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Liverpool University Press is among three companies to receive grants from the Mo Siewcharran Fund, to support a young black, Asian or ethnically diverse candidate at the start of their career.
The grants are intended to assist candidates at the beginning of their career in publishing or theatre, and were set up in memory of the former Nielsen Books Director, who died in 2017. Three six-month internships will be offered this year's grant receipents, which also include The Stage Media Company and Little Angel Theatre.
LUP will offer a six month marketing assistant internship, to commence in the next few months.
“As the publishing industry belatedly looks beyond London to reflect the geographical breadth of the UK, it is essential to recognise that inclusivity is about people and not just postcodes," said Anthony Cond, m.d. at the press. "Liverpool University Press is honoured to receive a grant from the Mo Siewcharran Fund, which we will use to support a Liverpool-based internship for a candidate who is passionate about publishing.”
A trainee journalist will also be recruited by The Stage Media Co to work across its two publications, The Stage and The Bookseller. As part of the trainee journalist role, the successful candidate will learn new skills from two different titles such as news gathering, interviewing, editing, research and feature-writing.
“We are delighted to be joining forces with The Stage, and again with Creative Access, to provide this important opportunity for a trainee journalist to come in and learn from both publications," said Philip Jones, editor at The Bookseller. "It is a particular pleasure that the role will be part-funded by the Mo Siewcharran Memorial Fund, as Mo is remembered fondly by The Bookseller.”
Alistair Smith, editor at The Stage, said: “We ran a similar trainee scheme in 2017; it was a huge success and we’ve wanted to repeat it ever since. We’re hugely grateful to Creative Access and the Mo Siewcharran Memorial Fund for making that possible. This will mark the first project that The Stage and The Bookseller have worked on together since our companies’ merger, underlining a shared belief in how important it is to improve diversity in arts journalism.”
The fund will also support a puppetry internship with London-based company Little Angel Theatre. Commenting on the grant, artistic director Samantha Lane said: “Little Angel Theatre is thrilled to receive funding from the Mo Siewcharran fund in order to provide a comprehensive internship for a person of colour—an underrepresented group in the puppetry industry. We are committed to diversifying our staff team—both on stage and off stage, and we hope that this opportunity will help provide a vital stepping stone into the industry and help us to have a more exciting and diverse team. We can’t wait to get started.”
All the internships will commence in the last few months of 2020. Theatre companies and publishers wishing to apply for the next round of submissions should contact ayesha@creativeaccess.org.uk">Creative Access before 4th January 2021.
John Seaton, founder of the Fund, said: “We know how tough these past six months have been for small businesses and so we were delighted to be able to increase the size of the awards for this round of applications. Now, more than ever, with young people from under-represented communities being disproportionately affected by recent events, we are pleased to be able to continue to support talented individuals to access creative careers. We are thrilled with the three placements we have chosen; a regional publisher, an award-winning theatre and an exceptional opportunity for an aspiring journalist to train at two leading trade publications, The Stage and The Bookseller.”