ABOUT ME

My name is Kerry Ann Power, thanks for visiting my site. I am a married mum of two teenagers and have recently turned 40. Rather than begrudgingly mope into this new decade, I want more than anything to make it count. To me, that means finally pursuing my dream of making writing a career.

I approached writing fairly late, starting an MFA in Creative Writing in 2020, when I was 36. Both reading and writing have always been there for me though, throughout my childhood and adulthood, I have often escaped to books when things got tricky, and I have written whenever I needed to make sense of a non-sensical world. It just didn’t occur to me that I could forge a career from doing what I love most.

I think coming from a working-class background, I genuinely didn’t realise that writing was a ‘real job.’ I followed the path that people thought I should, I got a law degree, completed a legal practice course, and began working as a legal assistant when my children were young. As they got older, I realised that the legal field wasn’t where I wanted to be, so re-trained as a teacher. I currently work for a charity, The Tutor Trust, with disadvantaged children in schools across Liverpool and Manchester, as well as with children who aren’t in  mainstream schools for medical, mental health or social reasons. I find that I learn just as much from the children I work with as I hope that they learn from me.

In September 2024, I will be starting to teach adult Creative Writing Workshops In Northwich, Cheshire. I have decided to work with small groups of 6-8 people at a time, which will foster an open and intimate atmosphere, giving participants the confidence and space to get as much as possible for the workshop.

In  July 2024, I graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. During the MFA, I also studied Teaching Creative Writing and scored a high distinction for this work. During my time at MMU, I became the Opinion Editor for the University’s Arts and Culture Magazine; aAh!Magazine. For the publication, I wrote numerous opinion pieces, articles, reviews, interviews and even some creative pieces. I also completed my first novel, The Scars That Make Us, whilst at University, for which I am currently seeking representation.

In addition to fiction, I enjoy writing non-fiction pieces about issues that I consider important. Being a law graduate, I am interested in the ethics of more controversial medical legislation such as abortion law and the laws around immigration and domestic violence. In the past, I have volunteered for both Refugee Action and the National Centre for Domestic Violence, as well as with disadvantaged children with complex home lives, such as children in the care system. I am a mass of contradictions and I express that in my writing. I consider myself to be a catholic feminist, though some may believe this to be an oxymoron. As a mum, I’m trying to raise my sons (alongside their dad) in a world that seems ever more complex, with the basic good morals that we hope will be enough to navigate them through it all.

I’m a vegan who is passionate about both animals and the environment, though I know it’s something that many of the people in my life don’t really understand. I am dyslexic and a writer. I live with a long term health condition and I consider myself disabled, but don’t want this to stop me from achieving everything I aspire to.  I’m overweight, living in a body dysmorphic world of selfies, where Botox on your lunch hour is normal and Instagramming your bikini-clad body is more common than calling your mum.

Most of all, I hate that each of these labels seems to put us in a box. And I don’t think any of us fit into just one.