"I don't think this is the course for you, he said. Unfortunately I believed him."

Writer Gaynor Jones talks about how she overcame the grip of an oppressive anxiety condition to return to writing after she thought she had given up. In a vulnerable and effecting piece, Gaynor encourages others to pick up the pen, even when it feels like it takes herculean strength to do so. 

"Everyone else on the course was a man..."

Alice had always dreamed of having her own motorbike, but it was only in her late twenties that she got her first, Ruby Red. Despite nearly driving it into her neighbours fence on their first journey, it was only a matter of time before Alice felt the urge to upgrade...

A charming tale of how you have to fall off a few times to really master your steed.

"I don't usually think about my achievements..."

Occupational therapist and mentor Anne Roszkowski takes us on a journey back in time to her first ventures into public life and how the joy of organising a great party set her up for the next big step, and the next...

A beautiful story about how each challenge can empower us to take on those that follow.

"The kind that feels like razor blades in your stomach..."

To Amy J Kirkwood, being confronted with life's choices can sometimes make her feel frozen like one of those living statues. But as she tells the students she teaches, only those who do nothing never make mistakes. 

"It celebrates the coming together of communities"

In her joyous contribution, singer and songwriter Angela Martin sounds a rallying cry - with a killer beat, as she introduces her song Wake Up. 

"I found myself on a stage at the age of 25 with a piece of paper in my hand, shaking like I was connected to the core of the earth..."

Renowned writer and playwright Sabrina Mahfouz offers her warm and funny contribution to the 100 voices for 100 years project. In her warts-and-all piece Sabrina explains how she used to think that the only people who could pick up the mic were men. Until she did it herself. 

"My sister is a fighter, and a winner."

Writer Sogol Sur talks about her greatest achievement - her relationship with her sister.

"Our beds are 30 millimetres apart - thats the size of the top half of your thumb."

Stevie Tyler discovers Anne Summers wasn't what it used to be and wonders exactly how much you can hear through those walls. 

"Imagine you are a woman, I tell them, living in 1868..."

Dr Maureen Wright shares her story of how looking into the past transformed her future.

"I learned that as well as scary, people could be riveting."

Her mother thought she might be a late developer, but Stella's early fascination with words and characters was perfect training for the challenges of being a writer.

In her enchanting piece, writer Stella Klein examines how she came to find her voice as an artist.

"People don't like labels..."

Julia didn't set out to be a blogger, but maybe it was there all along. She talks about the tags that make up (some of) her identity and how her home town inspires her.

“It took me a while to realise I wrote a lot about being a mum.”

Becoming a mature student on a Masters writing course was a dream come true for Sarah Hegarty. In May 2006 she submitted her dissertation and eagerly awaited the results. But by September her thoughts couldn't have been further from the writer's desk.