Bath Spa and Beyond! S. F. Williamson Q&A

The tagline for historical-fantasy A Language of Dragons states that, ‘Every fire starts with a single spark.’ For its author S. F. Williamson, those flames were lit on the Bath Spa MA in writing for young people. Here she tells us about her time on the course and the development of a worldwide bestseller.

What brought you to Bath Spa?

I studied for a BA in French, Italian and European Studies in Bath for four years, and once I was finished I didn’t want to leave the beautiful city that had become my home. Back when I was applying to universities after A Levels, I got a place on the Creative Writing and English Literature undergraduate course at the University of East Anglia and turned it down because I thought I should study something “sensible” instead (I was so wrong!) So I really wanted another opportunity to study writing formally, especially as I had fallen in love with children’s books while writing my dissertation on literary translation. I couldn’t believe it when I discovered that one of the UK’s best courses in writing for children was located just outside of Bath!

How did your anthology piece (The Society for the Salvation of Stories) come about?

I had the idea while working in Italy as part of my undergrad degree. I can’t remember where exactly it came from, but I was reading French and Italian children’s books as research for my dissertation and knew I wanted to write one. I began a first draft and submitted an extract as part of my application to the MAWYP. I worked on the story throughout the course and it was such a joy to workshop it each week. One of the highlights of the course were the meetings I had with my tutor, Steve Voake, who has such an eye for story. Having long conversations about plot, imagery and writing inspirations (and being able to call it work!) was such a privilege.

What happened to that story?

It was never published, but it did get me seven offers of representation. I met my incredible agent, Lydia Silver, at the anthology launch in London. The book had a lot of interest but it went out on submission at a time when the middle-grade market was over-saturated, especially for fantasy. After that I wrote a second middle-grade novel which also ‘died on submission’, but at a meeting an editor asked me how I felt about writing Young Adult. I felt I didn’t have the voice for it, but I agreed with my agent that I would try.

I took the one YA scene I had written during the course for my workshops with Joanna Nadin and began to develop it. That scene became A LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS, my debut YA fantasy novel which got a six-figure book deal following a ten-publisher auction. I still remember sitting in Steve Voake’s class on the first day of the MA Writing for Young People course in 2018 as he pointed to a stack of books, written by alumni and told us that one day, our books would sit in that pile, too. All the tutors on the MAWYP believed in the students’ writing and I think that makes all the difference.

What was the best piece of advice you received during your time on the MA?

For months I tried to be a plotter, planning The Society for the Salvation of Stories and struggling to decide where the story would go. It was Steve Voake who told me that I should try to write without direction and let the story surprise me, and it blossomed from there. That advice has become a practice for me now, and for every book I write the first 30,000-ish words without a plan, discovering the plot, characters and world along the way.

Did you write anything on the course that you would like to return to one day?

I’d love to return to the world of The Society for the Salvation of Stories one day! 

A Language of Dragons is published by Harper Collins. The highly anticipated sequel is due in early 2026.