An exclusive interview with the Sunday Times bestselling author, Jane Corry sits at the centre of an extraordinary COVID-19 edition of Write On! 5. However, Jane’s is just one of the voices that have contributed experience, strength and hope to the issue. This special edition brings together the diverse voices that have created such power through Write On! Extra, into a beautifully designed, digital magazine.

As Chair of the Pen to Print Advisory Board, it has been an honour to contribute to the work of the programme. BAME and LGBTQ+ writers, and writers from working-class backgrounds, have long been underrepresented in the publishing industry.

Write On! Extra, the online daily digest was launched in early April. During lockdown, it was a vehicle that allowed writers from the local community to share experiences which encouraged other writers to reciprocate with their own. The result: positive engagement with thousands of creatives and writers – many sharing their response to the pandemic in a variety of creative forms. These included: spoken word, prose, flash fiction, illustrations, cartoons, essays and poetry. It has put Barking and Dagenham at the heart of words and stories flying in from across the UK and 93 countries around the world.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, Cllr Saima Ashraf shares the following statement of support: “As Chair of the Pen to Print Advisory Board, it has been an honour to contribute to the work of the programme. BAME and LGBTQ+ writers, and writers from working-class backgrounds, have long been underrepresented in the publishing industry. We established Pen to Print in 2014 to address this; nurturing our local writing talent as a way for the voices of residents in Barking and Dagenham to be heard.”

The new Write On! Extra season starts on Wednesday 29 July. The stories and ideas collated online will also feed into Write On! Issue 6. Themed ‘A Kaleidoscope of Colours’, they will explore the shifting landscape we are living through at the moment, looking at how we are adapting to the ever-changing, ever-swirling patterns of life.

Visit Pen to print for the latest edition