Spread the Word

A light blue poster with the London Writers Award logo in the top right and the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society in the top left corner. The text reads 'Writers and Readers Salon London Writers Awards Edition. with Alexandra Sheppard, Oisín McKenna, Tasneem Abdur-Rashid and Tom Newlands'. Underneath are the 4 headshots of the writers - Alexandra is a mixed race woman with her hair up in a bun, 2 tendrils floating down and she wears a black tank top and small gold hoops. Oisin is a white male with a a shaved head and tiny gold hoop in one ear, he wears a grey sweatshirt. Tasneem is a woman wearing a beige headscarf and green top. Tom is sat in front of lots of green foliage, he has short brown hair, wears glasses and a stripey polo shirt. There is a thin white line and then underneath the details of the event - 'Thursday 18 September, 7pm Burley Fisher Books, E8 4AA Tickets starting from £4.80* There is a white burst that reads '*includes free drink'. Book your place - tinyurl.com/4jd9s4k3'

Celebrate the return of the London Writers Awards and our 30th Anniversary with readings and discussions with judges past and present Alexandra Sheppard, Oisin McKenna, Tasneem Abdur-Rashid and @newlands.bsky.social l

tinyurl.com/4jd9s4k3

A poster to promote our ACE workshops. Poster background is blue with a headshot in the centre of workshop leader, Ruth Harrison. Black lettering at the top reads: “Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice Workshop with Ruth Harrison.” Black lettering at the bottom left the text reads: “Monday 6 October, 7pm Online, via Zoom Tickets FREE Book your place - https://tinyurl.com/34zdw45k”

📣 FREE @artscouncilengland.bsky.social Developing Your Creative Practice Workshop this October for London-based writers led by Spread the Word director, Ruth Harrison.

For more info and to book your place: tinyurl.com/4m7dv9ak

📣 FREE @artscouncilengland.bsky.social National Lottery Project Grants Workshop this September for London-based writers led by freelance literature producer, Tom MacAndrew. For more info and to book your place: https://tinyurl.com/y2hnytd6

📣 FREE @artscouncilengland.bsky.social National Lottery Project Grants Workshop this September for London-based writers led by freelance literature producer, Tom MacAndrew.

For more info and to book your place: tinyurl.com/y2hnytd6

Exciting Opportunity for LGBTQIA+ Writers! 📝🌈 @spread-the-word.bsky.social is celebrating its 30th Anniversary with a special call for LGBTQIA+ Emerging Writer Commissions – and submissions are now open!
🗓️ Submission deadline is 19th Aug.
Find out more - tinyurl.com/3yjrtyue

A poster to promote our latest campaign, Free Reads. An image at the top showing people sat at a desk reading and writing. Underneath is a light blue background with black lettering saying, 'FREE READS 2025. Applications open. London writer on a low income? Apply for professional feedback: - on your manuscript - on your submissions package - with an editor one-on-one Submissions close 7 October 2025 Find out more: tinyurl.com/2c2hd599' Below that are the TLC, Arts Council England and Spread the Word logos

📣 Free Reads 2025 is now live! If you are a London-based writer on low income, you could receive professional, editorial feedback on your writing and support on your writing journey.

Find out more: tinyurl.com/2c2hd599

@artscouncilengland.bsky.social @thelitconsultancy.bsky.social

Part 2 of asking our London Writers Awards 2025 cohort when they prefer to write. Do you have a favourite time of day to write? ⏰

We asked some of our London Writers Awards 2025 cohort about their favourite time of day to write.

When do you like to write? 🕰️

1. Two women sit smiling to camera. The woman on the left has an afro and wears green-rimmed sunglasses, she is saluting and has a cheesy grin. The woman next to her has dark red sunglasses and wears lots of beads

2. An old picture of a room with Spread the Word's old event banner - white with pink lettering

3. An old picture of the event, lots of people sat in a gold and red room

4. 3 people pictured holding drinks and laughing together at an event. There is a black man in the middle with a shaved head and gap between his front teeth, he is looking to a woman to the side of him who is talking. The other two people either side of him both of heir faces cut out.

This year, our little organisation turns the big 3 0! We’re taking the opportunity to reflect on the brilliant writers, team members, partners, participants, projects and programmes that have formed part of our story so far, and we’d love to hear from YOU.

Share your memories - tinyurl.com/3yjrtyue

A light blue background with headshots of Remi Graves (a black person with a shaved head, staring off camera, wearing a white shirt) and Liam Konnemann (a trans man with dark brown hair, wearing a black shirt and thin chain looking into camera). Underneath in black capitals reads '30th Anniversary LGBTQIA+ Emerging Writer Commissions. We are commissioning 3 LGBTQIA+ writers. Submissions close Tuesday 19 August 2025. Find out more: tinyurl.com/3yjrtyue'. The Spread the Word logo is in the bottom right hand corner in black.

We are excited to announce our 30th Anniversary LGBTQIA+ Emerging Writer commissions are now open!

🗓️ Submission deadline is 19th Aug. The selected writers will be judged by Remi Graves and @liamkonemann.bsky.social

Find out more - tinyurl.com/3yjrtyue

A picture of 6 people all sat round a table in a cafe, smiling at the camera

A picture of 3 people sat at a cafe table, smiling to camera

3 people sat smiling to camera

A picture of a cake in a tin, with cocounut flakes all over the top

Some pics from our summer gathering 🍰 Thank you to everyone who braved the weather and battled the London transport issues to come and hang out with us. It was a lovely chance to catch up with old friends and connect with new ones. Swipe for Ruth’s famous coconut cake 😍

An image of people stood in front of a book stall, reading book blurbs or browsing. Underneath in thick capitals reads 'We're hiring' 'Finance officer'. The Spread the Word logo and loudhaler is in white in the top right corner and at the bottom in white writing 'spreadtheword.org.uk/opportunities'

We're hiring! We are looking for an experienced Finance Officer (part-time) to join our team this month. If you have two or more years experience in charity finances and are motivated by the work we do, we’d love to hear from you - for more info and to apply www.spreadtheword.org.uk/come-and-wor...

An image split into 9 equal images, 8 are the headshots of the people awarded Honorary Fellows and the final image bottom right is white with '2025 Honorary Fellows' and the Royal Society of Literature logo in black.

We are SO proud to share that our director Ruth Harrison has been named an Honorary Fellow by the @rsliterature.bsky.social. This is a lifetime honour for those who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of literature in the UK 👏💐

www.spreadtheword.org.uk/spread-the-w...

Some photos from our Windrush gardening and poetry workshops

Young People’s Laureate For London – Spread the Word The Young People’s Laureate’s mission is to:

You Are Here - peer to peer survivor writing is Jet Moon’s second survivor writers platform, offering an expanded series of workshops, a survivor writers group and a series of interviews. Read more - www.spreadtheword.org.uk/projects/you...

A poster to promote the workshop. a light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loudhaler in black in top right. In black lettering it reads 'Shaping Your Story. Mastering Plot and Structure with Jyoti Patel.' Underneath is a headshot of Jyoti, she is a woman of Indian descent with long brown hair and a fringe. She holds her hand under chin and smiles to camera. At the bottom are the event details - 'Mon 15 Sept, 6.30pm. Online, via Zoom. Tickets starting from £9.60. Book your place - spreadtheword.org.uk/events'

On sale now - Shaping Your Story, Mastering Plot and Structure with Jyoti Patel. A creative writing workshop on building a satisfying plot and narrative structure, open to all levels.

There are bursary places available.

Find out more and book your place - www.spreadtheword.org.uk/events/shapi...

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Lui Sit. London Writers Awards 2018'. Below is the Children's Wainwright Prize logo - round green letters on a pale background. Next to the logo reads ' Land of the Last Wildcat* is longlisted for The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Fiction' and below '*Fun fact: Lui developed this book while on the London Writers Awards programme'. Lui is pictured - a woman with a big smile and her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, wearing a blue blazer over a yellow top. Her book cover depicts a busy jungle scene with an outline of a cat in the sunset sky.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Natasha Brown. London Writers Awards 2019'. The Orwell Prizes logo - a red background with white lettering and an image of Orwell's face in black. Next to the logo reads ' 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction finalist with Universality'. Natasha is pictured next to her book cover. Natasha is a Black woman with short dark hair, wearing a brown rollneck. Her book cover is of a large gold bullion with the word 'Universality' on it.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Ashani Lewis. London Writers Awards, 2021.' Below is the Jhalek Prize logo - a black circle with the words in dark blue. Next to it reads 'Everest shortlisted for the Jhalek Prose Prize 2025'. Below is Ashani's headshot - Ashani has long brown hair and a loosely cut fringe, she sits facing the camera with her arm propped under her chin. She wears a striped white and blue shirt. . Her book cover Everest depicts a young woman wearing a white dress and holding a human-sized sparrow to her.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Sarah Cotton. Early Career Bursary Winner 2024'. Below is the London Library logo, a black background with the words in thin white capitals. Next to it reads 'The London Library Emerging Writers Programme 2025/26 cohort'. Beneath is a picture of Sarah - with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a top with lots of little flowers all over it.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Anne Elicaño-Shields. London Writers Awadrs 2021.' Below is the London Library logo, a black background with the words in thin white capitals. Next to it reads 'The London Library Emerging Writers Programme 2025/26 cohort'. Beneath is a picture of Anne, a filipino woman smiling to camera with her hands on her hips. She wears a velvet black dress in the woods.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Aparna Surendra. London Writers Awadrs 2022.' Below is the London Library logo, a black background with the words in thin white capitals. Next to it reads 'The London Library Emerging Writers Programme 2025/26 cohort'. Beneath is a picture of Aparna - a Sri Lankan woman smiling to camera, her dark hair falling in big curls. She wears glasses and a black leather jacket.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Ana Diamond. Early Career Bursary, 2024.' Underneath is the Canongate logo - a white background with the word Canongate in black capitals, with a 2 red shapes in between the n and g akin to an open book. Next to the logo reads 'Signed major deal with Canongate for her book, Breaking Silence: The Daughters of Iran'. Below is a picture of Ana - a girl with long, balayage hair sits in a chair smiling to camera. She wears a beige shirt and black trousers. -

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Chris Bridges, London Writers Awards, 2022'. Below is the Old Peculiar McDermid Debut Award logo, in white writing against a red thumbprint and a spooky forest background. Next to it reads 'Sick to Death shortlisted for the McDermid Debut Award'. Below is a headshot of Chris, sat with his hands folded on a wooden table in front of him. He wears a pin striped shirt and glasses, his head is turned slightly, smiling cheekily to camera. His book cover is blue with pink text. It depicts part of a woman's face and a blurred shadow of another. The words read Sick to Death in capitals. and in smaller lettering in between 'Emma is sick. Just not in the way you think'

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Nilesha Chauvet. London Writers Awards 2021.' Below is the Old Peculiar McDermid Debut Award logo, in white writing against a red thumbprint and a spooky forest background. Next to it reads ' Her Two Lives shortlisted for the McDermid Debut Award'. Below is a headshot of Nilesha - with straight brown hair and pink lipstick, wearing a black suit - and her book cover - two faces of women and a slash between the words in the title.

A series of posts celebrating the achievements of our alumni writers. The first post is a light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'We're celebrating. Our alumni across our many Awards and programmes are achieving great things! Let’s take a look...'. The headshots of the 10 writers are pictured, followed by 'Read more at spreadtheword.org.uk/news'

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Jamie Field. Disabled Poets Prize winner, 2023.' Below that is the Word Up North logo - a dark green background with lime green/yellow lettering that gets gradually bigger and thicker, and 'New Northern Poets 2025 cohort'. There is a picture of Jamie, a white man with glasses and stubble stands in front of a brick wall, wearing a dark blue courduroy shirt open over a black t-shirt.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Ashani Lewis, London Writers Awards, 2021.' The Society of Authors logo is beneath - a white background with the letters S and A swirling round each other in different shades of blue. Next to it reads 'Winter Animals* won both the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award at the Society of Authors Awards' and at the bottom '*Fun fact: Ashani developed the novel while on the London Writers Awards programme'. A picture of Ashani next to her book. Ashani has long brown hair and a loosely cut fringe, she sits facing the camera with her arm propped under her chin. She wears a striped white and blue shirt. Her book cover is an image of a room with a grandfather clock, a poster and boxes partially in view, with the letters in thin yellow capitals 'Winter Animals, Ashani Lewis'.

A light blue background with the Spread the Word logo and loud haler in black in the top right corner. In the left is a small black and white banner that says 'Alumni'. The text reads 'Tom Newlands. London Writers Awards, 2021'. The Society of Authors logo is beneath - a white background with the letters S and A swirling round each other in different shades of blue. Next to it reads 'Only Here, Only Now awarded the McKitterick Prize at the Society of Authors Awards'. Beneath that is a picture of Tom with close-cropped curly hair and thick rimmed glasses, wearing a yellow top and red puffer jacket looking straight to camera. Next to him is a picture of his book cover - a black and white photo of a street with a young boy and girl stood looking to the camera, the girl is unsmiling, the boy has his arm up leaning on her shoulder. In orange capitals the title reads ' Only Here, Only Now'

We're celebrating! Our alumni across our many Awards and programmes are achieving great things. We are incredibly proud and happy for them 🤩
Our mission is to support London’s underrepresented writers get their work into the world. So it is great to see our alumni getting well deserved recognition!

We are excited to be part of this conference in October. Early bird discounts for teachers ends 22nd July - we recommend booking early!

A post to highlight the authors on the new Poetics Lab programme. A light blue background with the headshots of 11 authors in square frames, their names are underneath their image in a black banner. In thin white writing at the top of the page reads 'Meet your mentors, who will help you develop your own creative work and guide you towards the end of programme showcase and performance at Deptford Literature Festival 2026' and at the bottom it reads 'Find out more: tinyurl.com/3bnvncdf'

We are so excited to announce that Sarah Howe is joining our group of mentors for the Poetics Lab programme. Poetics Lab is open to all London-based poets aged 18-30, with a special focus on those living in SE London.

There is less than a month left to apply - good luck! Tinyurl.com/3bnvncdf

Great to see London Writers Awards alumna @lui-land.bsky.social on this list. Fun fact, Lui was developing this book during their time on the programme in 2018. Big congratulations Lui!! 👏

Slide reads in bold 'We found a new audience' and then '70% of our festival attendees are not your regular literature crowd for 31% this was their first ever literature event and 39% attend one literature event per year or less'

Slide reads in bold 'Access is at the core of our work' and then '23% of our audience identified as D/deaf or disabled 21% of our artists identified as D/deaf or disabled' and then ' "My best mate is deaf and this is great! We could both access" - audience feedback'

Slide reads in bold 'it's not over yet' and then 'Our online at-home resources and our 2025 Deptford Literature Festival and Young Writers Collective anthologies are still available via deptfordlitfest.com'

Final slide in bold lettering reads ' The Deptford Literature Festival returns in March 2026. More details to be announced soon...'

A series of infographics with some key statistics from teh Deptford Literature festival. All of them are set against a cyan background, with the Deptford Literature Festival logo in chunky lettering at the top. The first slide reads 'The 2025 Deptford Literature Festival was our BIGGEST and BEST festival yet! But don’t just take our word for it...'

Slide reads in bold 'Some key stats' and then 'The festival reached 7,500 people With 41 public events, including workshops, panel discussions and walking tours'

Slide reads in bold 'Some key stats (contd)' and then '12 community projects with 100 engagement workshops Worked with 13 partner organisations'

Slide reads in bold 'Lewisham is the heart of everything we do' and then '60% of attendees were from South East London, with 40% from Lewisham itself We worked with 100 performers, 72 were from Lewisham and 24 from other areas in South East London'

We love a statistic here at Spread the Word, so we thought we’d share some of our favourites from this year’s Deptford Literature Festival 🤓

A white woman’s hand is seen holding 2 anthologies - the left is black with an image in white of a hand holding an open book with a face in it. The title is ‘Within the Binding. Young writers collective anthology 2025’. The book on the right is different shades of blue and reads in chunky black capitals ‘Deptford Literature Festival 2025 anthology. Featuring work from Spread the Word’s 30th Anniversary and Borough of Literature commissioning programmes’. The background is of a blurry, sunny garden.

Our summer reading sorted 📚☀️✅

We’re enjoying reading the #DeptfordLitFest and Young Writers Collective anthologies - whether it’s our mid-morning-tea-break accompaniment or flicking through with a cheeky 6pm aperol spritz!

Who else is enjoying their copies?

As part of the #WCNFA public programme, we spoke with award-winning author and Awards judge, Angela Saini on writing non-fiction. Here she shares her thoughts on the importance of writing a thorough proposal.

@wellcomecollection.bsky.social

#NonFictionWriting #AngelaSaini #writingtip #nonfiction

We've extended our #Windrush poetry and gardening workshops to all Caribbean adults. Places are free but limited - there’s only a couple of spots left so we encourage you to book sooner rather than later.

www.spreadtheword.org.uk/call-for-par...

#SpreadtheWord #Lewisham #BoroughofLiterature

Another huge congratulations are in order for another #LondonWritersAwards alumnus @newlands.bsky.social 👏👏

A big congratulations to #LondonWritersAwards alumna Ashani Lewis!!