Six Pounds Eight Ounces

Rhian Elizabeth is 24 and from the Rhondda. She has been developing this book over a number of years, starting it on a creative writing course with the University of Glamorgan. She left the course without finishing, but has continued to write, adapt and change her work, taking on board many constructive criticisms. She is also working on a second book, which she says is not about growing up in the Rhondda.

"Funny and derisive, tender and magical, this is a fascinating novel of glitter and grit about a girl growing up troubled: Rhian Elizabeth channels the voice of Hannah King, who loves words and keeps all her thoughts and feelings inside, pushing everything down and fearing an explosion. Her first best friend is a notebook, a safe outlet for all the things she can't say out loud: still, to read her story is to be rocked by shockwaves. Be prepared for the flaying of innocence layer by layer as Hannah and her childhood friend, Jess, grow up to become a couple of lost girls, burying their dreams and talents before someone else takes them away. Hannah's unflinching and often hilarious observations, absorbing Jess's voice and story into her own, hide the hardest truths until the end. Yet there's a feeling that you should never give up hope, as Hannah carries her notebooks and her memories with her into the world. Keep the faith that one day she'll write again and that for her, as for the author, Talent Will Out." - Maria Donovan