On 4 February we held the second public meeting for our Lewisham, Borough of Literature campaign. The campaign aims to see Lewisham declared as the UK’s first Borough of Literature in order to give our borough recognition, drive funding towards word-related activities in the area, and give existing and new, talented writers and audiences more opportunities to develop their creativity and share their work.
The meeting on 4 February aimed to bring together local community members and grassroots community groups. The session, which was held at the Fellowship Inn in Bellingham, followed the same broad agenda as our first meeting.
We started with a mapping exercise to understand what word-related events and projects already exist in Lewisham. Participants shared a broad range of existing activities such as local book groups, scratch nights, festivals, adult literacy and numeracy classes, creative writing sesssions, libraries and cafes that offer a programme of events.
From there, we moved on to imagining what a ‘Borough of Literature’ could look like and the group had loads of brilliant ideas. Some key concerns included: supporting children and young people to read for pleasure; creating opportunities in the many different languages spoken in Lewisham, not just in English; making sure it is a celebration for everyone that brings literature to people where they are; commemorating famous local authors like H. G. Wells and E. Nesbit; creating intergenerational spaces; and enabling young people to understand the career paths available to them in publishing, writing and literature more broadly.
Lewisham is an incredibly diverse borough and making sure that the Borough of Literature campaign is truly for all local people is a priority for the team, as well as being raised at all of our meetings so far by local participants. Alongside English, languages spoken in the borough according to the 2021 census include: Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic, East Asian and South Asian languages, and languages from Africa. Unfortunately, more detailed information about languages spoken was not available in 2021 census data. 0.5% of the local population cannot speak English and a further 2.8% cannot speak it well. For the Borough of Literature, activities carried out in other languages and focused on translation will be important to make sure that everyone living in Lewisham has the opportunity to take part.
Next, we talked about what a thriving literature ecosystem in the borough would look like. Key points included: funding; accessible venues; and opportunities in all types of literature and creative activities, from poetry to photography.
Finally, we asked what difference a Borough of Literautre could make to Lewisham residents. The conversation covered: buiding a collective sense of pride in the area and it’s different communities; creating a strong legacy of increased opportunities and recognition for the borough; preserving the local history of migration; and reinvigorating local venues and businesses.
On Tuesday 25 February we will be popping up at a LEAN (Lewisham Education Arts Network) meeting to talk to local teachers about the Lewisham Borough of Literature. If you are not a teacher but would love to share your ideas for the campaign, we will hold another public meeting during Deptford Literature Festival on Saturday 29 March. You’ll also have the opportunity to meet our advisory group and hear commissioned writers read their pieces about Lewisham. The meeting is free to attend but places must be booked.
class="post-73219 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news"Announcing the 2025 London Writers Awards winners
Spread the Word, London’s literature development agency, is delighted to announce the names of the 24 writers who have been selected for the 2025 London Writers Awards. The programme has returned for a fifth year thanks to a generous philanthropic donation by Sam and Rosie Berwick. Founding partners are: the Independent Publishers Guild and the Society of Authors, this year’s sponsors are A M Heath, Bell Lomax Moreton, Janklow and Nesbit and Susanna Lea Associates.
In 2025, 24 London-based writers from communities underrepresented in UK publishing – Black, Asian or Global Majority, Working Class, LGBTQIA+, D/deaf and disabled, and writers on a low income – will be supported and nurtured through a ten-month development programme in preparation for meeting with agents and publishers and pursuing their writing careers.
The 2025 cohort comes from a diverse range of backgrounds, writing across Literary Fiction, Commercial Fiction and YA/Children’s Fiction. They include a trainee solicitor, documentary filmmaker, Jordanian-Palestinian playwright, mental health doctor, and an occasional drag queen.
The full list of London Writers Award winners is:
Literary Fiction: Maddy Accalia, Lishani Ramanayake, Laila Obeidat, Meher Iqbal, J. Lian Ho, Jose Ignacio Narciso, Susie Thornberry, V. Matsumari, Swithun Cooper, Judah Abraham-Silas, Sophia Khan, Sukie Wilson
Commercial Fiction: Ally Coker, Daniel Culpan, Nic Falvo, Emily D. Bean, Nkenna Ndujiuba, L.A. Chase
YA/Children’s Fiction: Coggin Galbreath, Victoria Ibbett, Damisi Adetola, Noel Emerald, Rukiya Shanthi, Shivanthi Sathanandan
Oisín McKenna 2025 judge, says: “I was completely thrilled by the quality of the submissions to this year’s London Writers Awards – they are bold, strange, enticing and powerful, written by writers with a remarkable grasp of their own craft and vision. As an alumnus of the programme, I can say with certainty that it’s a career-changing experience. It can make a life and career in writing imaginable and tangible, where before it may have felt remote, nebulous, and difficult to reach, giving participants permission to handle their own work with confidence and seriousness. I’m certain that with the transformative support offered by the London Writers Awards that there are bright futures ahead for these writers.”
Sam Berwick, philanthropist and funder of the 2025 London Writers Awards, says: “Rosie and I have had the great fortune to have worked with Spread the Word over the past three years, and we can’t say strongly enough what a great experience that has been. Now, being in a position to help them bring back such a critical project as the London Writers Award is a huge and very exciting privilege for us. We look forward to helping Spread the Word in this mission, and we would kindly call strongly and hopefully persuasively for both individuals and foundations to join us in further helping them in growing projects like the London Writers Awards. They are needed more than ever in the current environment.”
Ruth Harrison, Director of Spread the Word, comments: “We are delighted to be welcoming a new cohort of writers to this year’s London Writers Awards. Becoming a writer is a precarious endeavour. In this challenging time for arts funding, we would like to thank Sam and Rosie Berwick for their commitment to supporting writers with the craft, connections and community to take forward their careers. Sustained and accessible development opportunities are essential to ensuring we get to read and hear the stories writers want to tell from across our communities. This commitment is needed more than ever, and we welcome conversations on how we can increase the support and opportunities available to writers from underrepresented backgrounds in publishing.”
About the London Writers Awards
The London Writers Awards is the UK’s most successful development programme for writers from communities underrepresented in UK publishing. To date, 50 alumni have been agented and 37 have made book deals as a result of participating in the programme. The London Writers Awards has launched the careers of, amongst others: Natasha Brown, Tice Cin, Ashani Lewis, Cecile Pin, Pam Williams, Santanu Bhattacharya and Tom Newlands, whose debut novel Only Here, Only Now was selected as a Guardian Fiction Book of the Year, and Shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2025.
Originally launched in 2018, the programme ran for 4 years and supported 120 writers. In 2021, the London Writers Awards was cited by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Creative Diversity as an exemplary writer development programme. The cohort from our most recent programme in 2022 included writers who have gone on to receive considerable acclaim, including Oisín Mckenna (Evenings and Weekends, Fourth Estate) and Chris Bridges (Sick to Death, Avon).
This new iteration of the programme will support 24 unagented and unpublished London writers of Literary, Commercial and YA/Children’s Fiction each year from 2025 to 2027. The annual 10-month programme is free to participate in and offers bursary and access funds.
The 24 writers begin with a Writers’ Lab on Saturday 22 February. Over the course of ten months, the award recipients will: attend fortnightly critical feedback groups to grow and develop their work; participate in nine masterclasses led by writers and industry professionals; attend two Writers Labs, one with peers, judges and programme alumni and another with editors, publishers and agents; and receive a variety of bespoke development opportunities with editors, agents and the Spread the Word team.
All Awardees will receive 1-2-1 professional development sessions with members of the Spread the Word team to support their development whilst on the programme. Information about the Awardees’ projects will be distributed to over 350 agents and editors. Spread the Word has also set up an alumni network for the 120 previous recipients of the Award, to which 2025 awardees will be invited to join. This includes on-going craft, career and networking opportunities.
#LondonWritersAwards2025
For more information, visit: https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/projects/london-writers-awards
Published 19 February 2025
class="post-72991 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-opportunities"Volunteer at Deptford Literature Festival 2025
Are you interested in being a part of a large and vibrant literature event? Volunteering at Deptford Literature Festival events offers a fabulous opportunity to immerse yourself in literature for a day.
What does it involve?
We’re looking for volunteers to support on Saturday 29 March. You’d need to be available 9am – 6pm on that day.
You will mostly be based at Deptford Lounge and/or The Albany, but might be ask to cover some events at venues nearby (e.g: Brookmill Park or the Moonshot Centre) or on one of our walking tours (max. 3-4 mile walk).
Your responsibilities will include:
- Managing ticketing
- Introducing events to the audience
- Helping people who have questions
- Collecting feedback
You will also get to attend and take part in the sessions that you support.
Volunteers are provided with a festival t-shirt, a £30 travel and food stipend, and are offered a free ticket to our opening event Lewisham Lyricists at the Albany on Friday 28 March.
Volunteer briefing
If you sign up to become a festival volunteer we will need you to attend our online briefing session. Please check before you sign up that you will be able to attend the session. Volunteer briefing will happen via Zoom on Monday 17 March at 7-8.30pm.
This session will explain how the festival works, talk through the schedule for the day and outline how we’d like you to support visitors. This session will also include training from Fuse Theatre offering an introduction to British Sign Language and to working bilingually and with sign language users and interpreters.
Sign up to volunteer
Please complete the application form by Monday 10 March to be considered for a volunteering role. We’ll be in touch shortly after the deadline to confirm your involvement.
If you have any questions or would like to request any reasonable adjustments to the application process, please get in touch with us via [email protected].
class="post-72863 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news"Announcing the 2025 Disabled Poets Prize Shortlist
Spread the Word and CRIPtic Arts are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2025 Disabled Poets Prize.
The Disabled Poets Prize was founded by Jamie Hale, with CRIPtic Arts, Spread the Word, and Verve Poetry Press. The Prize is supported by ALCS, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society. The Prize aims to nurture, encourage, and celebrate the talents and successes of deaf and disabled poets.
Barriers to entry to the arts for deaf and disabled people are high, with often inaccessible live spaces and expensive entry prizes. The Disabled Poets Prize, which is free to enter and open to deaf and disabled UK writers, saw 220 entries across two categories – Best Single Poem, and Best Unpublished Pamphlet.
There are a number of cash prizes. Prize-winners and all shortlisted writers will also receive career development opportunities courtesy of Spread the Word, CRIPtic Arts, The Literary Consultancy and Arvon Foundation; while the winner of the Best Unpublished Pamphlet prize will be offered the opportunity to have their book published by Verve Poetry Press.
The final results will be announced at a special event broadcast online as part of 2025 Deptford Literature Festival on Saturday 29 March. Tickets are available to book on Eventbrite.
The 2025 Disabled Poet Prize judges are Khairani Barokka, Polly Atkin and the Prize’s founder, poet Jamie Hale.
2025 Best Single Poem
Shortlist
- Khushi Bajaj – My School has 4.4 stars on Google Maps
- Oli Isaac – to whom / it may / concern
- Imogen McHugh – After her recruitment
- Husna Memon – My Father Has Three Tongues
- Alex Mepham – The Blue Hour
- Erinma Ochu – How to read the atmosphere
- Olivia Tuck – according to the many who loved her
Longlist
- Oliver Carmichael – Prelude
- Bee Gibson – I am sorry for telling you about the rats
- Florence Grieve – A Map of the Theatre by a Girl Who Falls Through the Cracks of Access
- Pippa Marshall – The X-Ray
2025 Best Unpublished Pamphlet
Shortlist
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Jessica Boatright – Burst
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Rue Collinge – HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
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Benjamin J Larner – Freakshow
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Hazel McMichael – Forgetting
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Sarah O’Connor – A Cloudburst of Women
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Erika Phoenix – Welcome to Post Carolina
Longlist
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Joey Hollis – A dictionary of angels
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David McNeish – Let the Tusker Plunge
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Norman Miller – Night Sounds
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Lata Nobes – Mirror
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Anna Shelton – Remedial Swim Class
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Karis Williamson – Tea Apothecary
Congratulations to all the poets and thank you to all those who entered. The judges enjoyed reading all your work.
We hope you will be able to join us on Saturday 29 March for a special broadcast to announce the winners. The event will feature readings from the winning poets and is part of the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival programme. Free tickets are now available to book via Eventbrite.
Donations enable the Prize to develop and grow, so we can reach more disabled poets and provide more opportunities to nurture their writing, artistry and audiences. If you are able to give, please consider doing so on our Total Giving page.
class="post-72881 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news"Deptford Literature Festival Environmental Statement
Sustainability is fundamental to Deptford Literature Festival. We acknowledge the climate emergency and the impacts it is having on our communities in Lewisham.
We are committed to mitigating the environmental impacts of creating a live festival, reducing our carbon footprint and advocating for action on climate change, through:
- Promoting and sign-posting Festival goers, artists, suppliers and team to use local public transport links or to walk or cycle to attend the Festival;
- Reducing use of single use plastic by providing drinking water in glass bottles and recyclable cups in workshop spaces in Deptford Lounge and having a water dispenser in the foyer for filling water bottles;
- Reducing printed paper usage with all Festival events bookable online for digital tickets;
- Using email, social media and the Festival website to communicate about the Festival;
- Producing our Festival brochure online and printed using recyclable material using FSC standard paper, and ensuring it is recycled after its use;
- Prioritising working with local organisations and businesses as suppliers to keep travel down to a minimum and help keep money circulating within the local community;
- Working with our partner venues, we operate a system through which we seek to recycle the maximum amount of waste produced on site;
- Programming talks, workshops and artistic responding to the natural world, directly addressing the relationship between people and the environment, shining a light on some of the most critical issues of our times.
We welcome your thoughts and ideas on how we can continue to improve the sustainability of the Festival. Please email: [email protected]
We are currently hiring an Environmental Impact Evaluator for the 2025 festival. Their role will be to assess the impact of the festival across venues, transport, digital footprint and more; provide a framework for continued monitoring; and share practical recommendations for improving our environmental footprint.
class="post-72842 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-opportunities"CLOSED: Environmental Impact Evaluator, Deptford Literature Festival
Spread the Word is looking for an impact and evaluation consultant to assess the environmental impact of the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival, which will take place from Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 March 2025. This evaluation will establish baseline measurements and provide recommendations for future sustainability improvements. We have published an environmental statement for Deptford Literature Festival which provides a starting point for the evaluator.
About Deptford Literature Festival
- An annual four-day festival across multiple venues.
- Print distribution: a programme before the festival and a free anthology of commissioned writing during the festival.
- A mixture of in-person and online events. Recorded events are available online for one month afterwards.
- Local artist/organisation-produced events including performances, panel talks, walking tours and workshops.
- New writing commissioned for the festival.
- Free public access to the majority of events.
- Accessibility is a priority – we work with many BSL interpreters to cover festival events. All of our online events are captioned.
Objectives for the Environmental Evaluation
- Establish a baseline for understanding the festival’s environmental impact.
- Identify areas of improvement related to sustainability.
- Create practical recommendations for future iterations of the festival.
- Develop a monitoring framework for ongoing assessment.
- Compare the impact of digital vs in-person delivery.
We are keen to understand the true environmental impact of the festival and to weigh that against the positive impacts it has, in order to understand where improvements should be made.
Key Areas for Assessment
1. Transport & Travel
- Audience travel methods
- Speaker/performer transport
- Staff/volunteer travel
- Delivery services e.g. print distribution, delivery of technical event equipment
2. Materials & Resources
- Festival Anthology production
- Marketing materials
- Event materials
- Signage
- Merchandise
- Food/drink provision
3. Waste Management
- Recycling rates
- Waste types
- Disposal methods
- Waste prevention opportunities
4. Digital Footprint
- Online event hosting
- Website hosting
- Digital marketing
- Impact of online participation
5. Venues/Spaces
While not ‘owned’ spaces, the venues we choose to use for the festival will have an impact on our environmental footprint.
- Size/ capacity of venue
- Venue’s environmental policies
- Venue’s practice in terms of waste, energy, food/ drink provision etc
- Capcity vs use of space
- Distance and travel between venues
Timeline and deliverables
1. Initial Framework (delivered before the festival, by 26 March 2025)
- Assessment methodology
- Data collection tools
- Monitoring templates
- Staff guidance documents and team briefing
2. Monitoring and assessment is in-place during the festival (27-30 March 2025)
3. Final Report (June 2025)
- Executive summary
- Methodology
- Carbon footprint calculation
- Detailed findings
- Comparative analysis
- Practical recommendations
- Future monitoring framework
Required Expertise
- Experience assessing environmental impact, preferably in an arts and culture context.
- Understanding of event production.
- Understanding of sustainabilty as it applies to events and how to monitor it.
- Experience delivering practical, insightful reports to senior leadership.
Methodology Requirements
- Adherence to recognised environmental assessment standards.
- Clear data collection protocols.
- Reliable carbon calculation methods.
- Practical monitoring approaches.
- Replicable assessment framework (in the context of a small charity).
Budget
£5,000 total, approximately 12.5 days at £400per day
Reporting Structure
The consultant will report to the Director and work with:
- Festival Producer
- Venue managers
- Technical teams
- Production staff
How to apply
Please submit:
- Your proposed methodology, on 2 sides of A4 maximum.
- In a cover letter, maximum 1 side of A4, please explain your relevant experience and share an example of at least one similar project.
- Your day rate.
- The details of two referees.
The deadline to apply is 10am on Tuesday 11 February. Please send your application to [email protected].
Interviews will take place on Tuesday 25 February. Interviews will be conducted by Director Ruth Harrison and Festival Producer Tom MacAndrew.
If you would like to request any reasonable adjustments to the application process please contact us via [email protected].
For an informal discussion about this brief, please contact Ruth Harrison at [email protected].