student wins memoir prize

Philippa Groom, a graduate of the Life Writing Programme, is one of ten winners of this year's prestigious Fish Publishing Memoir Prize.  Her winning piece, an extract from her memoir, My Hummingbird Heart, is published in the Fish Anthology 2025. 

Philippa's memoir is about her experience of being diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with her third child. Feeling she has to make an impossible choice between herself and her baby, it explores how she comes to terms with the consequences, rebuilds her life to find the one she deserves, and allows herself to come to a place of acceptance and joy.

About the course, Philippa says ‘the teaching was invaluable and the group hugely supportive. Together we learnt techniques we could use to write about our lived experience and were encouraged to both share our own writing and give feedback to others. The course gave me the confidence I needed to believe I could actually do it. So much of writing is about courage, determination, and tenacity. It's about sticking with it when it gets hard, which it will! And believing in yourself enough to trust that it's worth persevering. I am passionate about writing that connects deeply with the reader, helps us feel we are not alone, and shines a light on real human experience. I learnt so much during my time with the Life Writing Programme and would highly recommend their courses to anyone on any part of their writing journey.’

The 2025 Life Writing Programme starts on Friday 10th October online. Interested in finding out more? Read about the programme here.

You can follow Philippa on Instagram and read more of her writing on Substack