Jackie Engelberg Publishes Novella

Jackie Engelberg, an alumna of our 10-week Introduction to Creative Writing course, has self-published a novella PRIDE AND JOY. The book is about two women who meet, fall in love and decide that they want to have children together. It is set in 1980s London, a time when the LGBTQ+ community were facing the worse possible challenges: the AIDS pandemic, Thatcher’s Section 28 and lesbians losing custody of their children as a result of the homophobic UK courts.

PRIDE AND JOY is a work of fiction but it is drawn from Jackie’s lived experiences. ‘I came out over 50 years ago and I have lived through huge changes for our community, both in respect of legislation as well as societal attitudes. I am a lesbian mother with two sons.’

Jackie says of her desire to write the book: ‘I felt compelled to leave my legacy: a story that captures our history, what we lived through and fought for, to ensure that LGBTQ+ lives would have a permanent place on the page and that the experiences of earlier generations would not be forgotten.’

Jackie took the 10-week Introduction to Creative Writing course earlier this year and has also been recognised for her other writing. Her short piece of life writing A Nice Jewish Girl, about coming out to her mother in 1975, was highly commended by LIBERATE, LGBTQ+ writing competition. Meanwhile another short story It's A Sin was highly commended by WRITE TIME, a short story competition for writers aged 60+. Congratulations to Jackie!

Find out more about PRIDE AND JOY and buy a copy here or order through your local bookshop.