Interview with 2023 Fiction Prize Winner – Sarah Harman
With less than two weeks to go until the prize closes, we caught up with Sarah Harman to discuss her experiences with the prize and writing tips that have contributed to her success.
Photo Credit: Faye Thomas
In 2023, Sarah Harman won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. Prior to this, Sarah had a career as a broadcast journalist, travelling all around the world and covering breaking news stories for television.
Following her amazing success, her debut novel All the Other Mother’s Hate Me, will be published in 2025 in the UK and US, with international and television adaptations forthcoming.
What was your writing experience prior to submitting to Lucy Cavendish? Had you submitted to many prizes beforehand?
I’m a deeply cynical person and always harboured a low-key suspicion that most writing contests were a con to profit off the dreams of aspiring writers, so I avoided them. But a friend from my Faber course told me about Lucy Cavendish, and since it was affiliated with Cambridge and only £12 to enter, I figured it was probably legit.
Can you talk us through your experience with the prize submission process?
In the beginning, I was very intimidated by the idea of famous writers reading and JUDGING my work. But eventually I realized that if I ever wanted to become a published author, I’d have to risk putting myself out there.
Do you have any editing advice for our writers?
My best practical editing advice is to 1) read everything aloud and 2) print out your copy and edit on the physical page.
Can you tell us more about your transition from the longlist to the shortlist? How did you feel?
I was over the moon to be selected. When the announcement was made, I was in deep slog mode, grinding out the final chapters of the manuscript. The announcement really gave me the motivation to keep going.
What do you think made your writing stand out from the rest?
I think it’s healthy to acknowledge there is a huge degree of subjectivity in all of this. The other women on the 2023 shortlist are all talented writers and any one of them would have been a worthy winner. That said, I was told that my submission was a lot lighter in tone than many of the others, so maybe the judges just needed a laugh that year?
What was it like getting an agent?
I waited until my manuscript was completely finished before I queried agents. When you’re first starting out, it can be tempting to think of ‘getting’ an agent as a goal in itself, but I think it’s healthier to frame it as ‘hiring’ an agent. It’s a business decision. I took my time, and I’m very happy with where I ended up. (Love you Hellie!)
If you could go back to before you submitted to Lucy Cavendish, is there anything you would change about your submission?
I would have looked up how to use quotation marks correctly. Fortunately, the judges looked past it, but I still cringe thinking about it.
What writing advice would you give to all those currently submitting? And what tips would you give to any new writers?
If you’re thinking of submitting, just do it! It’s good to practice putting yourself out there. If you want to be published, it’s part of the job requirement. And if you’re just starting out—maybe try to finish your first draft before you start to refine the prose on a sentence level? Clearly, I’m giving myself advice here because I never manage this!
Read more from Sarah Harman here
We hope this success story will inspire you all in these final weeks before submissions close. Make sure to subscribe to this newsletter to stay in the loop with the prize or follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @lcfictionprize.