Who Am I?

My name is Beau, I'm a first-class graduate with a BA Hons in English from Queen Mary University of London. I'm also a proud Northerner living in London who wants her ideas to make people feel truly seen. I want people to read my work and see parts of themselves looking back.

Growing up I never saw anyone like me on TV or in the books I read. I want to represent the many other people who have always felt like they were never quite right because they were never shown that people like them were allowed to exist in the first place.

My writing is confident and sometimes a little provocative. I'd like to think my work can also be funny. My goal is to charm my audience, to affirm them or leave them second-guessing but above all wanting more.

My Inspirations

Books and writing have played a massive part in shaping my own work (of course). Here are some wonderful pieces that have made me believe in my own writing a little more.

A 10 year old Beau swiped this little book out of her brother's bedroom because the cover looks scary and she likes scary. I read this for the first time under my covers in the dark one night. I then read it 15 more times. This short read got me hooked on all things horrifying and unsettling. It's graphic, it's merciless and no one is coming to save you...

This novel opened up worlds for me. Plath's poetry shines even in her prose, I quickly realised that descriptions don't have to simply be detailed to be vivid. They can be lyrical, obscure and even blunt. Character's like Esther make us feel like we're not alone and that's something I aim to achieve in my own writing.

My dissertation came to life because of this novel. Clark's colloquial narrative showed me that writing should be witty and real. Each character is extremely flawed and it leaves no reader safe from their own criticism. I had so much fun digging away at this book and with each read I found more to say. All of Clark's work speaks to me so loudly; she is definitely at the forefront of my creative inspiration.

This is how I was introduced to complex female characters. Kinsella's collection made me look forward to growing up and now here I am. The main character, Becky, was my first insight into how women can be funny, independent, smart, obsessive and naive all at once, and what's more, that THAT IS OKAY. Thank you to my mum for lending me my first "grown up" book.

Music always gets in the mood to write. It allows me to immerse myself into the story I'm aiming to tell and stops my mind from wandering too far. Here are some albums that I listened to as I wrote some of the pieces featured in this portfolio.

Dancing On The Wall - MUNA

A Carabiner Holds More Than Your Keys.

Norman Fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey

How Contemporary Culture Capitalises on Our Sadness

Who Really Cares - TV Girl

A New Kind of Monster and Who Gets to be Desired?

MADRA - NewDad

After the Applause and Holographic Love

My passion for writing is built on theatre. I grew up performing and I find so much excitement in different mediums of storytelling.

I like act in my spare time and I go to the theatre as much as I can. I love breaking down the characters, whether I'm the one playing them or part of the audience. It has influenced my work so heavily as it has evolved how I address my readers; putting myself behind the eyes of other people, figuring out how my work might make them feel and reworking the words into something that speaks to them more clearly.

On the right are some plays and musicals that have really stuck with me. Gwenda's Garage is a musical about a car-repair shop in Sheffield that became a hub for feminist and LGBTQ+ communities in the 80s. Something radical happening out of something so unassuming reminds me to acknowledge that one small step is better than standing still. Whereas in Shifters, the fluidity of the storytelling demonstrated to me that not everything has to be told. Audiences will always make sense of what you're showing them if they care enough about what you're trying to say.