Opening doors to opportunity
Eirinie Lapidaki (MA 2017) was the first in her family to go to university. Since graduating, she has gone on to publish her debut novel and become an award-winning writer. She now supports young people from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education to access the same life-changing experiences she did.
As a teenager studying at a secondary school in Blaydon in the north-east of England, university was not really on my radar. I had initially considered an apprenticeship, but things didn’t go to plan, and I returned to school for Sixth Form. It was then that the possibility of university really began to take shape.
As a first-generation student from a working-class background, I took part in a few access schemes and was incredibly lucky to have a wonderful English teacher who saw my potential and recommended that I consider St Andrews.
In hindsight the leap to such a prestigious institution seems huge, but encouragement from my teachers and my family (my mother, in particular) spurred me on and I made my application with the sort of optimism and confidence that I suspect is reserved for young people on the brink of adulthood.
Forging lifelong friendships
When I began reading English Literature at St Andrews in 2013, my confidence dipped, and I worried about fitting in. The culture shock was massive in ways I could not have anticipated. Others in halls asked which school I had gone to, and I didn’t understand why until they named the prestigious institutions they had attended. But I could also never have anticipated the ease with which I was able to make connections and build friendships with people from all walks of life. From the line for matriculation and my corridor in John Burnet Hall, to my tutorials and part-time jobs, I met wonderful people who made St Andrews feel like home.
It was with these lovely people that I visited North Point Café between tutorials, danced in The Lizard and ate gelato at Jannettas. They were also the friends with whom I studied in the library, swapped lecture notes and walked nervously to the sports hall for exams. I have carried so many of these friendships with me out of ‘The Bubble’ and into adulthood and cannot imagine my life without them.
Supporting the next generation
I also truly loved my studies. It never felt real, all the way into my fourth and final year, that my primary occupation was talking, writing and learning about books. I remember arriving once at Castle House a little too early for a seminar on Victorian poetry, deciding to take a walk on the beach, and thinking – wow…this is my life!
Eirinie at graduation
After leaving St Andrews I decided to move back to the north-east of England and continued my studies at Newcastle University, where I gained an MLitt in Victorian Poetry and the Periodical Press. I enjoyed my research – which was inspired by the topic of my Laidlaw Internship work with Dr Clare Gill – but decided that a career in academia wasn’t right for me. Now I work for a programme which supports young people from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education to make informed decisions about their futures. It’s a job I love, especially as my own journey to university was made possible by projects and programmes like it.
From passion project to debut novel
My biggest passion, though, is writing. I began writing my debut novel The Wives of Halcyon in late 2018 and early chapters won a Northern Writers Award from New Writing North the following year. I redrafted my manuscript, submitted to agents, had a baby, and eventually signed with Jenny Brown Associates, a literary agency based in Edinburgh, in 2022. After a short time out on submission, my novel was picked up by London-based Legend Press and was published in May 2024.
At the launch of The Wives of Halcyon
Lessons for life
The skills and experiences I gained at St Andrews have seen me through the process of writing and publishing The Wives of Halcyon in ways I could never have imagined. For one thing, my time there made me a better writer; my degree introduced me to authors I would not have encountered on my own and gave me skills in research and receiving feedback.
Mostly, though, it made me a more confident person. Like higher education, the world of publishing can feel alien to outsiders, and it takes resilience and personal conviction to find a way in. Also, like higher education, the journey has been fun and rewarding.
With each review and magazine feature about my book I experience the same ‘pinch me’ feeling that I had as a student. I am currently working on my next novel and am excited to be speaking on panels at upcoming writers’ conferences. Whatever happens next, I will always carry with me the incredible experiences and skills gained at St Andrews.
You can read a full interview with Eirinie and New Writing North here.