Hazel Barkworth: ‘Writing a novel takes an enormous amount of tenacity, and that takes belief’
BY Katie Smart
22nd Aug 2024
Hazel Barkworth was a student on our Writing Your Novel – Six Months course in 2016 – after which she was offered representation by Curtis Brown's Lucy Morris. We caught up with her to discuss her second novel The Drownings, a compelling dark academia novel that explores female rage, out now from Headline.
Read on to discover Hazel’s thoughts on the intrigue of campus settings in dark academia, her advice on approaching research and scroll to the end of the blog for details of an exciting giveaway we’re running on Instagram!
You studied on our Writing Your Novel course in 2016. Did any lessons from your time studying with us stick with you as you drafted your second novel?
Absolutely. So much of what I learned on that course lives with me as I write. My tutor, Erin Kelly, urged us to think in scenes, and to make each of those scenes as interesting as possible. Whether placing people in an unusual location, or making them do something compelling while they talk, we were encouraged to find the unexpected angle. This helps make each scene sparkle – and has the added benefit of making the writing itself more fun.
Your second novel The Drownings follows Serena at university after an injury that destroyed her swimming career. The competitive environments of swimming followed by an academic setting have a huge impact on the psychology of your protagonist. What elements of the book came first, the dark academia setting or Serena’s backstory with swimming?
I had always wanted to write something set at a university. It is such a richly storied location, full of people at crux points of their lives. So, the campus setting came early on. The swimming aspect came from a conversation I had with a friend who told me a story very personal to her that involved competitive swimming. I couldn’t shake the idea. I knew nothing about swimming, but something about the water, the obsessive dedication needed, the otherworldly feel of the pool hooked me. I started to research, and was gripped by the technical aspects, the discipline, the glory and despair of it. And it offers such delicious imagery to play with.
Serena becomes obsessively drawn to the river that runs through the university campus – the waters have claimed many live across the years from the women drowned during the witch trials to students in more recent times. How did you approach your historical research into the witch trials?
This is something else I learned from Erin Kelly on my CBC course. She advised us to do research without taking too many notes. Jot down facts, dates, names, but leave everything else to memory. The things you remember are the parts that will be most interesting to readers. This helped me to focus on the gripping and juicy parts, and not extraneous details. I also went beyond books, and listened to podcasts, found online lectures – I immersed myself over a few weeks, then scribbled down everything that stuck.
The dark academia setting is popular with university students and older readers alike. What do you think is so intriguing about the atmosphere of a campus setting?
I wrote most of The Drownings while living in the town I went to university in. Sometimes, it felt like ghosts of my student self were lurking around every corner. Campuses are fascinating because people at the brink of adulthood are gathered in this new and strange place, often cut off from the rest of the world. Little of ordinary life exists in those spaces. They become crucibles for so much passion and fear and awkwardness and hope. It makes sense to believe that magical, impossible or terrible things can happen there. One thing I worked on with my incredible editor, Frankie, was to bring out the darkness and weirdness of Leysham, the northern campus in The Drownings.
Female rage has long been ignored but is now being explored more and more in literature, film and TV. What drew you to this subject matter?
I think simply existing as a woman in the world is enough to be drawn to rage! It’s easy to forget how newly won so many of our rights and freedoms are, and every day they are challenged and attacked. I think women realise that we are not part of a glorious, straightforward walk towards liberation. It can feel like a battle for the most basic things, like feeling safe to walk home or express ourselves openly. And women are still expected to be polite and gentle in the face of it. I think that by acknowledging the rage women feel, and understanding where it comes from, we begin a very necessary conversation.
What books have you been enjoying recently?
I’ve been buying Penance by Eliza Clark for everyone I know. It is so brilliant and disturbing and insanely gripping. I’m also absolutely loving the tender, sexy, funny, aching heart of Rosewater by Liv Little. And in non-fiction, I’ve just devoured Pixel Flesh by Ellen Atlanta, which talks beautifully about the complex and paradoxical ways women live within their bodies in toxic beauty culture.
What top tips do you have for the aspiring authors reading this?
Make your book feel as real and alive as possible. Curate the playlists, style the Pinterest boards, light the candles. If you feel your way through with senses as well as words, it becomes tangible and possible. Writing a novel takes an enormous amount of tenacity, and that takes belief. By building the world of your book in your own mind, it makes you more likely to persevere when it gets tough.
The Drownings is out now!
The books linked in this blog can be found on our Bookshop.org shop front. Curtis Brown Creative receive 10% whenever someone buys from our bookshop.org page.
Enter our book giveaway: To celebrate publication, we’re currently running a special giveaway on our Instagram account. Enter by Tues 27 Aug for a chance to win your very own hardback copy of The Drownings.
How to enter:
- Follow Curtis Brown Creative on Instagram (@curtisbrowncreative)
- Like and save this post
- Tag a bookish bestie
Rules:
You must be 18+ to enter. This competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland only. Please only leave one entry per person. Public accounts only please. This giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram or Headline Books. Competition ends 10.00am Tues 27 August (UK time) and the winner will be announced in our stories at 11.00am Tues 27 August (UK time).
Good luck!