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News from Jenny Dunbar (Brittain) (1959-1967)
I left Westwood House School, as it was known then,
in 1967 to go to the Royal Central School of Speech
and Drama. My career, as an Independent Performing
Arts Professional, took me to many places and gave
me the opportunity to walk briefly in many worlds. Now
I have retired from some of the things I did, latterly as
an examiner for the English Speaking Board, I divide
my time between the Languedoc in France and
Northamptonshire, as a writer. Writing is something I
have always done, but developing it into published
versions of novels and poetry is a relatively recent
departure, although a natural evolution from my career
in the creative arts.
I was lucky enough to have a manuscript accepted by
a publisher and have been on a steep learning curve
since. In spite of my performing arts background I find
pushing myself forward quite difficult, but it is
something that is necessary, and I am becoming used
to using a little assertiveness without, I hope, appearing
over zealous.
My debut novel,
Sweet Earth
, was released last year
and it has been a very worthwhile starting point. I have
another book,
Shapes in a Landscape
, soon to be
released. A poetry anthology is with another publisher
and I continue to delve into the particular and
exercising world of the short story. Rather like turning a
piece of clay into its final shape, a short story requires
a great deal of craft if it is to evolve into an inspiring
form.
Inspiration is something I would like to mention at this
point, because Westwood gave me a lot of it. I am sure
The Peterborough School still has that unique capacity
to nurture creative learning within a characterful
landscape. When I attended in the 1960s I was inspired
by the vision and intelligence of Helen Belgion,
teachers like Anne Bowers and others, who noticed a
student’s ability and who encouraged that student to
look beyond the immediate boundaries. It inspired a
positive curiosity to learn.
Writing is hard work, frustrating at times and requiring
huge discipline and truthfulness on the part of the
writer. I am reasonably self-critical and welcome
constructive criticism from others; a skill learnt at drama
school. One is very ordinary really. It is a job of work to
be done.
When the inevitable writer’s block appears I often leave
the work and think about something entirely different for
a while. Suddenly the next idea or chapter comes to
mind. I have learnt to be patient over the years and I
know that the ideas will materialise eventually. I often
write in my head, observe people and situations, use
memories of places or events to weave the threads of
a story together. I set myself tasks like writing in a
different style, or contributing a blog, just to stretch the
thought process and to explore possibilities. I almost
always discover something useful, whether it is positive
or negative, by using these disciplines. Our
imaginations are truly extraordinary facilitators and the
brain becomes practised at organising the wordy
demands the writer challenges it with alongside its own
connections and responses during that process.
There are a great many writers these days who
demonstrate a variety of styles and quality. If you
believe in yourself and are determined to carve a sure
and secure route towards your goal I am convinced it
is possible to achieve a viable conclusion. It depends
on many things, including being selective about one’s
route, an essential point for discussion at some point
maybe? What does, being a good writer, mean? Who
is your audience?
I am still discovering the stages on the way, however
tortuous, and have a very clear and concise philosophy
about what I am aiming towards and, I hope,
determination to achieve those aims. Having taken the
initial steps a perspective does appear and I have
begun to select what is on offer very carefully and what
is the right choice for me.
Most of all a writer writes, a statement of the obvious
you might say, but true! If there are any aspiring writers
amongst you who would like to share views upon,
‘being a writer,’ I would be delighted to discuss the
subject further.
Jenny has written three novels, Sweet Earth, a short
novel about the parallel lives of a group of women,
encompassing the years between 1916 and the 1960s
and, Shapes in a Landscape, a story about collective
memory and the places we inhabit or abandon,
physically as well as emotionally. A third novel, The
Cellophane Tree, a novel very much for our time, is in
the process of being completed. An anthology of poetry,
Thoughts of Time, is to be released in the forthcoming
months. Jenny is available to talk about her work.
