Write On! 17 is out today: Themed Hearing Voices: Inner Voices, Outer Voices And Connected Voices, this issue features an exclusive interview with the seminal children’s and YA writer Sita Brahmachari. She speaks to Amber Hall about her latest bestseller, ‘When Shadows Fall’ and how love binds cultures, community, nature and hope together – despite the shadows that lurk.

Sponsored by exiled writers ink, issue 17 is the physical reminder of the importance of driving the agenda of diversity and inclusion in publishing.

Still focussing on our theme of Hearing Voices: Inner Voices, Outer Voices And Connected Voices, other magazine highlights include ‘Spotlight’ where Michelle Sutton shares perspectives around Writing ‘The Other’ and ‘The Big Debate,’ which sees Lucy Kaufman explore the merits of feedback, asking whether you should ’Kill your darlings?’ On the ‘Insight’ page, poet Ruth Wiggins talks about form and novelist Syd Moore about building character. And, as ever, the ‘Showcase’ pages feature fabulous contributions from our readers, drawn from the online Write On! Extra and podcast Write On! Audio.

Do also check out the superb conversation between Farzana Hakim and exiled writers Chair, Rouhi Shafii on our magazine’s Sponsor page. A wonderful example of the power of co-creation in action.

Farzana: “Telling Rouhi I wear my headscarf by choice and not by force, she’s quick to tell me that, though she respects my choice, the hijab is one of the biggest fights in Iran at the moment.
Rouhi: “For the Iranian regime, the hijab is a flag. If this flag comes down, it will be shown up as the corrupt dictatorship it is.”
This conversation was extracted from the Hay podcast panel discussion, which was also broadcast on Write On! Audio. You can hear the full presentation around inclusion and co-creation here: How diversity can power literary excellence.

This printed edition continues to be inspired by work featured in the online Write On! Extra and podcast Write On! Audio.

Write On! 18, will be out mid-September and is themed Literary Passions, Guilty Pleasures. It will feature an exclusive interview with Israeli-born, multi-award-winning author Lavie Tidhar.

SEE ISSUE 17 HERE.

Launched in April 2019, Pen to Print’s Write On! continues to reach new readers as Barking & Dagenham’s Arts Council England Library NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) magazine. United by a desire to come together beyond boundaries of geography, culture and expectations, Write On! is created by and for writers. Write On! is available digitally and through libraries and other centres in many parts of London, Devon, Manchester, Kent, Newcastle, the West Midlands and Essex. University distribution points include Kent, Christchurch, Sunderland and Goldsmiths. Increasingly, we are sharing the printed magazine with writers from across the UK who are asking for copies for their writing groups and local bookstores.

Pen to Print is part of Barking and Dagenham Libraries which means the ethos of the organisation is founded on promoting an inclusive community spirit. Due to the reach or our publications, which includes Write On! Audio and Write On! Extra in the digital sphere, we connect beyond Barking & Dagenham to create wider ripple effects. We are therefore delighted that this has encouraged nearly 150,000 users from 198 countries to respond to the ideals of engagement transparency, connection and inclusion.

A Call to Action:

In keeping with Pen to Print’s vision that everybody should have the chance to tell their story and so, inspire potential in others, we welcome new writing and ideas from London, the UK and internationally. The Write On! 18 Literary Passions, Guilty Pleasures theme will inform content for the digital Write On! Extra (accessible through  pentoprint.org) and podcast Write On! Audio (on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Just type Pen to Print into your browser. Alternatively, find us via our Spotify Podcast hosting site).

1. 1. For up-to-date editorial information, including how to submit to the Write On! suite of publications, including audio, see: The Editor’s Introduction.
   2. Partnerships: Write On! has already facilitated partnerships and co-operation with Hay Festival, Writers’ and Artists’, All Stories, Bloomsbury, Penguin, the Wilbur and Niso Smith Foundation, Write Back UK, the Curtis Brown Agency, Margate Bookie, University of Derby, Christ Church University Canterbury, The University Of Sunderland, The Romantic Novelist Association (RNA), the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast, The Turner Contemporary, Libraries Unlimited (Devon), The London Library, Becontree Broadcasting Station and the Barking and Dagenham Talking Newspaper (making Write On! available in a spoken form) many others are currently being explored. If you would like to discuss ideas, please do get in touch at: pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk
   3. To advertise online or in the next issue please see our newly launch Write On! Together magazine, with demographics, testimonials and lots of information as to how to get involved as a sponsor, advertiser, volunteer and creative.