The National Centre for Writing is delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Escalator Early Career Residencies: Jane Menczer, Emily Slade and Alex Scarlett Mullen.
The Escalator Early Career Residencies are open to early-career fiction writers from the East of England who have previously taken part in the Escalator New Writing Fellowships.
Designed to support writers at a pivot point in their writing career, the residencies have been introduced to expand the support given to Escalator alumni.
Each writer will spend a fully funded week, March 2026, at the Dragon Hall Cottage in Norwich UNESCO City of Literature. Throughout 2026, we will be featuring paid new work or in-conversation from each of the residents, helping them promote their practice and reach wider readership.
Escalator Early Career Residencies are kindly supported by The Fenton Arts Trust and The Francis W Reckitt Arts Trust.
Discover more about each of the winners below as they reflect on their journey since Escalator, a novel in progress to develop during the residency, and why this opportunity will help them take the next step in their writing, overcoming both personal and craft-based challenges.
Jane, Emily and Alex’s stories show that the path of a writer is rarely linear. Each has overcome unforeseen hurdles, and we hope that the residencies can be a springboard for future success.
Ellie Reeves, Programme Officer, reflected:
‘The Escalator New Writing Fellowships welcome a fresh annual cohort of unpublished writers brimming with enthusiasm and wonderful ideas. However, this is just one chapter in their writing journey. These residencies recognise the importance of commitment and persistence for a writer to grow their craft. Each resident has already shown an incredible dedication to their writing. We hope that this opportunity can provide deserved peace and time to progress and share their writing’.
Tell us a little about your story since completing the Escalator New Writing Fellowship. How has your writing journey progressed?
Jane Menczer (Escalator 2007): After Escalator, an agent took on my novel and helped me to prepare it for publication as An Unlikely Agent (Birlinn, 2017). I appeared at events, including the Jersey Literary Festival, which developed my confidence in interacting with readers. I also led creative writing workshops at a range of different venues, including Cambridge University I.C.E., where I was a guest speaker.
I regularly meet and exchange feedback with another Escalator alumnus, and our discussions are an important source of motivation. I began writing very early versions of what became my third novel, The Double Life, as early as 2007, though it wasn’t until 2019 that it started to progress more rapidly.
Alex Scarlett (Escalator 2015): After completing Escalator around ten years ago, I signed with a literary agent. We worked together on my first novel (Soap Town), which was submitted to publishers but ultimately not acquired. Shortly after this, our partnership came to a natural end.
I didn’t let rejection (an inevitable part of a writer’s life) discourage me, and have maintained a consistent writing practice. I’ve written several novels and short stories, winning several awards and featuring in publications.
Escalator gave me the confidence to keep pursuing writing, and I’ve continued to build on that momentum ever since. My current novel, Vanilla, earned me a place on the Curtis Brown Creative Course. The experience allowed me to learn from publishing professionals, build relationships with other emerging writers, and gain the attention of an agent who has asked to read the full manuscript once complete.
Emily Slade (Escalator 2019): I am a single mum. During Escalator my children were young. My work as a freelance musician afforded me the flexibility to earn, while leaving quality time for writing and being a mum. When lockdown froze all music work, I took on a day job to secure an income. Like many others, I was also suddenly ‘home-schooling’. My own creative writing had to pause.
I remained part of an online creative writing group, wrote songs and attended two Arvon residentials, to gain feedback from authors. The focused nature of these retreats enabled me to move forward with my writing but in 2022 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and everything ground to a halt again. Each time I restart my novel it seems to slip from my grip.
I didn’t let rejection (an inevitable part of a writer’s life) discourage me, and have maintained a consistent writing practice. Escalator gave me the confidence to keep pursuing writing
What project do you intend to focus on during the residency?
Jane: I intend to finish editing The Double Life so that I can submit it to my agent. The novel centres around three friends at Cambridge University who are all, for different reasons, desperate to escape the past. By the end of their final year, just one is left, bewildered and alone, to unpick the tangled web of lies and omissions which brought about a series of tragic events. Though I have a clear overall conception of how The Double Life will eventually fit together, the book is currently rather like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are all laid out, yet to be assembled.
Alex: Vanilla is a literary fiction novel about Elle, who loses her sense of taste after a traumatic event. After befriending a chef, a thought-provoking journey through cookery gradually restores Elle. A closely observed study of trauma and the impulse to recover, the novel centres around a strong narrative voice and themes of food, friendship, and female rage.
Emily: I started my young adult novel DON’T TELL during my MSt in Creative Writing at Cambridge University. It became the project I worked on during Escalator. DON’T TELL explores the impact of adult mental illness on an East London family, through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Suzanna.
I have non-linear words; key scenes spread throughout the novel, not yet joined up. Mapping out the entire skeleton needs my focus in order to progress any further.
I also need to rewrite the tense; swapping past to present, which is not as simple as changing ‘I was’ to ‘I am’! A character’s present interpretation of a story unfolding before their eyes is starkly different to retelling a scenario in retrospect.
Though I have a clear overall conception of how ‘The Double Life’ will eventually fit together, the book is currently rather like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are all laid out, yet to be assembled.
Why is this residency significant to developing your writing?
Jane: Though I have been writing for many years, I am still ‘early career’ in terms of my publication record – perhaps because my energies have always been pulled in so many different directions. I work four days a week at an 11-18 comprehensive school as Head of Drama, a job that takes up a considerable amount of time outside the school day, so I can very rarely shut myself away to write for hours at a stretch.
I am often frustrated by having to put aside my writing to fulfil work or family commitments and would love to have more time to realise my creative ambitions as a novelist. Taking part in Escalator was so important in giving me a sense of self-belief and validation. The Residency will provide the things I most urgently need at this crucial point in my novel’s development – time and space to think.
Alex: I currently work full-time as a copywriter, which doesn’t leave much time for sustained creative focus. On several occasions, I’ve taken annual leave purely to write, booking a rented cottage to remove the distractions of home life – but I’m not currently in a financial position to continue doing this. To be afforded this separation through the residency would be invaluable.
Two literary agents have expressed interest in reading the full manuscript of Vanilla. I feel that I’m close to the finish line, but I need the right environment to reach it. Winning this residency would not only provide the practical conditions I need to finish the book, but would also be a massive boon to my self-confidence. That renewed confidence would empower me to pursue publication, and approach future projects with greater ambition.
Emily: After Escalator, two literary agents asked me to submit the opening 10,000 words of DON’T TELL. However, I had 50% of a novel, hanging in chapters…a clean, polished opening was not ready to send and the spiral of events that followed froze my writing career.
The residency will be a jumpstart to my book. I hope to regain the momentum I had pre-pandemic, which is far easier to maintain than the frustrating stop-start-stop-stop pattern of the past few years. The residency will be an ideal opportunity to thoroughly take stock of the novel and plan a schedule for completing it!
I hope to regain the momentum I had pre-pandemic. The residency will be an ideal opportunity to thoroughly take stock of the novel and plan a schedule for completing it!
The Escalator Early Career Residencies are kindly supported by:
Escalator New Writing Fellowships are supported by:
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