In October, 2007 Janet Cameron was asked by HRH Princess Michael for some writing tips! She’d just won the Clemence Dane Cup for a monologue and the Princess was impressed with her story, Frog Heaven. Janet obliged, although with a shaking stomach. The Society of Women Writers and Journalists’ chairman, Valerie Dunmore, said of Janet’s winning entry:
‘Simon Brett exhibited his literary skill by selecting Frog Heaven from among dozens of entries. It is a slick, moving yet amusing example in a difficult genre. Clemence Dane’s friend, Joyce Grenfell, also once President of our Society, is revered as queen of the monologue, but Janet Cameron’s winning entry is proof that she has the imagination and literary discipline to produce a script equal to anything in Joyce Grenfell’s repertoire.’
Janet is a professional writer and tutor, who has lectured for the University of Kent in Creative Writing but now, teaches independently with Paul Curd under their partnership The Word Fountain. Preferring not to specialise, she says she’s something of a hack! She finished her MA in Modern Poetry at the University of Kent in 2003 and her BA (Hons) in Literature and Philosophy with The Open University in 1996. She received her Cert.Ed (fe) in 1993.
‘Janet is an inspiring person, keen to encourage all her students to achieve their potential in writing projects. She has a lively personality and makes classes fun, interesting and stimulating’. (Caroline Cash, Programme Co-ordinator for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, University of Kent.)
NON FICTION
Janet Cameron’s first book was The Competitive Woman published by W.H. Allen in 1988 (Mercury Business Books). Translated into Polish, Serbo-Croat, Mandarin Chinese. The Competitive Couple (1990), a sequel to the above, was commissioned then dropped when the publisher went into liquidation, but first serial rights were purchased by the Daily Express.
Canterbury Streets (2005) Tempus Publishing, a social history of the cathedral city was followed by Haunted Kent (2005) also Tempus Publishing. Fifteen Pocket Pub Walks (2006) published by Countryside Books is a mini walking book with a guide to local eating places and points of interest. Kiddiwalks in Kent, (2007) also by Countryside Books, is a walking book for parents and children with child-friendly suggestions of things to do and background details. Janet has also published two books in the Tempus Murder and Crime series, Dover – Murder & Crime (2006), and Medway Murder & Crime (April, 2008). Shorter non-fiction has appeared in many national newspapers and magazines.
FICTION: Surrogate Lover, a psychological thriller published by W.H. Allen’s Star Books in 1988, later translated for the German market. Her short stories have appeared in women’s and arts magazines.
POETRY: Her poems have appeared in Acumen, Equinox, Logos, OU Poetry Anthology, Writing Magazine and Connections Arts Magazine.
