Hannah Vincent is a novelist and playwright. She studied Drama and English at the University of East Anglia and completed the MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University. She has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Sussex. Hannah teaches Creative Writing on the Open University’s MA and life writing on the Autobiography and Life writing programme at New Writing South. She lives in Brighton.
She is the author of two novels, Alarm Girl and The Weaning (Salt). Her debut short story collection, She-Clown, and other stories is available now.
Watch Hannah Vincent chat with fellow short-story author Elaine Chiew about female-focused short stories for The Feminist Bookshop:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CIdDIq9HKgA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Interviews and Features
Royal Literary Fund Writers Aloud series with Hannah Vincent and Bethan Roberts
“My house is never tidy. It’s filthy. I live in filth because I’d rather spend my time writing.”
Hannah Vincent speaks with Bethan Roberts about how acting led her to playwriting, working as a script editor, her mid-career move into fiction, the ‘core self’ that drives creativity and some of the recurring themes in her work. This recording was made for the Royal Literary Fund Writers Aloud series.
"I've always been a clown..." Hannah Vincent Interview
‘I have always been a clown. It can be exhausting at times. As I grow older, I have become more aware of the performance I give out and perhaps I am less compelled to perform myself for others – or at least, if I put on a performance, I am increasingly aware what this is. The stories in this collection describe stages of life when I wasn’t so aware of the performance I was putting on and they project forwards into a future to consider what performances might still be to come.’
Janet Emson interviews She-Clown and other stories author, Hannah Vincent for blog From First Page to Last.
Independent publishing in a time of Covid-19 with NB magazine
‘As dedicated readers we’re always searching for the next title but Covid-19 has made this much more difficult. Writers and publishers need our support more than ever. I spoke to a few independent publishers about their new books, where they can be purchased and how the pandemic has affected them. For some small publishers this is a battle for survival.’
The wonderful NB magazine discuss publishing under lockdown, highlighting several independent publishers and their latest releases including Mother: A Memoir by Nicholas Royle, She-Clown and other Stories by Hannah Vincent, and The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs.
Short Story Month featuring Elaine Chiew and Hannah Vincent
‘May is Short Story Month! I am so excited to share my favourite short story collections with you all … I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without recommending The Heartsick Diaspora by Elaine Chiew and She-Clown and Other Stories by Hannah Vincent. Both of them were incredibly written and memorable in their own ways. I highly recommend picking these up.’
The Biblio Sara shares brand new short story collections by Elaine Chiew and Hannah Vincent to celebrate Short Story Month on Instagram. Scroll through the rest of her posts here.
Exploring the plurality of female experience; an interview with Hannah Vincent
Q: What do you hope readers take away from She-Clown and Other Stories?
A: I hope readers might consider these stories as describing the different stages of one woman’s life as well as exploring the plurality of female experience.
My hope is that readers might be inspired to think about this cultural, historical moment as a moment in which patriarchal ways of organising society, government, business, and home might usefully give way to female methods – it’s about time, yes? It’s our time.
Fantastic new interview with She-Clown author, Hannah Vincent. Read here.
The Mermaid and the Tick, an extract on Minor Literature[s]]
‘A husband and wife lived by the sea. He was a handyman and she was a baker. Every day, after her baking was done, the wife would go down to the beach for a swim. In summer she lay on the shingle to dry off in the sun, and in winter she played chicken with the waves. Her husband joked that she was part mermaid, she loved the sea so much.’
The Mermaid and the Tick, a short-story from Hannah Vincent’s debut collection, She-Clown and other stories is cherry-picked by Minor Literature[s].
Hannah Vincent talks short stories on Brighton Book Club
Hannah Vincent joined Anna Burtt, host of Brighton Book Club podcast, to discuss short stories. They focus on Hannah’s new short story collection, She-Clown, alongside The Heartsick Diaspora by fellow Myriad author, Elaine Chiew. Listen again HERE.
Hannah Vincent in Big Issue North
‘In She-Clown, her first collection of short stories, Hannah Vincent, award-winning playwright and author of Alarm Girl and The Weaning, presents a group of funny and fierce heroines trying to be themselves while clowning around for others. From the ordinary to the magical, Vincent’s entertaining stories are fresh, thoughtful and surprising.’
Hannah Vincent discusses her latest book with Antonia Charlesworth for Big Issue North – buy your copy from a vendor now.
Myriad's Short Story Literary Salon, featuring Lisa Blower and Hannah Vincent
Our September Myriad Literary Salon focused on the short story and featured Lisa Blower, author of It’s Gone Dark Over Bill’s Mother’s, and Hannah Vincent, author of Alarm Girl and soon-to-be-published short story collection, She-Clown.
New Writing South spoke about their recent LGBTQIA+ festival, The Coast is Queer, and invited emerging author Danny Brunton to read an extract from his memoir. Publicist Emma Dowson also attended, sharing useful insights into promoting your work.
The salon was photographed by Lisa Lee. To see more pictures, head to our Facebook page.
Feature for Novelicious
‘I stopped apologising for writing, declared it as my profession on my passport and in answer to people at parties who asked what I did…’
Read more from Hannah on Novelicious, as she shares the experience of signing her first book deal.
Interview with Female First
‘My experience of writing plays means I am confident writing dialogue – I can hear my characters speaking to one another. I did a lot of acting when I was young and this has been helpful too – I am ‘in role’ when I am writing…’
In this interview with Female First, Hannah talks about her experiences as a playwright, the advice she offers her creative writing students and what is next for her writing career.