​​This one will just be a quick post to record the first writing success I've had since giving up work. Well, that's a bit of a lie I suppose – the first success has to be that I've actually done a bit of writing (a tiny bit), and feel quite positive about it.

To recap: a little over a week ago I left my job to focus on writing. Coincidentally, on Friday, the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition announced its winners and I'm lucky enough to have been amongst those shortlisted by judge Helen Mort.

Of course, I entered ages ago and it's just a fortuitous coincidence that my entry has found some success at this time, but, all the same, I'm very pleased and it feels like a well-timed endorsement of my recent decision.