted to catch up with our SWF24 First 5 Pages Prize winner, Nia Tunnicliffe to find out how things are going, and what her SWF First 5 Pages Prize and Festival experience was like.

You can follow Nia on her Instagram: @niatunnicliffe

First of all, congratulations on your SWF24 First 5 Pages Prize win! It was both incredibly thrilling and incredibly hard for us to read through all the fantastic submissions, and then narrowing it down to a longlist, then a short list and finally the top submissions, with yours as the eventual winner! Now, nearly one year on, we’re really interested to find out how it has impacted you, and your writing. So, let’s start there: 

How did you feel after submitting your first five pages and officially entering the contest?

I was actually really proud of myself for being brave enough to submit and felt a strong sense of achievement for having sent my work in. I was still incredibly nervous at that time about anyone reading my work, it makes me feel vulnerable in an odd sort of way. I had (unsuccessfully) entered other competitions before, though, and I think that helped to build up my resilience a little - while I hadn’t been placed, nothing terrible had happened and it convinced me that there is nothing to lose and lots to potentially gain just from getting your writing out before an audience.

During the judging period, were you feeling confident, or were you plagued with doubts?  

I am always plagued  with doubt when it comes to my writing! My natural default position is to think that every other entry will be more worthy than mine. I had made my entry as strong as I could get it, though, and I was pleased with the overall effect. For the first few weeks, though I knew it was completely futile, I kept refreshing my emails in the hopes of receiving any news - good or bad - to put me out of my misery! Patience has never been one of my virtues!

What went through your mind once the long and shortlists were announced, and your entry was included?

I had to read the email at least ten times (and then had to get a good friend to read it as well!) just to make sure I was understanding it right. Elation quickly followed disbelief and I’m not sure I stopped smiling for the whole month of May. I was honestly so happy to be long-listed and tried to manage my expectations about what might come next, but it was hard not to get excited.

Nia (center) with Jeanne Sutton (left), and Jillian Grant Shoichet (Right), Catherine Pettersson (back right) and Editor Sally OJ (back left)

Finally, when the prize winners were announced, and you were named the Grand Prize Winner, how did you learn the news, and what was your initial reaction?

I found out I was the Grand Prize Winner during a zoom call with the lovely SWF team. I had actually prepared as if for a job interview thinking they were going to grill me on my entry, or tell me that they’d made a huge mistake! It was the best feeling in the world to find out that, out of over a thousand entries worldwide, mine had won. It was a special honour for me to learn that Sally OJ (editor extraordinaire who has worked with one of my all time favourite authors, Sarah Waters) had a big say in the final result.

Your entry was particularly captivating - how did you come up with the idea for the piece you submitted?

I had been working on the piece I submitted for a while before I submitted. It had originally been a short story - one with a dark twist in the very last sentence! The main character had always haunted me a little though - I kept wondering why she had ended up feeling and acting as she did and whether her plans for a different future would work out for her. It started to make me think that maybe I could turn what had been a one-off short story into a whole novel.

What inspires you in your writing?

I am an historian ‘in real life’ and have always been obsessed with the past. Reading or learning about any period of time sparks my imagination - there is so much about life in the past that we do not and cannot know for certain. I find it fascinating to imagine what things might have been like, to try to fill the gaps left in the factual narrative with fictional possibilities.

This competition is tough, because it comes down to grabbing the judges’ attention within those first five pages, and that means top-notch writing and editing - can you talk about your writing, editing and revision process?

I am a terrible perfectionist and thus an incredibly slow writer! Most days I agonise over every word. I really envy those people who can, quite quickly, write a very rough draft and then go back and revise and edit. My brain just doesn’t work like that. I tend to jump around a little and, rather than writing within a strictly linear, chronological framework, I focus on writing different cinematic-style ’scenes’ that can be moved around within the narrative. 

How has winning this prize and the recognition from the Stockholm Writers Festival influenced your writing in the following months?

Winning the prize was such a boost to my confidence. Even when I have a particularly difficult bout of writer’s block or when I feel like I will never make it to publication, I try to remember that there must be some promise in what I am writing for it to have been recognised in an international competition of such prestige.

We’re curious about the status of your novel now?

I am still working on the novel but progress is slow! I have a full time job and am a busy mum, too, so I don’t always get to write as much as I want or need to. I also spent the first few months after returning from Stockholm re-writing large parts of what I’d already written. I’d always felt there was an issue with pace and the workshops I attended confirmed that for me and gave me ideas on how I might fix it. So although I ended up reworking about 20,000 words of the novel, I do feel it was ultimately worth it. Time will tell!

As part of the prize, you were also able to meet with an agent for a pitch session - how did the agent pitch meeting go?

I met with Laura from Greene and Heaton and she was so encouraging and supportive. I’d looked up her client list before meeting her so that I knew what kind of authors she worked with and what part of the market she had most experience with. She liked my synopsis and asked some really insightful questions about plot and character that have really influenced the direction of my novel. She said she would be happy to read a completed draft and that was really encouraging - it has definitely given me something to work towards.

Nia at SWF24, in Stockholm, Sweden

You were able to attend the festival itself in 2024 - what were your main takeaways and impressions of the festival?

Attending the festival was honestly life changing for me. Everyone was so warm and friendly and it genuinely felt like people were championing you rather than competing with you. I made so many friends that I have stayed in regular contact with - it is great to ask them about their own writing, have their support when I encounter problems in my writing and share successes with. I am really hoping to return in 2025!!

Finally, do you have any advice for aspiring writers on entering the SWF First 5 Pages Prize?

I would say “DO IT NOW!” You have nothing to lose and so much to gain. If your entry is not long listed, just submitting something is an achievement and you will learn so much about the process from participating (especially if you then sign up to the newsletter and follow SWF socials - it’s a fabulous community to be a part of!)