Sophia Skyers, London Independent Story Prize 3rd Round 2024 Short Story Finalist 'A Table for Four'

London Independent Story Prize 3rd Round 2024 Short Story Finalist 'A Table for Four', Sophia Skyers

Can you please tell us about you and your daily life?

I am a second-generation Jamaican, born in the East Midlands, at a time when it was one of the UK’s industrial heartlands. I worked in local government, and for most of my career as a freelance researcher. I have a PhD in urban and regional planning from the London School of Economics and write every day. My writing focuses on the post Windrush era, the imprint spaces make on people, and the imprint people make on those spaces and am lucky enough to be able to write full time.

When and how did you get into writing?

I have always been a reader but when I was young, there were no Black writers. I never imagined becoming a writer. I am currently enrolled in the Faber Academy Novel Writing programme and am enjoying being in the company of other writers and learning from them.

The passing of my brother at a young age made me realise that whatever we want to do, we must do it. I have been writing fiction for three years. I was the Top Tier Globe Soup Finalist, placed fourth in its 2023 Short Story Competition, and as part of National Flash Fiction Day, I had two pieces published online with Flash Flood, the first Must Be The Music, in 2023, and the second, Among the Stones in June 2024. I also had a flash fiction story selected by novelist Vanessa Gebbie for her book 51 And A Half, published by Ad Hoc fiction in 2023. In 2024, I made a submission to the Bridport Short Story Prize, went forward to the second round, and was placed in the top 7% of writers. 

How often do you write? Do you have a writing routine? And what inspires you to write?

My writing routine does vary now that I am able to write full time. I usually start my day with an early morning run, either at home on my treadmill, or outside if the weather is fine. When I run, I tend to mull over in my mind, what I want to write that day. After my run, and when I have had breakfast, I either sit at my dining table and write, or go to a local coffee shop. For a special treat, I take my MacBook and head to the Quaker House in London and write there. It is such a calming space and I find I am able to focus and enjoy my time writing.   

How does it feel to have your work recognised?

It feels absolutely fabulous! Wonderful! I have written academic papers and policy papers during my career and have always wanted to write I didn’t have the nerve until a friend of mine, also a writer, told me to ‘get on with it.’ I am so glad I listened and so glad I entered LISP. When I began writing, I was writing for me, not to win a competition. I am writing for me still but it is nice to be recognised.

What's the best and most challenging thing about writing a Story? 

I think for me, word economy and honing the draft so that only the essential words are chosen, while having fidelity to the intended meaning, and the overall story I want to tell. Before I became a writer, I was of the view that short stories were easy to write but I now know that is not the case. Writing a short story is hard and my story was a long time in the writing. Every word has to count, and it is all in the rewriting.

How did you develop the idea for your LISP-selected story? Is there a story behind your story? And, how long have you been working on it?

I am a child of the 1960’s, my parents migrated to England from the Caribbean in the 1950’s, met here, and I was born and grew up in the East Midlands, during a period of industrialisation and de-industrialisation. I have always been interested in the city, space, and urban policies, and have a Doctorate in Urban and Regional Planning from the London School of Economics. The idea of marrying a fictional account of life for a Jamaican family, in one of Britain’s industrial heartlands, post Windrush, with an exploration of government urban policies, and attitudes at the time, is something I have wanted to write for so long.

I wrote the story, thought it was finished, enrolled in an online short story course by an organisation called Globe Soup and after the first session, I realised my story was far from finished. In fact, I realised, immediately, that it was nowhere near finished. I honed and continually refined and rewrote the story, immersed myself in the literature on writing, read short stories, took other courses, watched videos about writing on You Tube, you name it. The entire process of getting my story to a standard I felt happy with took two years.

Can you please give us a few tips about writing a Story?

Read, read, and read everything, short stories, novels, fiction, non-fiction. Always read. Read also about the craft of writing, I learned so much from doing that, and if you can, take a short course, there are lots of them around. Finally, look for inspiration everywhere because ideas for short stories are everywhere. 

What's the best thing and the most challenging thing about competitions? 

 The best thing for me is that competitions keep me accountable in my writing. In fact, that is why I began submitting to them. Sometimes it’s hard to get up and write every day but working towards a deadline provides direction and focus. The most challenging thing is wanting to make changes up until the last minute before I submit. I find that my final draft is never finished, it can always be improved so tearing myself away from it and letting it go is the hardest challenge of all for me.

Lastly, do you recommend that writers submit to LISP?

Absolutely! I am 66 years old, began writing fiction three years ago, and never imagined writing a story for people to read! So my short answer to your question is, I not only recommend writers’ submit to LISP, I also insist they do!