Hachette UK hosts showcase for first Grow Your Story cohort with Spread the Word

Hachette UK’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) network, THRIVE, will host a showcase event in collaboration with Spread the Word, London’s writer development agency, to introduce the first cohort of writers to graduate from the ‘Grow Your Story’ development programme. The programme, which was announced in December 2020, is for unpublished and unagented writers from BAME backgrounds, in partnership with Spread the Word, David Higham Associates, The Future Bookshelf and Hachette UK’s adult trade divisions. The showcase will take place from 6 – 8pm on 11^th March.

The year’s cohort includes Lola Okolosie, Ramya Jegatheesan, Ismail Karolia, Sara Sehdev, Charlotte Forfieh, Remi Graves, Amina Makele, Indigo Griffiths and Sumerah Srivastav. They write across a range of genres, including romance, science fiction and fantasy, crime and thriller, and literary fiction.

The evening will consist of live readings from the Grow Your Story writers and a panel discussion chaired by Bobby Nayyar, Programme Manager at Spread the Word, involving Hachette UK authors Amer Anwar (Little, Brown), Dorothy Koomson (Headline) and Elizabeth Okoh (Hodder & Stoughton). The panel discussion will focus on the authors’ experience of being published and offer advice.

Bobby Nayyar, Programme Manager at Spread the Word, commented: “Spread the Word is delighted to be continuing our partnership with Hachette UK and THRIVE for this showcase event, which we hope will help launch the careers for this exciting cohort of writers.”

Joelyn Rolston-Esdelle and Ebyan Egal, co-chairs of THRIVE, commented: “We’re incredibly excited to be working with Bobby Nayyar and Spread the Word on this showcase event to celebrate the writers on our first programme and also hear from three Hachette UK authors on their experiences as published writers.”

To secure a place at the free event, you can book a ticket on Eventbrite here.