London Writers' Salon #161: Sarah Hall — Writing Award-Winning Short Stories & Literary Fiction, Evocative Landscape & Creative Freedom; Booker-Nominated Writer
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Sep 21, 2025 In this engaging conversation, Sarah Hall, a twice Booker Prize nominee and the only author to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice, dives into the art of writing. She shares how her upbringing in the Lake District influenced her creative voice and the lessons from her first unpublished novel. Hall discusses the joy of handwriting first drafts and crafting stories that resonate deeply. She elaborates on her latest work, Helm, exploring the unique Helm Wind, climate themes, and the playful nature of narrative, all while sustaining the magic of storytelling.
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Rural Childhood Shaped A Reading Life
- Sarah Hall grew up in a stone cottage in the Lake District surrounded by books brought home by her mother.
- Reading felt lonely early on, and characters only became companionable when she was a teenager.
Use Courses To Build Craft Not Expectations
- Treat university creative writing as a place to take yourself seriously and learn craft, not a guaranteed publishing path.
- Read and analyse other writers closely to absorb techniques you can apply to your work.
Unpublishable First Draft Led To Breakthrough
- Sarah's first novel was judged unpublishable by her future editor Lee Braxton, which she took as a hard but useful lesson.
- That rejection prompted her to write Haweswater with a clearer structural focus that sold.
