Nicola Edwards is a PhD candidate at the University of Bangor and teaches English and Classics in a school in North Wales. Nicola has worked as a journalist and has lectured on race and representation in the media for Race Council Wales. Her non-fiction writing has appeared in Wales Arts Review. This Thing of Darkness, her first novel, won the Michael Schmidt Prize at the Manchester Writing School.

 www.nicolaedwards.co.uk  

About This Thing of Darkness: 

1780. Wild and windswept Yorkshire. Sixteen-year-old Heathcliff runs from the only home he has ever known in a squall of pain and fury.  

Blown into an inn on the edge of the moors, sodden, rejected, and hankering for revenge, he steals a horse and sets out for Liverpool in search of answers. The town he arrives in is a brutal new world, brimming in equal measure with risk and opportunity. Here, Heathcliff might map his future, make his fortune, forge a role for himself. But at what cost…  

Reimagining the three years during which Heathcliff is absent from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, This Thing of Darkness traverses countries and oceans in pursuit of one of literature’s best known characters.  

Praise for This Thing of Darkness: 

“Utterly compelling. Edwards has the tone just right. Emily Bronte would be delighted!”  — Irish Examiner

“Prepare to rediscover Emily Brontë’s Heathcliff in this dark, unflinching gem of a debut novel.” —Elaine Canning 

“A novel of extraordinary power and vividness that deserves to win prizes. Nicola Edwards is an outstanding talent.” —Nicholas Royle 

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your career/published works or work-in-progress, including your University project(s)?  

My debut novel, This Thing of Darkness, has just been published by Aderyn Press. It fills in Heathcliff’s three-year absence from Wuthering Heights. I wrote the first draft on the MA course at MMU, and it was awarded the Michael Schmidt Prize for best manuscript. I am now working on my second novel, as part of my PhD at the University of Bangor, about class, society, and women’s roles in industrial action. 

How do you think being part of the Manchester Writing School community has helped your writing career? 

One of my supervisors, the wonderful Nicholas Royle, wrote an endorsement for This Thing of Darkness, and the Writing School is always very supportive on social media. 

What did you find was your most valuable experience as part of the Manchester Writing School? What were the highlights?  

I completed the MA distance learning; therefore, any interaction was entirely online. However, the tutors were very encouraging and professional, and it was wonderful to workshop my own writing and help other MA students work on theirs. 

What advice would you give to students looking at studying at the Manchester Writing School, or just starting out on the course?  

I would advise them to make the most of the expertise available at the Manchester Writing School, to use the opportunity to hone their work in progress, and to find enjoyment in sharing their work with like-minded people.