During this Covid-19 crisis, it has never been more important to have a safe space to share stories. Write On! the quarterly print magazine and online forum is published by Pen to Print, a project born in Barking and Dagenham. Funded by the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the Arts Council, Pen to Print links local writing communities into the publishing industry by showcasing the work of emerging writers.
Building on its ethos of growing local writing communities to help strengthen communities, Pen to Print has tasked the Write On! editorial team (writers, editors and Pen to Print alumni), with creating and curating Write on! Extra, an online haven for storytelling, in order to offer a daily digest with purpose.
Write On! Extra extends the current weekly offering of showcased creative writing, features and interviews on pentoprint.org, into a comprehensive daily schedule which everyone is invited to participate in, whether as readers or contributors. We are happy to accept video or spoken extracts/snapshots as well as written pieces.
Monday Memoirs – Stories and experiences from the past to inform our future.
Thoughtful Tuesdays – Thought for the day, mindfulness, inspiration, quotes and spiritual ideas shared to create leadership and hope to see us through the week.
Write On! Showcase – This creative writing showcase will include poetry, short stories, flash fiction and book extracts, all reflecting the weekly theme.
Thursday Connectors – How is your country/community coping with the crisis? Everyone and everywhere has different experiences and different ways of dealing with what is happening. Here we pull these together in one place.
Write On! Features – Essays, opinions and features. In Write On! Extra the subject matter will be extended beyond the current focus of publishing and writing to include content from different sources that are relevant to our times.
Saturday Spotlight – Books are still being launched at the moment, with many publishers too committed to pull back now. Spotlight will therefore shout out a book launch a week as well as a roundup of releases, with social media activity being used to showcase the post as well as inviting other launch tags.
Write On! Interviews – This section usually features writers, publishers, editors and agents. In Write On! Extra this Sunday profile opportunity will also be extended to council and front-line staff; creative project leads and Arts Council England representatives as well as local organisations.
This is a real opportunity for aspiring writers in Barking and Dagenham to showcase their inspiring work to the community, giving writers and readers alike something positive to focus on during these uncertain times
All will be aligned to a weekly theme and the first week’s theme, starting Monday 30 March, will be from ‘Head in the Clouds’ to ‘Feet on the Ground’ - making sense of it all while keeping active and connected.
Cllr Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, and Co-Chair of the Pen to Print Advisory Board says: “This is a real opportunity for aspiring writers in Barking and Dagenham to showcase their inspiring work to the community, giving writers and readers alike something positive to focus on during these uncertain times.”
Our culture is shifting at the moment. The worlds we create do therefore not just serve us. Make a difference to your community from your own four walls and JOIN US on pentoprint.org.
We invite local people to get in touch. We also welcome partnership discussions for organisations wishing to contribute, so the voices of their beneficiaries and teams can be heard. Details will be published on pentoprint.org.