A Writing Chance opened in February 2021 to new and aspiring storytellers from under-represented backgrounds. The project was seeking great stories from people whose voices have historically not been heard in publishing and the media. This project is co-funded by Michael Sheen and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and supported by media partners New Statesman and Daily Mirror. The project is delivered by New Writing North and literature organisations nationally, with research from Northumbria University.
I was one of eleven writers selected from 750 applicants from all over the UK.
The prize was set up to Celebrate new writing for children written from a Black-British perspective. My unpublished picture book manuscript was longlisted for this prize
As part of A Writing Chance I was given a commission to write a piece for the New Statesman. I chose to write a piece about a topic that is close to my heart, the need for more black characters in children's books in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. My piece is about the need for children to be able to envision themselves as anything and the damage that is done when children feel excluded from fantastical worlds
Publisher HarperCollins provides this six week intensive training course designed to equip aspiring authors with the tools they need to succeed in the publishing industry
Launched in 2018, the London Writers Awards aim to increase the number of writers from under-represented communities being taken up by agents and publishers.To make the step change from unpublished writers to being agented, writers need good sustained professional input and quality feedback to produce work that will be published.
You can read a number of my poems on my medium blog.
My Poem "Black Skin" was included in this anthology produced by Civic Leicester
My Poem "At The Edge of Our Map" was included in this anthology produced by Civic Leicester