Who am I?
I’m a late bloomer, an award-winning author, a proud working class writer, and a creative writing tutor. I live in the UK and write fiction as KM Elkes. My debut short fiction collection All That Is Between Us (Ad Hoc Fiction) was shortlisted for a Saboteur Award in 2020. I’ve been longlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and individual stories have won, or been placed, in international writing competitions including the Manchester Fiction Prize, Royal Society of Literature VS Pritchett Prize, Fish Publishing Prize, and the Bridport Prize.
My short stories and flash fiction have also appeared in more than 50 literary anthologies and journals, and featured on school curricula in the USA, India and Hong Kong. I hold an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes University, where I won the Blackwell’s Prize.
I teach creative writing too - I’m a short story tutor for Comma Press and run my own online writing courses with attendees from across the globe. I’ve also run writing workshops at literary festivals in the UK and guest-lectured at Bath Spa University and Sheffield Hallam University.
A writer from a rural working class background, my work often reflects themes around transience, isolation and family trauma. I’m finishing my debut novel Heartwood and wondering what the heck I’m going to do next.
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What’s Writing Talk all about?
I want to create a thriving community of writers and creatives, because this life is so much better when it is done in the company of others - learning, supporting and keeping the enthusiasm going. I also want to create a supportive space for some brutal honesty about the struggle of it all, from coping with rejection to gatekeeping in the publishing industry.
In addition to ‘thinky’ pieces about aspects of writing and creativity, I will share some ideas gleaned from 10 years as a writer, including:
Thoughts, guidance and advice on creativity and writing craft.
Musings on the nature of success, failure, rejection, and persistence.
‘Paid For’ content including fun writing exercises and prompts, ‘read like a writer’ discussions of fantastic short fiction, and lots of other stuff I haven’t even thought of yet!
Useful information and support for working class and marginalised writers like me!
