Cleo Gorringe
By day, Cleo is a current MSc Business with Marketing student at the University of Warwick. By night, she is a writer. She graduated from the University of Exeter with a first-class BA with honours in English in 2019. Her work often draws upon the dark in the mundane, and she finds it most interesting to explore the psychology of a character. She is working on her first novel.
Cleo started writing and illustrating short stories about fairies who lived at the bottom of her garden from the age of five. Since then, she hopes her writing quality has improved, but that her imagination is still as active. She began seriously considering writing after winning a local writing competition for a short radio play, judged by Kay Mellor (OBE). She has written lots of short stories and picture books, and is working on a novel. Most recently, she was longlisted in the International Bath Short Story Award 2020.
Q: Do you have a lucky writing talisman? If so, what is it?
A: I mostly write very late at night when everyone else is sleeping, so I always light a candle while I am writing. I find that it helps me get into the right frame of mind, and it’s almost like carving out my own little bubble.
Q: Do you have a favourite quote? (From a book, film, song, speech…)
A: ‘Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.’ ― Pablo Picasso
Q: What is the least interesting part of writing for you?
A: Plotting out the events of the story. I just want to write! Although, I have found that when I do make a plot, I usually write better stories.
Q: What superpower would you like to have and why?
A: Telekinetic powers – this decision was greatly inspired by Matilda (Roald Dahl).
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