Ms Annemarie Cooper
Nationality: United Kingdom
Year: 1991
Subject Area: Arts and Humanities
Funded to develop my first poetry collection in 1991, I foolishly got sidetracked by writing two novels, ‘The Hero of the Dream’ and ‘The Carefree Dead’. Neither of these was accepted for publication despite my best efforts. My first poetry collection, ‘Seed’ was published by Flarestack in 2000- a tiny print run of 25 copies. I have had poems published in a variety of lesser known poetry magazines and 4 short stories accepted for publication. I have made my living by supply teaching- a difficult combination and have had many financial problems because I just cannot buckle down to 9-5 full time work. I just have to have the energy to write. My work in poetry is still developing – it goes down well in workshops but I have a long way to go before I can call myself first rate. I love writing and I’d love to find a really good idea for a novel but a long term project is out of the question until I retire in 2013- it can’t come fast enough!
So not a success in financial terms or as far as recognition goes but I’ve written some stuff that’s worth reading and been very happy in those times of creativity. Currently I am researching crop circles and I’ve managed to get a tent from a friend and intend to go to Wiltshire and look for some.