OUR 2020 WRITING COMPETITION WINNER CATHRYN GODDARD SHARES HER INSPIRATION AND THE DELIGHTS OF HAVING HER STORY RECORDED AS AN AUDIOBOOK AND PUBLISHED WORLDWIDE
I think we can, in general, agree that last year was spectacularly awful.
By March of last year, along with everyone else, I was locked inside and staring down the barrel of redundancy.
After a few low weeks, I decided to get out of my desperate mood by doing the one thing that helps me make sense of the world – writing. Whether the pandemic forced me to be homebound for two weeks or two months (oh, for simpler times), I would spend it writing – fiction for fun and copywriting for money.
I began to trawl the internet for writing competitions to enter – I needed deadlines! The Events Manager in me went into organisation mode with vast spreadsheets logging word counts and entry dates. Top of my list was a brand-new competition organised by the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation.
Jane's name caught my attention at first, then the prize – my story as an audiobook? It seemed too large a concept to fathom. I dove into an internet black hole, consuming every piece of information I could about this incredible charity, their work for children's literacy in India and within Indigenous communities in Australia. As someone who is entirely obsessed with words, I couldn't imagine a better cause.
Cathryn Goddard. Credit: Cathryn Goddard.
But I became stuck. The theme was inspiration. Sat in my bedroom, looking out to the streets of Croydon, I wasn't feeling inspired by anything. I sat staring at my desk for days, pen poised, waiting for inspiration to hit. Then it came to me.
One morning, I read an article about Max and Kiera's Law – a seminal piece of legislation that means organ donation consent will be presumed with people having to opt out if they wish not to be a donor.
My writing desk is covered in pictures – friends, family, my partner. But one face always stands out: my Dad. He passed away when I was 12, and his sudden death impacted me in ways that are often hard to express personally – I do it better through characters. I thought of the moment in the hospital when the staff asked if they could donate his organs. My young Dad, just 44, with so many adventures yet to live. What a decision my Mum had to make. What a gift to give.
Cathryn’s father, Chas Goddard. Credit: Cathryn Goddard.
The only comfort I found in his death was that his cataracts were given to a man who had lost his sight. Thanks to my Dad's sparkling blue eyes, that man could see again and knowing that his eyes were still in the world, perhaps passing me in the street, felt like a second chance.
Keira Ball. Credit: Organ Donation NHS
And so, I wrote The List.
Few writers that I know have supreme confidence in their writing – I don't think any of us enter competitions with any expectation. So, when I received the email saying I had been shortlisted, I was stunned. My little story that I wrote to escape the darkness had really done something.
Another unique element of this beautiful competition is that the public decides who wins, and it is entirely anonymous. It took all my will power not to utter a word, just sitting and hoping that someone, anyone, would like it – only one vote would do!
The morning that Caroline called me with the results, I had little to no expectations. I was excited to speak once again with Caroline – getting to know her in the past year has been a true pleasure, alongside hearing her passion for the Foundation. I hadn’t prepared to be the winner and you can see my shock in the video!
But so much more wonder was yet to come.
Alison Larkin created the audiobook, as she is doing once again this year. Her generosity for doing this is incredible, and the first time I heard it, well, I cried. I'm a big crier, so this is by no means unusual, but to hear Alison's incredible talent saying the words I had written months before is a moment I will never forget.
It may sound ridiculous, but it sounded like every audiobook I love to listen to - but it was my story, my father's story, my moment of inspiration.
In the past year, my life has changed. I am still writing, working on my first novel and making a living from words – all thanks to the confidence that the Foundation gave me. In moments of doubt, I go to Audible (the exclusive distributor of the book of short stories from all three shortlisted writers) and type in my name. Is it ego? Probably. But seeing something come up makes me feel like a real writer.
Entering this competition was the greatest decision I have ever made. I am now a volunteer with the Foundation and hope to be a life-long friend in their work.
100% of the profits from the audiobook sale goes to fund literacy programmes. Knowing that something I have written helps others discover the importance of literature is the most incredible feeling out of all of it.
So please support the competition this year. Enter, vote, buy the audiobook - you'll change more than just the writers' lives.
You can find out more about the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Writing Competition here.
© Cathryn Goddard - Winner of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation 2020 Writing Competition
Enter the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation 2021 Writing Competition here:
Image credit: Jane Austen Literacy Foundation