First prize in national travel-writing competition

Date added: 28 July 2010

Here at finditinsandwell we’re extremely proud to announce that our very own copywriter, Marie Kreft, has recently won first prize in a well-respected national travel-writing competition.

Marie has just jetted off to get hitched and enjoy a well-deserved break on her honeymoon, so we’re taking the opportunity to publicise her talents while she’s away. Not only is Marie an incredibly talented writer but she’s also very bashful and doesn’t like to blow her own trumpet. Well we’re going to blow it for her, as loud as we can!

Marie has been a professional writer since 2004. She has a prize-winning, first-class honours degree in English from the University of Leeds and is a member of the National Union of Journalists. She set up her own copywriting business, Good As Gold Ltd, in May 2008 with advice from Business Link via the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Marie’s regular clients include Sandwell Council, University of Birmingham, Sky Digital Media, the NHS and the Brit Writers' Awards, plus lots of businesses in the finditinsandwell network and West Midlands design agencies.

In previous years Marie has entered the ‘Bradt - Independent On Sunday’ travel-writing competition and been commended or made it onto the long-shortlist. This year she went on all the way to win the prestigious annual award.

This national competition offers the opportunity to published and unpublished writers to get noticed in the field of travel-writing, and each year it is inundated with entries of a very high standard. To even make it to the final is an honour in itself but to go on and win the competition is an absolutely fantastic achievement for Marie.

The theme for this year’s competition was ‘The World at My Feet’ and entries containing a strong travel element were invited. Marie’s entry was a piece she wrote about visiting her great-grandmother’s grave in Rumia, north Poland. You can read her entry here, but be warned it may bring tears to your eyes as it is so beautifully and poignantly written.

Marie’s prize includes the publication of her piece in the Independent On Sunday, a further commission for the newspaper and a five-star holiday to Malta and Gozo for two people.

However winning the competition isn’t just about the glittering prizes, it’s a way of getting noticed and hopefully for Marie it will lead to getting her first travel book published. The Birdwoman of Bangkok and Other Tales recounts the adventures of Marie and her (now) husband Steve on their journey from Singapore to London, entirely by bus and train.

To find out more about Marie and her work, or to get in touch with her visit her website www.goodasgoldws.co.uk.

Congratulations Marie, we’re all very proud of you!

[Picture from left to right: Catriona Rainsford (winner of the ‘unpublished’ category), Hilary Bradt, Marie Kreft and Matthew Parris.]