8 January 2025
West Sussex County Council’s Crawley library has won an ‘All Stories’ national competition to host a fully-funded workshop aimed at encouraging and supporting aspiring writers from under-represented backgrounds.
The workshop, on Saturday 1 February 2025 at 10am will be presented by Sussex-born author Patrice Lawrence. She will introduce participants to the basics of writing for children and inspire them to develop their creativity.
Intended as a true introduction, the workshop requires no awareness of publishing, writing as a career or previous written work. The workshop is welcoming and open to everyone regardless of their background, physical abilities, neurodiversity, or any other perceived barriers.
All Stories will also establish a writing group at Crawley Library to continue supporting local writers, as well as providing a ‘writer resources’ pack, containing information about supportive writing organisations. The pack will be made available to workshop participants, along with anyone visiting the venue after the workshop.
Duncan Crow, the county council’s cabinet member for community support, fire and rescue, said: “West Sussex Libraries are thrilled to host this exciting All Stories workshop, perfect for aspiring children’s writers.
“This event offers a unique opportunity to meet a talented author, learn the basics of writing for children and participate in a workshop designed to spark imagination and creativity.”
“The workshop links in with Our Council Plan where one of our priorities is about creating opportunities for people to help fulfil their potential.”
Children and young adults’ author Patrice has been shortlisted for and won a number of major prizes including the YA Prize, the Waterstones Prize for Older Children's Fiction, the Jhalak Prize for Children and Young People and the Little Rebels Children's Award.
She was awarded an MBE for Literature and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She is the current Book Trust Writer in Residence with a focus on children facing challenging circumstances.
The workshop is one of 16 ‘All Stories’ workshops being held across the UK, and made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Inclusive Books for Children and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society.
To find out more and book your free place at the workshop, please visit: allstories.org.uk/writing-workshops/
A direct ticket link is here: https://buytickets.at/allstories1/1382837/share/ad68abe7af5d6e784936656b3cf66db9
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
All Stories is funded by Arts Council England, ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society), Inclusive Books for Children, and supported in kind by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, UK, The Royal Society of Literature, Pen To Print/Write On!, Megaphone, the Pocket Publicist and the Society of Authors.
Arts Council England are the national development agency for creativity and culture. They have set out their strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 they want England to be a country in which the creativity of each person is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. Arts Council England invest public money from government and the National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.
The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal. It represents over 120,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £700million to writers.
Inclusive Books for Children is a charity, founded in 2022, that aspires for mainstream children’s books to be inclusive, and for inclusive children’s books to be mainstream. Along the way, they hope to nurture a new generation of open-minded and inspired young book lovers. Inclusive Books for Children offers a free website to make it easy for time-pressed parents, caregivers, librarians and teachers to find and buy diverse books, along with awards to celebrate these books.
For further information about All Stories please contact nina@ninadouglaspr.com
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