Professional writing student awarded bursary in memory of bestselling authors

Ruth Underwood, a student on University College Falmouth’s PgDip/MA in Professional Writing has been awarded a bursary of £250 from the Derek and Jean Tangye Minack Chronicles Nature Trust, to further her literary aspirations.

The Minack Chronicles Nature Trust was formed in 2001 by the late authors Derek and Jean Tangye in order to preserve the twenty acres of land near Penzance that they named The Oliver Land, as a protected wildlife area, so that readers of their bestselling novels could enjoy relative solitude on the cliffs of far west Cornwall.

During the course of his life, Derek Tangye produced 20 autobiographical books – The Minack Chronicles – recounting his and his wife’s exodus from London for the good life in Cornwall. The chronicles were international bestsellers and are now regarded as modern classics. Jean Tangye also wrote four bestselling books based upon her time as the PR for London’s renowned Savoy Hotel during and after World War 2, as well as providing all the pen and ink illustrations for The Minack Chronicles.

The Derek and Jean Tangye Bursary is offered by the Trustees of the Minack Chronicles Nature Trust through University College Falmouth. The Bursary reflects Derek and Jean Tangye’s lifelong support of young people with literary aspirations and is open exclusively to students on the College’s PgDip/MA in Professional Writing.

In line with the eligibility requirements of the Bursary, Ruth Underwood’s winning application demonstrated an overwhelming ambition to become a travel writer and the wish to undertake a specialist travel photography course in London.

“I am very grateful to the Trust for awarding me this bursary,” said Ruth. “It will enable me to go on the course, which will in turn equip me with the skills I need to provide high quality images to accompany my travel features. Towards the end of this year, I will be writing a travel feature on Cornwall, which I hope to get published, along with photographs of Cornwall's beautiful scenery.”

Minack Chronicles Nature Trustees, Jane Bird and Moira Tangye, added: “We are absolutely delighted that Ruth will be using the bursary to take a specialist course which will advance her professional career.”

During the course of her studies for the PgDip/MA in Professional Writing, Ruth has written a feature for The Big Issue South West on the extreme sport of cliffjumping or ‘tombstoning’, and had three articles published in the summer edition of Traveller magazine. The course has also enabled Ruth to develop her scriptwriting skills. She is currently writing a 55-minute pilot episode for a documentary series of her own creation with independent producer, Colin Rogers. Ruth has also adopted the role of Editor for Bloc, a writers’ website created by students and lecturers on the PgDip/MA in Professional Writing.

“Ruth is a fine example of a professional writing student getting out there and getting published in the industry,” said PgDip/MA Professional Writing Course Leader, Christina Bunce. “Our staff are professional writers with exceptional experience across a range of literary formats, encouraging and enabling their students to enter the writing industry with the necessary skills and confidence to succeed in their chosen specialisms,” she added. “The Derek and Jean Tangye Bursary is a brilliant scheme, exclusive to University College Falmouth, helping new writers such as Ruth fulfil their career aspirations.”

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall, a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through higher education. The CUC is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

Through our Creative Enterprise Cornwall project, which is part-funded by the European Social Fund, eligible students can receive a fees discount of up to £1,000 on postgraduate study at University College Falmouth.

For further information about this press release, please contact Jilly Easterby, Public Relations Officer, University College Falmouth, Woodlane, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 4RH, Telephone: 01326 213792 or email: jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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