Her story highlighted the challenges of accessibility in Portsmouth

A Portsmouth woman has won a short story competition for a story sparked by her struggles to get around the city as a wheelchair user.

Rebecca Faithful won gold for her non-fiction story ‘Pompey Potholes & Sanatorium Chic: Directions Through Material Impermanence’ at the Creative Future Writers’ Awards.

“I was originally going to write something for the fiction category, and I was brainstorming and stuff but all the ideas I wanted to write were all kinds of bigger things,” she said.

Rebecca Faithful | Rebecca Faithful

“This one came about because I just really wanted to get some pizza. In my head, my brain goes’ from my house to Gunwharf is flat’. And then, when I push myself to go, it really isn’t flat.

“The whole way there is on the side, and then you have your drop curbs and everything like that, I ended up pausing for a bit. Then, of course, I had to figure out how to get back,” she said.

“So I thought I would give writing something different a go and see how it went, but I never had the best belief in myself so I never thought it would get anywhere.

Rebecca’s story details her journey to Gunwharf Quays to collect her dinner | Umpf Limited

“The piece wasn’t necessarily me being angry or frustrated with Portsmouth itself but just, the generalised condition of the streets. Everywhere is very similar," said Rebecca.

“Accessibility seems to be second place to a lot of things.”

After writing her story, Rebecca decided to submit her story to the Creative Future Writers’ Awards.

“I didn’t realise it was as big a competition as it was, because I had picked up a little leaflet about it from my local library.”

“I like writing stories for my kids and stuff, but I also used to write at school as well because it always kind of helped to take you out of it when everything was stressful.”

Rebecca will travel to London on October 30 to take part in an awards showcase and will read an excerpt of her piece at the Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival.

“I am really excited but also really nervous,” she said. “I’ve never been the best at speaking in front of people, so this is going to be something very, very new.”