A broken system: Job centre by day, award-winning author by night

Gosia Buzzanca

It was an honour to be announced as Nation Cymru’s People’s Choice Award winner at the Welsh Book of the Year ceremony last Thursday. The fact that this is an award voted for by the readers themselves is especially poignant for someone who always felt like a bit of an outsider.

Held in beautiful Caernarfon, the night was a sparkling celebration of some of the best writing published in Wales last year and an occasion for the writers to dress out of our usual sweatpants and get together to share stories, hugs and laughter in person.

In my speech, I focused on being brave in the face of personal choices, but if I had more than the allocated one minute of time, I would have liked to appeal to the new Welsh Government and Books Council of Wales asking them to make the right choice and support writers and other creatives directly.

It was lovely to hear Heledd Fychan MS, Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport before the ceremony, celebrating all shortlisted authors. It would have been even better to be able to sit down with her and talk about what changes can actually be made to make writing a real, viable, respected career that anyone from any background can afford to pursue.

We all know it worked out in Ireland. Former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood has praised Ireland’s decision to make its basic income scheme for artists and creative workers permanent.

The grim reality for so many of us is that we cannot live from writing. Some advances offered won’t cover even a month’s rent, let alone the years of research, writing and editing. And we are obliged to accept them gratefully, because if we don’t, there is a long line of other writers willing to take our place. Writers potentially as brilliant, yes, but as with all arts, a privileged few with economic support allowing them to relax fully into the work without worrying about unpaid bills or being unable to feed their children.

We’re currently seeing the worst cost of living crisis I’ve experienced in my lifetime. And we all know that underprivileged and working class people cannot afford to take risks – there is no safety net. This results in literature becoming a domain of the wealthy again.

The risk is the loss of depth, texture and heart that comes from writing that represents society more accurately. This runs the risk of kids, young adults and adults not seeing themselves reflected in the available writing and abandoning reading all together.

When the editors edit, the publishers publish, the booksellers sell books, they are paid to do their jobs. Yet, they would not exist if it wasn’t for the writers who write, oftentimes for free. Isn’t it all backwards?

More real talk: I wouldn’t be able to even get to the awards ceremony in the first place if it wasn’t for the support of both my girlfriend and best friend, who looked after me and took over the financial burden of accommodation and sustenance.

No matter how much I try to accept this help and how much I know it’s as pure as first snowfall, there is still a level of shame that comes with it. Shame that does not transmute into a confident writing energy. Neither does living in a constant survival mode.

How can this be a reality, being shortlisted for such a prestigious award, allegedly producing culturally enriching work of art, yet getting on a train to north Wales with less than £10 in my account? That weekly visits to the Job Centre are a must because in the current climate not even a supermarket will hire me despite constant applications and interviews for jobs I’ve held in the past?

I know people don’t like to talk about money.

I know I will be thought of as uncouth by many.

But I also know that I am not alone.

I talk to my colleagues and many of us are appalled and struggling and counting and exhausting ourselves instead of being able to do what we are skilled to do: write.

We don’t want to rock the boat. Often we accept things for what they are: unfair and frustrating.

But I refuse to romanticise this any longer.

As the People’s Choice winner I vow to myself to make the right choices and speak up when and where I can, for all of us to have an equal chance and do what we’re doing best.

The ball is in your court, Books Council of Wales and the Welsh Government.

Buy Gosia Buzzanca’s award-winning memoir, There She Goes, My Beautiful World at University of Wales Press, Waterstones, Amazon Kindle and all good book shops or preorder now in paperback edition.

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.