This year, Spread the Word turns 30! It’s a big moment for the organisation and we’re taking the opportunity to finally treat ourselves to a new website (something that is long overdue) and a bit of a freshen-up.
We will continue to be London’s writer development centre, nothing is changing in terms of our values, vision or mission. We will continue to be a small, friendly organisation delivering big impact locally, in our home borough of Lewisham and on a national scale. But with a brand and website that can help us reach new audiences, participants, donors and supporters, enabling us not just to dream big, but to grow in ambition and impact.
We’ve written a brief for this project in two parts and are happy to recieve responses to one or both parts.
The budgets are:
- Rebrand: £10,000
- Website development: £20,000
Both fees are inclusive of VAT.
If you are interested in receiving the brief, please get in touch with [email protected].
The final deadline to send us a proposal responding to the brief is midday on Friday 30 May 2025.
Published 2 May 2025.
Photo: Kashif Haque
class="post-74732 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-opportunities"Call for Participants: Free Poetry and Gardening Workshops Celebrating Windrush Stories
Are you aged 50+ and of Caribbean heritage? Do you have stories about food, gardening, migration, or family traditions that you’d love to share?
As part of the Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Windrush Project—itself part of the Lewisham, Borough of Literature Campaign—we’re inviting Caribbean adults to join a series of creative gardening and poetry workshops exploring how culture, memory, and identity are preserved through cooking and gardening.
Gardening Workshops
Led by Coco Collective, the gardening workshops will take place at their Ital Garden at the black gate next to 71 Firhill Road, SE6 3SE, from 1-3pm on:
- Wednesday 2 July
- Wednesday 6 August
No previous gardening experience is needed.
The Ital Garden is a Black-led community garden growing Afro heritage foods.
Oral History Event
The oral history event will take place at Catford Library 22 June, from 2 -4pm. Come along to speak with award-winning writers Leone Ross and Joan Anim-Addo. Leone and Joan will listen to you and each write a short story inspired by your stories. The session will be paired with free Caribbean food.
Poetry Workshops
The poetry workshops will be led by award winning Caribbean poets Courtney Conrad and Keith Jarrett, who will support you in shaping your personal experiences into poems that will be published in an anthology.
Keith Jarrett is a London-based poet, fiction writer, and educator known for his work on identity, race, and sexuality. He is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion and International Slam Champion (2014). Jarrett’s poetry has been published in his debut pamphlet I Speak Home (2015) and his full-length collection Selah (2017). He is also a playwright and performer, with his play Safest Spot in Town being featured on BBC Four.
Courtney Conrad is a Jamaican poet. Her debut pamphlet I Am Evidence is published by Bloodaxe Books. She is a winner of the Eric Gregory Award, Michael Marks Award, Bridport Prize Young Writers Award and Mslexia Women’s Pamphlet Prize. She is currently a Cave Canem fellow and an alumna of The London Library Emerging Writers Programme, Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, Barbican Young Poets, Obsidian Foundation Fellow, Out-Spoken Press Emerging Poets Development Scheme and Roundhouse Poetry Collective.
Poetry workshops will take place on the following dates at the Albany in Deptford, from 1-2pm:
- Thursday 3 July
- Wednesday 9 July
- Thursday 10 July
- Wednesday 16 July
- Thursday 17 July
- Wednesday 23 July
- Thursday 24 July
- Wednesday 30 July
- Tuesday 5 August
No previous writing experience is needed—just your voice, memories, and curiosity. All sessions are paired with free Caribbean food.
How to Book
Places are limited, so get in touch soon to secure your spot! Ideally we are looking for participants to take part in all or as many of the sessions as they can. It’s not a problem if you miss a session or two, but ideally you’ll come to the majority.
For more information or to sign up, email [email protected]
When writing to book your spot on the programme, please let Courtney know:
- Any sessions you know you won’t be able to make
- If you have any access needs, dietry requirements or food alergies
Outcomes from the project
Stories and poems from the Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Windrush Project will be published in an anthology. This will available in both digital and printed formats, and distributed to local libraries and community centres. Participants will receive free copies.
Photo credits:
On the left, Keith Jarrett by Adrian Pope.
On the right, Courtney Conrad by Kashif Haque.
class="post-74729 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news"Mouth Mek Fi Nyam writers selected
We are pleased to share that two writers have been selected for our Windrush commissions, Mouth Mek Fi Nyam, as part of our Lewisham, Borough of Literature campaign. This initiative is part of a four-part project celebrating Caribbean storytelling and heritage.
Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Commissioned Writers
Our two selected writers are:
Leone Ross
“When I migrated to England from Jamaica, I spent days with my boyfriend’s chatty auntie. She’d bring me liver and green banana for breakfast, explained how to dress for the weather and the culture shock, and planted flowers that grew flagrantly, regardless of the bad soil. She was hard-working – sometimes heart-broken – and she never thought she was special, but she gave me so much. When last did you read a story starring a Caribbean elder? I want to be involved in Mouth Mek Fi Nyam for people like her, who so rarely get to be the heroes.”
Leone Ross is a novelist, short story writer, editor and educator. Her third novel, This One Sky Day (Faber) was nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Ondaatje Prize, the BOCAS Prize — and named a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her short fiction has been widely anthologised and her first short-story collection, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, prompted the Times Literary Supplement to call her ‘a pointiliste, a master of detail…’. In 2021, she won the Manchester Prize for Fiction for a single short story. She has judged the Mslexia Magazine, VS Pritchett Award and Bridport Prize writing competitions, in the short story category. Ross has taught creative writing for 27 years, up to PhD level, and presently works as a freelance writing mentor. She is the editor of Glimpse: A Black British Anthology of Speculative Fiction, published in 2022 (Peepal Tree).
Joan Anim-Addo
“My interest in being involved is because Lewisham is also my literary home. My career has consistently involved community interaction –readings in local libraries, writing workshops and performances that I have organised – or events at the local History Library, Horniman Museum, and Goldsmiths. Recently, I was delighted to write ‘Granny Mermaid’ for Irie Dance Theatre’s children’s performance. Such long-standing literary involvement locally informs my interest in this project. Equally, the project has already begun to teach me how much themes like migration, food, gardening, and cultural preservation have meant to my writing. So, I’m interested, too, in order to learn.”
Joan Anim-Addo is a creative writer of several genres including theatre, poetry and the short story. She is an interdisciplinary scholar whose writing has engaged Lewisham for decades. Founding the Caribbean Women Writer’s Alliance, she spearheaded ‘Lewisham Literature Festival: A Celebration of Black Writing’, 2003. Her Longest Journey: A History of Black Lewisham continues to inform and inspire action borough-wide and beyond. She is co-founder of Goldsmiths’ Creative and Life-Writing postgraduate programme which has produced many inspiring contemporary UK writers. She has recently co-founded and is at the heart of the Black British Writers and Scholars Alliance <https://www.bbwasa.org.uk/>. She is Director of the Centre for Caribbean and Diaspora Studies, and Emeritus Professor, Goldsmiths University of London. She is the UK’s first Black Professor of Literature. She was born in Grenada.
About the commissions
Leone and Joan will attend an oral history event with Carribean elders on Windrush Day, 22 June. The event will focus on themes of migration, food, gardening, and cultural preservation, with elders sharing personal experiences of carrying and sustaining traditions across generations. Our writers will transform these shared stories into original short stories that capture the richness of Caribbean heritage. These stories will be published in the Mouth Mek Fi Nyam anthology.
If you are a Caribbean adult aged 50+ and are intersted in taking part in the oral history event or our series of gardening and poetry workshops, find out more about the opportunity and how to apply here.
class="post-74618 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news category-wellcome-collection-non-fiction-awards"Six urgent non-fiction projects about health and being human
The Wellcome Collection Non-Fiction Awards is a writer development programme for non-fiction writing on health and being human.
The six writers selected for the 2025 programme are each working on topics that are urgent and will “shift the narrative around health” (Fran Barrie, Wellcome Collection Publisher). They are all fascinating ideas that we wanted to share with you.
About the winning projects
The International Health Service, Ammad Butt
Migration has played a pivotal role in the sustenance of Britain’s healthcare prior to and following the inception of the NHS, and yet this is rarely discussed or appreciated. In a time of deep political divide around migration, I want to pay homage to the thousands of workers from across the world who have kept Britain alive during difficult times and their contribution to science and medicine. This book will explore the argument that without migration, not only would our health service collapse but the UK itself would not be able to function.
Ammad Butt is an NHS resident doctor and freelance writer from Birmingham, who commentates on the NHS and health-related issues. He is particularly interested in health policy and highlighting the real-life inequalities both patients and healthcare staff face in the UK.
Disability, Space and Citizenship, Jordan Whitewood-Neal
Disability, space, and citizenship will explore what it means to democratise, broaden, and make transnational our understanding of disability in relation to eugenics, health, cure, and debility, read through spatial histories. Architectural education in the university context has failed to grasp the complexity of disability and space and fundamental questions of being human. This book therefore proposes how an alternative pedagogical approach to disability, understood within the context of education’s historical goal to create citizens, can reimagine both the concept of spatial literacy but also expose deeper relationships between citizenship and health.
Jordan Whitewood-Neal is a disabled architectural researcher, designer and educator working in architectural history, pedagogy, and critical disability studies. His recent work addresses disability in relation to eugenic history, spaces and the construction of citizenship, exploring the impact of colonial legacies of the academy and architectural education.
Fallow, Lindsey Allen
In environmental writing, the degraded environment has often been compared to the disabled, or sick, body. Fallow will shift the negative lens of these metaphors, asking how disability can help us understand our environment, and what we can do in the face of climate degradation and loss. This exploration is grounded by the focal point of a disabled body and an auto-ethnographic study of disability, pain, cure, and care. Through applying theories and lived experiences of disability to the environment, Fallow brings into conversation disability justice, environmental philosophy, and a politics of care.
Lindsey Allen is a researcher, writer, and designer based in Bristol. She writes in the intersections of care, time, disability, and the environment, with a focus on creative non-fiction and the essay form. All her work is grounded in anthropological methods, aiming to explore how people understand the world they live in, and their hopes and imaginaries around how this world could be.
Street Life: The Science of Health Outside Your Front Door, Ricky Nathvani
Every time you step out your front door, the street shapes your life. My book, Street Life, is a tour through the elements of city streets that influence human health: air pollution, noise, waste, water, temperature, mobility, green space and playability. The chapters explore each element, connecting our everyday experience of navigating and living in cities to the impacts they have on our bodies and minds, and the scientific journeys that uncovered these connections. The book will explore the historic progress driven by passionate campaigners and scientists and the future challenges for developing healthier streets and how we get there.
Ricky Nathvani is an urban data scientist and writer, born and based in London. He is currently Lead Data Analyst for Camden Borough across the Planning, Housing, Environment, Development and Public Spaces directorates. Ricky has written over 100 science videos for popular YouTube channels including SciShow, Crash Course, Study Hall and Veritasium.
Speculum: a history of women’s bodies through one object, Shema Tariq
The vaginal speculum is ubiquitous in gynaecological examinations, but what can this seemingly mundane object tell us about the female body in society? At a time when women’s bodily autonomy is being eroded, there is an urgency to understanding how we got to this point. My book will trace the cultural history of the vaginal speculum, using this one object to explore how women’s bodies have been viewed, how they are viewed now, and how they could potentially be reimagined in the 21st Century.
Shema Tariq is a Consultant in HIV and Sexual Health in London, with over 25 years of experience in the NHS. Over the past 15 years, much of Shema’s research has focused on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. And, as she told Nuala McGovern on BBC Women’s Hour, Shema has performed over 10,000 speculum examinations during her career (a conservative estimate).
Finding Medicine, Yemisi Bokinni
Everyday medicines like metformin for diabetes and some of our most important chemotherapies have their origins in plants. But what happens when they’re lost before they’ve ever been found? Finding Medicine investigates the race to uncover life-saving medicines in nature, while celebrating the inspiring work of scientists and Indigenous knowledge keepers, and examining the profound consequences of biodiversity loss for humanity.
Yemisi Bokinni is a medical doctor turned health and science journalist, with a medical degree and a bachelor’s degree in human genetics from King’s College London. She writes about the intersection of medicine, culture, and the environment.
About the Wellcome Collection Non-Fiction Awards
Find out more about the Wellcome Collection Non-Fiction Awards on our project page. The 2025 programme will conclude on 12 November with a sharing event where the writers will present their work to agents and publishers. Throughout the programme a public series of masterclasses and panel events will offer a wider range of support to aspiring non-fiction writers, which you can sign up to from our events page, and discover in our newsletter.
class="post-74694 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-opportunities"Come and work with us as our Communications Manager
Our mission is to help London’s underrepresented writers get their work into the world, and to connect communities to words and stories. If you have three or more years experience in communications, and are motivated by the work we do, we’d love to hear from you!
We particularly welcome applications from people who are currently underrepresented in the literature and publishing industries. If you rarely see people like yourself in the arts, for any reason, we encourage you to apply.
About the Role
- Job title: Communications Manager
- Contract: Part-time, 4 days a week (28 hours) permanent post.
- Salary: £31,008 (£38,760 FTE) + NEST pension
- Ideal start date: July 2025
We’re looking for someone who is empathetic, curious and imaginative, interested in cultural democracy, community agency and activism. You will be able to demonstrate good practice and commitment to accessibility, equality, and inclusion, as well as a passion for engaging people with words and stories.
The Communications Manager will work closely with the Director and Programme and Communications Assistant, as well as with the rest of our small team. The Communications Manager is responsible for our all communications and channels, including social media, our website and newsletter.
2025 is an exciting year to join Spread the Word. This year the organisation is turning 30 and the Communications Manager will be working across 30th Anniversary celebrations, planning ahead for our fifth Deptford Literature Festival in 2026, and on strategic communications for our evolving Lewisham, Borough of Literature campaign.
This is a part time role based at our offices in the Albany in Deptford. We offer hybrid working – you will be expected to work from the office at least one day a week.
Job Description
Please download and read the full job description before applying.
How to apply
Please apply by completing the questions in the online application form and attaching the following files:
- A cover letter outlining how you meet the job description and person specification and why you would like the role (no longer than 2 sides A4 or a video file of no longer than 3 minutes);
- Your CV (no longer than 2 sides A4);
- Completed Equal Opportunities form. The form will be separated from your application on receipt. You can download it here.
The deadline to apply is 12pm on Tuesday 10 June. Late applications will not be considered. We are a writing and reading charity; applications that are written by AI will not be accepted.
If you would like to request any reasonable adjustments to the application process please contact us via [email protected].
Interview process
All of the applicants who are invited to interview for the role will be asked to complete two tasks. These will be arranged at a time suitable to you and will be done remotely. The tasks will take no longer than 1 hour and 15 minutes in total to complete.
The shortlist will be confirmed on Monday 16 June and first interviews will be arranged for Tuesday 24 June.
Round two interviews: Tuedsay 8 July
Decision made by Tuesday 15 July, with the candidate in role as soon as possible afterwards.
class="post-74649 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news"Deptford Literature Festival Exhibition: Garden of Memories
As part of the Deptford Literature Festival, Meet Me (a project from Entelechy Arts and Albany) elders had the pleasure of working with poet Laurie Bolger and artist Barbara Majek at the start of 2025.
Over six weeks the artists worked with members of Meet Me exploring and experimenting with poetry and creative collaging. With joy, mindfulness and creativity at the heart of the sessions Laurie’s writing prompts and activities led to the development of the theme Garden of Memories. Members shared their stories and memories, and the importance of food and nature emerged as a way to explore cultural experiences and build connections and community. Tuesday mornings in the Albany Café were filled with music, poetry and laughter!
For many members this was the first time they had tried or written any poetry, but over the six weeks, their confidence grew, proudly sharing poet names and their pieces of writing aloud. In response to the written pieces Barbara introduced imagery and techniques of fabric collage, mono printing and embroidery for members to transform their words and stories into visual sketches. The playful collaboration between artists, members and volunteers lead to a tapestry/quilt of elders’ stories, embracing their individual styles and responses, with everyone’s voices being represented on a textile banner. The Garden of Memories banner was displayed at Deptford Lounge.
This project exists thanks to Meet Me members Moira, Ertac, Norma B, Ibrahim, Valda, Lorraine, Rosemary, Ron, Christine, Geri, Beryl, Juno, Jeanie, Irene, Rita, Diane, Catherine J, Stanford, Fanny, Pauline, Stella, the Meet Me volunteers, and the artists Laurie and Barbara.
Garden of Memories was commissioned by Spread the Word as part of the Deptford Literature Festival in partnership with Meet Me and supported by Arts Council England. Meet Me is a partnership project between Entelechy Arts and Albany.
Garden of Memories
Poems and text from the tapestry banner – from top to bottom
Running along the seafront
In Brighton with my little nephew
Philip in 1986 on a beautiful
summers day with the gorgeous
fresh air so sweet and how
happy we were laughing together
I kept my cotton shirt from that day
for years as it smelt of that lovely
day
Laughter fills the room
My heart is in the stars
but I owe my dad
£8. I’ll jump on
my motorbike
and pay
him back one day!
On my way to buy a
cheeseburger, I saw
some people playing
skittles in the middle of the
road, stopping traffic!
It was nighttime and there was an orange star
shining down from the sky!
I got my cheeseburger and went home to play chess
and won the game with my knight!
Sea Love
Fresh Air
Place me outside in the hills
Train going some place
Fish Bar
Grapefruit
A big juicy
grapefruit
sweet and bitter
tingles my tongue
eaten
messily over
the sink
juice dripping
down my chin
I went for a walk with
my pink leopard
we saw an orange dinosaur
picking cherries
the flowers said hello
Banana
Milk
Pasta
Kitchen Paper
Drinking Tea in the garden
is a great memory, it tasted
so sweet, just like fresh air
Mushroom soup
In a big fat
bowl
my sister & me eat
pretending we are in a 5*
restaurant but always from
a tin. Yum!
Be Happy!
You are
the noodles
I need right
now
Settled Nomad
Slipping away
Sliding
Party Pauline
Music, rice, gold
dance, Meet Me
Solero
Ice Lollies