Our five-year anniversary issue, sponsored by All Stories  is out today.  The publication of 21 issues of Write On! is truly testament to this issue’s theme of ‘Overcoming’. Overcoming isn’t just about dealing with difficult of situations, it’s also about how we go about to finding acceptance and hope: whether in our writing journeys, or as in the case of our headliner, Sunday Times journalist and author Melanie Reid, a life-changing accident.

Other highlights include a menopause-focused page from Farzana Hakim and we get some footballing fervour from columnist H.B. O’Neill. The bestselling author Lizzie Chantree contributes to Michelle Sutton’s Spotlight page on Overcoming Creative Block. Meanwhile, based on the furore surrounding Baby Reindeer, the Big Debate sees Claire Buss examine how far we can go in terms of fictionalising reality. As ever, the Showcase pages, drawn from the online Write On! Extra featuring some fabulous emerging and established writers and pulled together through the vibrant Write On! community.

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

Write On! 22, out on 12 September, is themed ‘Change’ and leads with and leads with Dagenham-born comedian and author, Sara Pascoe. It is sponsored by the Working Class Collective

SEE ISSUE 21 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 Barking and Dagenham libraries and other libraries and centres in different parts of London, Devon, Manchester, Birmingham, Kent, Newcastle, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Sunderland and Essex. University distribution points include 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 230,000 + 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 inspire potential in others, we welcome new writing and ideas from London, the UK and internationally. The Write On! 22 ‘Change’ theme will inform content for the digital Write On! Extra (accessible 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, The 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. We are currently running a £50 per 1/8 page offer. A Back Cover full page advert is £500 and issue sponsorship is £750. Get in touch with Pen to Print for further details.