Jane Corry and Lucinda Hawksley - The Goldster Magazine Show Podcast

Jane Corry is a writer and journalist who has spent time working as the writer in residence of a high security prison for men - an experience that helped inspire her Sunday Times bestselling novels. Before taking up the post, Jane had never been inside a prison and says that the experience “really opened up my eyes. Initially I was terrified about doing the job but as soon as I started, I was hooked. Here was another world. I’d always thought that prisoners were simply “born bad,” but I soon found that some had committed crimes because of messed-up childhoods, wrong decisions combined with alcohol and drugs. My job was to encourage inmates to write about their lives to help release feelings and turn over a new leaf. Many of my men had mental health issues; some heard voices in their heads. This was scary for me to witness, but the writer side of me was fascinated.”

Jane is now a judge for the life story section of the Koestler Awards, which are given to men and women in prison and mental institutions. She will be talking to Lucinda about the importance of writing for mental health and about the vital importance of exercise to mental clarity. Many of her own writing ideas strike during morning dog-jogs along the beach followed by a dip in the sea.