Showcase

Dona Ursu

“During those first days alone with my mother, I felt cocooned. We would take our coffee at Chez Schumann, the little terrace across the street, even when it rained, which it did almost every day.

My mother relished the flaky croissants, leaving a trail of crumbs on her blouse that I gently brushed away. But she kept dressing for the wrong season — scarf-less and umbrella-free, with little more than a light coat, even in mid-January.”

From Replay/Rewind – included in the showcase

“I came to TLC with the manuscript of a novel and a childhood dream of becoming a writer. The Chapter and Verse mentoring programme became my home for the next year and I had the wonderful privilege of having Rose Billington as my mentor. With patience, kindness and immense skill, she taught me how to look at my prose in a different way. Rose’s feedback, like good wine, only got better the longer I sat with it. So profound was its influence on me that, over the span of the programme, I decided to write another book altogether. Replay/Rewind is that book.” From the Introduction