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Almost half of all authors, writers and translators in the UK come from professional, middle-class backgrounds, compared with just ten per cent of those from a working-class background. So where are the working-class writers? The answer is right here. This exciting event brings together writers from two breakthrough anthologies, Common People (Unbound) and Know Your Place (Dead Ink). 

 

Common People brings together thirty-three contributors to share their experiences growing up working-class in an anthology of essays, poems and memoir, inviting you to see through their eyes. Written in celebration these pieces give voice to perspectives that are increasingly absent from our books and newspapers. Common People ensures they are heard loud and clear, looking to change how culture is represented of the nation’s demographics.

 

In July 2016, a little over a month after the Brexit vote, Nikesh Shukla, the man behind The Good Immigrant, tweeted: “Someone should do a Good Immigrant-style state of the nation book of essays by writers from working class backgrounds.” Liverpool based independent publisher’s immediate reply was; “We would publish the crap out of that.” – Know Your Place is that book, a collection of essays about the working class, by the working class.

 

Kit de Waal was born in Birmingham to an Irish mother and a Caribbean father. My Name is Leon, her debut novel, was an international bestseller and won Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year in 2016. Her second novel, The Trick to Time, followed in April 2018. She established the Kit de Waal Creative Writing Scholarship at Birkbeck University to help improve working-class representation in the arts.

 

Lynsey Hanley was born in Birmingham and lives in Liverpool. She is the author of Estates: An Intimate History (Granta, 2007), Respectable: The Experience Of Class (Penguin, 2016), and wrote the Introduction to the Penguin Modern Classics edition of Richard Hoggart's The Uses Of Literacy (2009). She is a regular contributor to the Guardian, the Financial Times and the LRB blog, and is a visiting research fellow at Liverpool John Moores University. 

 

Laura Waddell is UK Publishing Director at Tramp Press and board member of Gutter magazine. As a writer, her publications include Know Your Place, Nasty Women, The Digital Critic, The Guardian, TLS, Kinfolk magazine, and others. 


Gifted Tickets: A ticket purchased by you as an act of kindness which we will donate to someone less fortunate.
 
When you're buying your ticket you will be prompted to buy a Gifted Ticket at a concessionary rate.
This ticket, paid for by you, will be donated to someone who is unable to purchase a ticket for themselves. All you have to do is pay for the Gifted Ticket and we will take care of finding a good home for your generous donation.
 
Why are Gifted Tickets important?
Writing on the Wall is a registered charity who engage communities with high quality creative writing events, programmes and opportunities. We strongly believe everyone should have access to high quality arts and culture activity and our Gifted Ticket scheme is a key step in improving how accessible our work is to the community.
 
Who will be claiming your Gifted Ticket?
Gifted Tickets will be offered out to a range of people who do not have the opportunity or means to pay for a ticket themselves. This may include people seeking asylum, job-seekers, people in temporary accommodation, people in the care system, people living in poverty or on benefits and isolated people. Writing on the Wall guarantees to find a recipient for every gifted ticket purchased.
 
How to claim a Gifted Ticket?
You can claim a Gifted Ticket by phoning 0151 703 0020 or emailing info@writingonthewall.org.uk in advance. If you don’t have access to phone or email there may be Gifted Tickets available on the door before the event.