A SINGLE mum from Salford has scooped a double award at the fourth annual Manchester Blog Awards.
Emily Morris, 27, won the personal blog and best written categories at the event for her online diary - Sh***y Twenties, at an event held at the newly-revamped Band on the Wall.
Emily said she began the blog when she was a student: "At the age of 22, I had just finished my second year when I discovered I was pregnant, so it meant I had take a year out while I had my baby Tom.
"At the time, the prospect of parenthood though seemed very hard but I developed a belief that through blogging I was able to achieve all that I and other people had thought wasn't possible."
Cathartic
Emily, who has built up a following of hundreds of visitors to her blog, said the act of blogging was an outlet for her. "When I was feeling down I used to cry, but starting the blog about my life was cathartic and a way of letting off steam. It just so happened that people like reading it."
Her successful blog hasn't brought so much in the way of monetary rewards to her but she has already won an award from the Arvon Foundation and she is about to embark on a blog for a travel firm.
"It's really amazing that so much has come from blogging," she said.
"And from the feeling at 22 that I was throwing my life away to being a published author is incredible."
Another double success on the night was achieved by the anonymously-written neighbourhood blog Lost in Manchester, which won best category and blog of the year.
Organiser Kate Feld said: "All of the blogs represent a combination of talent, passion and a great deal of work that people are doing independently and in their own time.
"I think it's especially interesting that the awards turned out to be dominated by women this year, which I see as a very positive indication of how diverse and well developed Manchester's blogging scene has become."
2009 Manchester Blog Award Winners Best City and Neighbourhood Blog:
Lost in Manchester - Anonymous
Runner up:The Manchester Zedders
Best Personal Blog: My Sh***y Twenties - Emily Morris
Runner-up:
Cynical Ben
Best New Blog:
Words and Fixtures - Clare Conlan
Runner-up:
Songs from Under the Floorboards
Best Writing on a Blog:
My Sh***y Twenties - Emily Morris
Dual runners- up:
I thought I told you to wait in the car and
Dave Hartley's Weblog
Best Arts and Culture Blog:
Run Paint Run Run -
Ella Wredenfors
Runner Up:
The Manchester Hermit
Blog of the Year:
Lost in Manchester
Tweet
Single mum scoops blog award
October 22, 2009
Emily Morris with other winners at the Band On The Wall
Showing comments 1 to 6 and replies | View All
Jonah, USA (22/10/2009 at 22:33)
andy waytomakeacomment, Greater Manchester (23/10/2009 at 18:22)
It''s more strange that some people think the term has to be a badge of shame. Perhaps if you haven't anything positive to contribute to a decent human interest story you should keep such tangential comments to yourself.
citycentre, manchester (23/10/2009 at 22:12)
And what more could some one achieve to contribute to the future of the nation than accept the responsbility of raising the next generation?
keyjockey, Manchester (25/10/2009 at 23:17)
Organiser Kate Feld said: "All of the blogs represent a combination of talent, passion and a great deal of work that people are doing independently and in their own time."
Yeah, and a great deal of self-referential whinging to a non-existent audience. What a joke. Everyone I know is working their ******* off to earn a living "independently and in their own time" as she puts it. Does she think it should be state sponsored, for Christ's sake???? Meanwhile, who's the real beneficiary of this non-starter? The Manchester Blog comp organisers who will be touting themselves around saying look at us...blah - fact is 37 people read this **** - most of them were friends and relatives. It's a single constituency of a small number of freaks who haunt the same range of websites - not MEN online, please note.
Pandora (25/10/2009 at 23:59)
Angie33 , Manchester (26/10/2009 at 07:33)