A pleasurable end to the year with news from Kitchen Table Quarterly that they have nominated my essay ‘Circus Loves’ for the Pushcart Prize. The picture comes from my grandmother’s photo album of 1914. It shows her teen crush, the circus rider Othelia Orlando.
Vicky Grut 
Dear Vicky,
Congratulations on your nomination! It gave me a lovely opportunity to reread the story of your grandmother and the circus. So many might-have-beens…..
You may remember that I wrote to you after a piece you’d written on Bernice Rubens – I think it was that? Some connection anyway. I did get around, finally, to writing a short story about my lessons with her brother; I decided that the only way of doing it was to avoid using names at all, and writing it in the third person. I’ve joined a weekly writing class up here in Northumberland, and the prompt was revisiting a person from the past.
Anyway, great to hear from you, and the very best of luck for the Pushcart prize!
Happy Christmas!
Best wishes,
Nicki
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Great to hear from you, Nicki. I do remember. That sounds like a good solution: use the story of the past as scaffolding for a piece of fiction. Glad to hear you’ve found a class. All good wishes, Vicky
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