Manchester writer Gaynor Jones is paired with The Society of Women Writers Victoria in Melbourne who were seeking a female writer to help explore different short forms of writing and to expand our members’ expertise and interest.

Gaynor Jones is the recipient of a 2020 Northern Writer’s Award from New Writing North for her short story collection, Girls Who Get Taken. She has won first prize in several writing competitions, including Bath Flash Fiction and the Mairtín Crawford Short Story Award, and has placed or been listed in others including the Bridport Prize and Aesthetica. She has performed her work at many spoken word nights in the North West, and as a guest of For Books’ Sake at the Edinburgh Fringe. She loves stories that feature wayward teens, middle-aged women who’ve had enough, and the darker sides of suburban life. When she’s not writing, she likes reading strange stories, watching horror movies, and hanging with her daughter, dog and husband. She is represented by Laura Williams at Greene & Heaton.

Gaynor says, “The Manchester literary scene has been pivotal in making me a writer. In my early days here I tested out pieces on stage at Verbose and That’s What We Said, I attended workshops by Manchester writers like Tania Hershman, David Gaffney and Jane Claire Bradley. I almost can’t believe that my career has now included headlining Verbose, featuring in a Fly On The Wall Press anthology and teaching for Comma Press – Manchester literary institutions that I am so proud to be associated with.

I’ve long had ‘to be a writer in residence’ on my career goal list, but with my home situation it felt like an increasingly unlikely target. This residency with Melbourne City Of Literature being virtual – and therefore accessible to writers such as myself who balance our creative lives with caring responsibilities – brings me so much joy. I never thought I would get to meet writers on the other side of the world in this way, and I am thrilled to spend November working with the Society of Women Writers Victoria, a group whose values and ethos align so well with my own.”