Carl Connikie is 61 and from the village of Llandegveth, Monmouthshire. He is keen to pursue a career in non-fiction documentary writing. Born in Clarendon, Jamaica, he emigrated to Britain in 1960 at just 11 months old, as part of the Windrush generation. His love of writing began when working on reports as an Intelligence Analyst for Gwent Police, but it was the gift of a camera for his 50th birthday that led to his own business in 2016. He has photographed high-profile figures including Prince Charles, Home Secretary Priti Patel, London Mayor Sajid Javid, and Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford. In 2018, he created a social media driven project to photograph and interview the Windrush Generation in Newport to ensure their stories did not remain untold.
Carl’s Twitter: @Billynomates0
How do you envisage the programme will help you in terms of your development?
“As an unpublished writer, I believe that the biggest obstacle to fulfilling my writing goals will be getting my work noticed. It is notoriously difficult for a novice writer to find a publisher from scratch, who is willing to invest in their book(s). So I feel that this programme would be an excellent opportunity for me to make valuable contacts, and to learn more about mainstream publishing. I am also extremely passionate about the processes and techniques that go into crafting a story, and feel that this programme will offer me chances to learn from more experienced novelists.”
What are you most looking forward to as part of the programme? What are you hoping to achieve by taking part?
“I am most looking forward to learning how to navigate the publishing world, and hope that by taking part, I will soon possess the tools needed to forge a career as a novelist.”
As a writer, where would you like to be in 5 years?
“I’d like to see if I have other stories in me that people would be interested in hearing. Ultimately I’d like to write a novel, but I know I might have to start with a blog or something like that.”