Canary Wharf partners with Penguin to relaunch its short story stations

Canary Wharf has joined forces with Penguin Books to re-launch its “short story stations” – where commuters can print off short stories, poems and extracts – with the latest range of stories on offer celebrating South Asian Heritage Month.

Visitors to each station in Canary Wharf’s Crossrail Place Roof Garden and Jubilee Place can currently print off writing by Penguin authors including Booker Prize-winner Salman Rushdie, Women’s Prize-winner V V Ganeshananthan and Empireworld author Sathnam Sanghera.

At the touch of a button, visitors can print one, three or five-minute-long fiction or non-fiction stories, poems and extracts onto eco-friendly paper. Over the next year new writing will be available, themed to coincide with Black History Month and LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

Since the short story stations were first launched in Canary Wharf in 2019, visitors have printed more than 250,000 free pieces of writing.

Sanghera said: “This is a fascinating project to be involved in when you’re obsessed, like me, with new writing, history and the London transport network. And what better timing than South Asian Heritage Month. You cannot make sense of modern multicultural Britain, or its history, without understanding its deep and intricate links to South Asia. To begin to understand how, just stop by at one of Canary Wharf’s short story stations to print off an extract of both Empireworld and some other incredible works to get involved in the project.”

Camilla McGregor, arts and events manager at Canary Wharf Group, said: “The stations offer visitors the chance to immerse themselves in a story, even if they only have a few minutes to spare. People of South Asian heritage make up one of the largest minority ethnic groups in the UK, with our London Borough of Tower Hamlets being home to a large Bangladeshi population – so South Asian Heritage Month is the perfect time to launch this new partnership here at Canary Wharf, offering us the chance to spotlight stories from authors with a South Asian background, celebrating and honouring the community we are part of.”  

Available now:

1. Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera
In his groundbreaking new book, Sanghera traces the legacies of the British Empire around the world. 

2. Say You’ll Be My Jaan by Naina Kumar
Meghna has tried everything to find her jaan: blind dates, the dreaded apps, even attempting conversations with strangers. Everything except arranged marriage… 

3. The Feel Good Fix by Lavina Mehta
Specifically designed to improve your health in perimenopause, menopause and beyond, this book offers quick, fun and effective bitesize exercise, as well as mind and lifestyle ’snacks’ to make you feel good, both physically and mentally.  

4. Knife by Salman Rushdie
A gripping account of survival and recovery from internationally renowned writer and Booker Prize-winner Salman Rushdie.  

5. The Girlfriend Act by Safa Ahmed
A delightfully swoony tale with endearing characters finding the courage to be true to themselves and their dreams.  

6. Brotherless Night by V V Ganeshananthan
An exploration of a family fractured by civil war. This beautiful, nuanced novel follows a young doctor caught within conflicting ideologies as she tries to save lives. 

7. Race and Education by Kalwant Bhopal
Professor Kalwant Bhopal shows how race still determines who gains the best education in Britain, and who falls by the wayside. Through case studies, original research and interviews with students, teachers and academics alike, she reveals how the construction of privilege starts at a young age.