Write On! Issue 30 OUT TODAY

Write On! 30, sponsored by LoveReading is out today. Our autumn issue explores the theme of ‘Nostalgia:’ what we carry with us, the people, places, stories and experiences that continue to shape us long after they’ve passed.

Leading the issue is bestselling psychological crime writer Gillian McAllister whose twist-filled novels have taken her to the top of both The Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller lists. In conversation with writer Mirabel Lavelle, Gillian talks candidly about rejection, resilience and the reality of building a writing career, as well as the emotional territory underpinning her fiction. Even now, success hasn’t made the work easy:

“I have an epiphany and delete what I’ve written. I’ve done that for 11 out of 11 books – 80,000 words deleted – and I’m pretty sure I’ll do it for the 12th. It’s inefficient, but it’s the way I write!”

The full interview will also feature on Write On! Audio on 22 September.

On our sponsor page, Deb Maclaren, CEO of LoveReading, explores how a lifelong love of books can become a force for change, helping today’s readers support the next generation through reading.

Issue 31, themed ‘Fractured’ with headliner, the global bestseller Joanne Harris is sponsored by The Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation and will be out 10 December 2026.

This theme will also inform content for the digital Write On! Extra (accessible through this website) and Write On! Audio. (This podcast can be accessed 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.

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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 and Essex. University distribution points include Canterbury Christ Church University, Queen Mary’s University London and the University Of Sunderland. 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 of 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 over 400, 000 users from 198 countries to respond to the ideals of engagement, transparency, connection and inclusion.

A Call To Action:

1. 1. For up-to-date editorial information, including how to submit to the Write On! suite of publications, including audio, see:  Editor’s Introduction.
   2. Partnerships: Write On! has already facilitated partnerships and co-operation with The Hay Festival, The RNA (Romantic Novelists’ Association), All Stories, Bloomsbury, Penguin, the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation, Write Back UK, the Curtis Brown Agency, LoveReading, London Writers’ Salon, Write-On-The-Tyne, Queen Mary’s University London, The University Of Sunderland, Christ Church University Canterbury, the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast, The Turner Contemporary, library networks across the country and The London Library with many others 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 Write On! Together magazine, with demographics, testimonials and lots of information.