Emily Jade Walker, 22, a Newport resident and a former Ercall Wood and New College Student has defied the odds to become a published author. Emily struggled with English at school, often described as a lazy speller and laughed at by peers when she told them she wanted to be an author.
She did not let this dampen her passion for writing, always composing stories and poetry at home but not believing she would be able to succeed in her dream. In 2010 that all changed when Emily had a change of English Teacher. Miss Liz Roberts, at Ercall Wood, saw something in Emily and spent a lot of time helping her with strategies to improve her English compositions.
She passed her GCSE English with a grade B, something that she thought would be impossible prior to moving classes. She went on to study English & History at A’level, and was encouraged further by her English teacher, Peter Williams, to pursue her dreams. Emily began studying a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing and History at the University of Derby and was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Asperger’s at the age of 18.
This made her all the more determined to prove her doubters wrong and she threw herself into her studies. Graduating with a 2:1, Emily began writing articles for magazines and had publications as far as America, all of which were well received. However it was in 2018 that she finally moved closer to her writing dreams.
Emily, an avid horse rider from the age of 5, began writing a collection of short stories aimed at teen readers, looking at a series of events and the full circle of life through the eyes of a selection of horses. This book, From the Horse’s Mouth: A Collection of Short Stories, has been well received and has 5 star reviews on Amazon.
It is out in kindle and paperback formats and can be purchased from Amazon.
