Intervu The Wellington Square

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I sit down with Denisa Dobrovodova to talk with her about her platform The Wellington Square

“There is this massive gap. How do you get the actual work to the people who are supposed to see it?”

The Wellington Square is a budding platform designed to showcase written work from emerging writers to the wider industry.

I ask Denisa, why she has created such a thing? It’s an ambitious task and I wonder why the responsibility has fallen to her?

“It’s been a missing piece. We do have all this great talent but only get one opportunity to show it and people are working on such interesting things!” She tells me with enthusiasm. “But how do you bridge the gap between these creatives and actual exposure? That’s what The Wellington Square hopes to become.”

She goes on, saying that, “Agents and publishers get so many submissions into their mailbox everyday and it's so difficult to stand out. We’re hoping with this, there is a proof of our abilities by saying ‘Look we completed this course!’” She adds dramatically, causing me to laugh.

I ask her about her opinions on the industry as a whole? Specifically, looking through the lens of writers and creatives at the start of their career.

Denisa, tells me a story: “I know someone who works as a producer and he tells me he gets emails constantly, random, very impersonal emails all saying ‘Dear sir, I would like to be in the media industry, what do I do now?’ You know? He filters through these all the time and people cold email because they think it will get them somewhere.” She ends with a slight note of exhaustion.

“It’s incredibly hard.” She goes on. “There is oversaturation, definitely.” She adds. “You need to have something that will distinguish you from the rest and I’m hoping that this will be it and I’m looking at how to reach the right people because that’s also an issue.”

“The Wellington Square” Website

I ask her if there is any advice she would give to anyone looking to be a writer in 2026?

“I would say the very annoying thing that no one wants to hear: which is that you have to have a substantial amount of material and you have to push people to see it and push opportunities to get people to see it.” She gets straight to the point, wasting no time at all. “But I think the biggest mistake people make is that if you do get into a door and if someone asks ‘what else do you have? Have you written a play? A short film? A novel?’ And you don’t have it.” 

Sagely, she puts her mantra clearly, “that would be my main advice: Get as much writing done as possible and have it,  and if you don’t and the opportunity comes, it will pass you by”

“The Wellington Square” Website

I ask her what the future of The Wellington Square looks like or if there are any big 2026 plans?

“Currently we are only showcasing the alumni of the course, such as me who have finished in this past year and what we are going to do is this large push to agents, publishers, just send out a press release, send out the word.”

She exclaims passionately: “YOU KNOW? LOOK! THIS WEBSITE EXISTS! YOU CAN USE IT!” Then her volume drops back down to something more reasonable, “And then pass it along, I suppose to the next year of writers.”

In the short term, she is “going to reach out to the Bookseller which is an incredibly powerful source for publishers and agents.” She adds, “Apparently, people love it!”

“I want to make sure that the work of our year will be published before anyone else so we get the chance to be showcased.” She explains with a tone of dedication in her voice.

Then, “I think I’m happy to pass it along, the idea is that alumni can still contribute even after it's passed along. But there will always be the option of trying to make it into a blog, a podcast or something.” She chuckles.

“I’ve started this thing and to get it to a stage where it's producing daily content is a massive feat and something that’s gonna take some time. I think it’s something the years below will have to put effort into as well to make it a living breathing platform”

She reflects on the industry and leaves me with this: “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack and I’m hoping this will slightly increase our chances in getting heard.”

I call it a secret society and she laughs at that.

Finally, I ask if she wants to talk about herself for a bit and tell people who she is?

“My name is Denisa, I’m originally from Bratislava, Slovakia and I completed this course recently in this past year, I have been working on a variety of projects: I have written my first television show, I have a vague idea-” She stops herself, laughing, “in fact, don’t say that!”

She pauses before going on again. “I have a crystal clear idea where that’s going!”

“In the past I wrote a novel when I was 12 that got published back in Slovakia but I haven’t been published in the UK yet. I am currently working on my first English novel. I have some play ideas in the bank and I’m working on a one woman show at the moment as well. The course taught me that you’re able to go between genres and go from fiction, to poetry, to playwriting, to screen writing.”

Thank you Denisa for bringing The Wellington Square to life and for sitting down to talk with me.

You can find The Wellington Square at: https://www.thewellingtonsquare.com/

Or you can check it out on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/thewellysquare/

Denisa’s instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/denidobrovodova/

“The Wellington Square” Website