On July 15th, The Literary Consultancy presented four specially commissioned short films featuring some of the UK’s most exciting writers, telling their story of how they became writers; and how you can too. The films will be made freely available on the TLC website on September 1st 2021.
100% of the ‘Why I Write’ premiere ticket proceeds will go towards establishing a TLC Associate Artist fund, to be awarded to a writer writing with creativity and imagination about the future. The callout for applications will prioritise those without creative writing qualifications (e.g., BAs or MAs) in order to widen the field of opportunity to find exciting new voices in storytelling. We have so far raised £1,366 towards this fund. We have a fundraising target of £3,000 and will be sharing more information about how you can contribute soon. Please email if you are interested in hearing more or talking to us about sponsorship.
The TLC ‘Why I Write’ films feature:
About the Writers
Ashley Hickson-Lovence is a novelist, PhD student and Lecturer of Creative Writing originally from London. While working as a secondary school English teacher, he completed his MA in Creative Writing and Publishing from City, University of London and is currently finishing his AHRC-funded PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia. He has recently been appointed as part-time Lecturer of Creative Writing at the Arts University Bournemouth and also works with young writers for First Story and Arvon. His debut novel The 392 was released with OWN IT! in April 2019. His second novel Your Show, based on the life and career of former Black football referee Uriah Rennie, will be released with Faber in April 2022 and he is currently writing his third novel.
Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among the Irish community of Birmingham in the ’60s and ’70s. Her debut novel My Name Is Leon was an international bestseller, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for 2017. Her second novel, The Trick to Time, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize and her young adult novel Becoming Dinah was shortlisted for the Carnegie CLIP Award 2020. She also crowdfunded and edited an anthology of working-class memoir, Common People, which was published in 2018. Kit founded the Big Book Weekend, a free digital literary festival and was named the FutureBook Person of the Year in 2019. Her latest publication, Supporting Cast, is a collection of short stories.
Hanif Kureishi grew up in Kent and studied philosophy at King’s College London. His novels include The Buddha of Suburbia, which won the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel, The Black Album, Intimacy, The Last Word, and The Nothing. His screenplays include My Beautiful Laundrette, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, and Le Week-End. He has also published several collections of short stories. Kureishi has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the PEN Pinter Prize, and is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His work has been translated into 36 languages.
Elle McNicoll is a Scottish and Neurodivergent writer, happily living in London. She graduated with a first in Creative Writing and has worked as a bookseller, bartender, blogger and babysitter—all while writing stories for her own amusement. After completing her Masters dissertation on the lack of Own Voices representation for Neurodivergent children, she grew tired of the lack of inclusivity in the industry, and wrote a book herself. Her first children’s novel, A Kind of Spark, was published in June 2020 by award-winning indie press Knights Of and stars two openly autistic young women. After publication A Kind Of Spark swiftly became a Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Month, and was announced as both The Times and The Sunday Times’ Children’s Book of the Week. Elle’s second book, Show Us Who You Are, was published in March 2021.
