A Writing Chance: adjusting the lens on social class and diversity in the UK publishing industry

Abstract

A Writing Chance was launched in June 2021 as a new talent development programme open to aspiring writers from under-represented backgrounds. The programme aimed to offer a positive intervention, designed to discover new talent, support writers from under-represented backgrounds to break into the UK creative industries, and empower UK publishers and editors to represent a broader range of perspectives in commercial outputs. Levering resources, experiences and capacity, the programme mobilised an innovative model of partnership working to explore what happens when cross-sector organisations come together to tackle a shared challenge. This article explores the origin story of the programme, its activities and impacts from launch to publication, and offers recommendations on how we can take the legacies of this work forwards to offer others the writing chance that is needed now more than ever in a post-pandemic world.