I’m excited to team up with women’s charity Feathers Futures to call for short pieces of writing from women based anywhere in the UK, to celebrate the life and work of Anna Sewell.
Author of Black Beauty, Anna Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth on March 30th, 1820. Despite struggling with illness in her final years, she wrote Black Beauty, determined to create better treatment towards horses – it was published months before she passed away. Seen by many today as a children’s book, perhaps lesser appreciated is that Black Beauty was ground breaking for its time; written for adults, as a form of activism: to inspire change. Appalled at the impact of poverty, Sewell also had a keen sense of social justice and was an advocate of improved conditions for workers and their right to rest.
Sewell was determined to use writing and her life to speak out against oppression. Black Beauty not only paved the way for the abolishment of bearing reins, but went on to be one of the best selling novels in literary history.
We are inviting writing of all disciplines with a word count of 500 words to celebrate Anna Sewell and the power of literature to change the world. Fiction, poetry, non-fiction, biography, memoir, performance – the main themes of the work are to explore the power of literature to change the world and inspire compassion.
What vulnerability can you draw upon to inspire change? What oppression would you like to speak out against?
Selected pieces will be shared on radio and online and all will be archived as a celebration of Anna Sewell to be shared at community events. Please note if you would like your piece to have the chance to be selected for radio, please include an MP3 file of quality audio as part of your submission.
For a free writing workshop funded by Norfolk County Council to help create writing for this and full information on the Open Call, please email ruthie@ruthiecollins.co.uk
All who identify as women are invited to take part in this and we encourage writers under represented in literature to apply, too – including BAME writers, LBTQ writers, working class writers and writers with experience of disability. All levels of experience welcome. Minimum age 18. All authors retain copyright over their work.
Deadline: November 22nd – Email ruthie@ruthiecollins.co.uk to submit your piece.