Sara Smiles: Life writing and Identity
Sara Smiles was born in Plymouth, England in 1981. Her childhood was split into the many places she lived including Scotland and the United States. She always felt different growing up, and felt like an outsider. Now she believes this was in part due to neurodivergence. As a teen and a young adult, she was an active drug user and all-round party girl. At the age of thirty she reached rock bottom and decided to turn her life around. Working various jobs, she first undertook an English Ba and then a Creative Writing Masters at Plymouth University. Later on she pursued a PhD in Creative Writing at Exeter University. She was fortunate enough to meet her wonderful partner Benjamin in 2014. They now live with their two children Charlie and Rowan in a leafy Plymouth suburb.
Sara has always written down her experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly. Whilst undertaking her Bachelor’s degree she signed up for the life writing modules and her passion for the subject was formed. Having Mary Jacobs and then Babs Horton as her teachers was inspiring. She finally felt like someone understood her writing. Ever since then life writing in all its many forms has called to Sara and is her ‘academic niche’. In 2014 for her Masters, she wrote a collection of short stories entitled Patchwork about the women in her family. These stories had themes of fertility, mental health concerns, addiction and domestic abuse.
In 2018 Sara had two young children under three. She felt lost to Motherhood. Whilst being fortunate enough to remain home, she wanted to reclaim some of her identity. This was to be the start of her PhD experience which was marred by many difficulties. The project itself was a worthwhile experience. It involved researching the Dartmoor writer Beatrice Chase, the folklore surrounding the Kitty Jay legend, and Dartmoor. However, the rest was a mess. Chasing Time was the novel produced as a result of this research.
Sara has been a part of CrossCountry Writers since 2014. Working alongside Plymouth poet Kenny Knight, she has helped organize open mic nights and readings. She has also run writing workshops and edited the poetry magazine Clutter. The first edition featured poets who have read at a CCW event. She is now compiling the second edition with co-editor Benjamin Brake, a local poet. This edition includes poets from outside the area. Sara also helped organise the Plymouth Literature Festival between 2016-2017.
At the moment Sara is writing a personal account and also a story retelling a Dartmoor myth. In time, she hopes to write about her ancestry, and experiences growing up. She has set up Smiles Publishing to not only publish her own works but hopefully others too. Her aim is to offer a life writing service whereby she can support others in telling their stories.
Sara has set up Smiles Publishing to publish her own works and potentially others.