Guest Northern Highlight - Stories of Care
GUEST NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS
Stories of Care
Can you start by telling us about the
work that Stories of Care do?
At Stories Of Care, we empower new writers who are ethnically and socio-economically underrepresented in the Arts to tell their own stories and become creative leaders.
The personal background of our Lead Artist and additionally the backgrounds of our creative team inspire our projects, so we have a particular focus on supporting young people from care-experienced backgrounds and (more recently) young people from low-income, non-traditional family backgrounds.
Our Children’s Writing & Professional Development Programme is targeted at new writers aged 18-25, who wish to level up the quality of their writing and develop their creative careers by working towards the publication of their first short story for children. Here, we work with our Co-Producer Manchester Metropolitan University to publish comforting and inspiring stories for children aged 7-12, as well as providing positive, relatable role models both through the characters within the books and the writers of the stories themselves.
We also deliver one-to-one
business-mentorship and paid professional development opportunities for young
people across theatre, literature, radio and television, as well as working
closely with our partners to deliver Creative Writing Taster Sessions for young
people who want to give writing a go.
Why is it so important to provide a
platform for working class and care-experienced writers?
Because
books are for everyone and if society
is ever to be truly democratic, then all points of view need to be heard.
Currently,
sadly, simply, they’re not.
Of
course, there’s always been a huge disparity between the reality of life for
the majority of people in the UK, and the writers and perspectives that
populate the mainstream media. Whether it’s written, broadcast or spoken, the
question is one of Voice. Who gets to speak? Who is silenced? Who is listening?
Danny Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl is my favourite children’s
book of all time. Reading this book was a key moment in my childhood. It was
first time I felt like I saw myself
represented in a book: a young motherless boy being raised by his single parent
dad. Seeing myself on the page made me realise I could write and tell stories
too – children like me could even be the main character! – it empowered me to
start writing and telling stories of my own.
That’s
why we need to hear more of our
stories and why we need to be the one’s telling them. Everyone should be able
to see themselves, their experiences and their communities, authentically
represented in the books that they read, because it opens up whole new worlds
of possibility.
What do the UK’s creative industries
gain from amplifying a wider range of voices?
Personally, I see the
desire to amplify a wider range of voices as a moral imperative. It comes back
to what I said before about Voice - addressing inequality and tackling social
exclusion.
But also, it’s in the
commercial interests of the UK’s creative industries too – because diverse
cultural perspectives are proven to inspire creativity and drive innovation.
They make businesses more competitive and profitable. They increase cultural
understanding and sensitivity. And so much more!
If the UK’s creative
industries don’t address the problems it has (and always had had) with
inclusivity, then (in this day and age) I think they’ll soon become
old-fashioned, faded and obsolete, and new creative organisations that
authentically champion diversity will rise up and take their place.
What for you is the spirit of the North?
Its people, who I
think of (mostly) as kind, hard-working folk with great minds and generous
hearts.
Do you have any particular projects on the go at the moment that you’d like to tell us about?
Absolutely! My top three at the moment (though there are plenty more) are: Tales of the Bold, The Brave and The Beautiful, a new anthology for children, which will be published with ‘Manchester Children’s Book Festival at Mcr Met’ in June 2022. This anthology is the culmination of an 18-month Children’s Writing & Professional Development Programme, working closely with twelve aspiring writers from low income, non-traditional families and care-experienced backgrounds to develop their first published short stories for children. Together, we have created a ground breaking collection of funny, heartfelt and fantastical stories, inspired by our experiences with an uplifting message that everyone is worthy of family and love. The anthology includes contributions from myself, and writers Sophie Willan, Reece Williams, Dominic Berry and Danielle Jawando. 2,000 free copies will be gifted to children from care experienced, low income and non-traditional families. Our book launch will take place at Waterside Arts in Sale on Saturday 04 June.
Alfie’s First Fight has been adapted into a funny and heart-warming on-person theatre show for children (aged 5+) and their grown ups, written and performed by myself, directed by Dominic Berry and supported by Stories Of Care, Z-Arts and Arts Council England. A regional tour to schools, theatres, libraries and boxing clubs will take place in June/July 2022.
What do you hope to see from publishing
and creative industries in the north and how do you see access improving for
marginalised communities?
The North of England
has an extraordinary history of creativity, innovation and cultural influence.
I’d like to see publishers in the North honouring this rich legacy in their
work by striving to capture the ‘Spirit of the North’.
At the heart of that,
for me, is Collaboration.
I’d like to see
publishers in the North coming to communities and writers as equals and as
creatives. (Not as the ‘all-powerful purse strings holders’ or the
‘self-appointed experts of industry’).
Oliver Sykes, Stories of Care
Twitter: @StoriesOfCare1
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