"used her prize money to rent a beach hut on Valentia Island, so that we could spend a week working on our novels. The stone hut stood very close to the water's edge on the western tip of Ireland, overlooking the expansive metal-blue of the Atlantic. The island possessed a rugged kind of beauty cliff edges, a lush rainforest, cold frothing water. It astounded us. As did the tranquillity. It was what we had come in search of."
"When the young woman behind the till looked up and saw me, the shock in her eyes gave me the impression that I was perhaps the first person of colour she had ever seen in person. I bought what I needed and left, but later I found myself thinking about that encounter. It was the first time in my life where I had felt as though I stood out."
At 24, I visited Valentia Island in autumn after university, sharing a rented beach hut with a friend who used prize money to fund a week dedicated to writing novels. The stone hut sat near the water's edge, overlooking the metal-blue Atlantic; the island had cliff edges, a lush rainforest and cold frothing water. After exploring Killarney and riding horses along Derrynane beach, it became striking that no person of colour had been seen. A convenience-store encounter revealed visible shock at my presence, the first time I felt I stood out, prompting reflection on Leicester's perceived diversity and my upbringing.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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