Thousands of schoolchildren team up with author Brahmachari for creative writing project

Thousands of school children from across Newcastle, Sunderland, Norwich, Kendal and London are to become published authors thanks to the Southbank Centre’s national creative writing project “Imagine a Story”.

Over 2,500 Key Stage 2 pupils will work with award-winning children’s author Sita Brahmachari and Caribbean-English illustrator Lucy Farfort to publish their versions of Brahmachari’s new environmental tale, ’Rewilding Dream’. Printed copies will be shared with each child.

’Rewilding Dream’ is described by the programme as “an environmental tale about children’s ideas making the biggest changes and creating the future of our planet”, and a “story of fairness, justice, protecting the environment and daring to imagine a brighter future [which] centres on the characters, who find creative ways to express themselves, find their voice and become the storytellers and leaders of tomorrow.”

Marie Ortinau, creative learning manager at the Southbank Centre, said: “’Imagine a Story’ doesn’t just get children excited about storytelling; it also gets them to imagine themselves as authors. In the fifth year of the project, ’Imagine a Story’ asks children to think about the environment, a major concern for young people today and, like the characters in ’Rewilding Dream’, dare to imagine brighter futures.”

Following a brief from the author, schools across the UK complete one part of ’Rewilding Dream’. Each section is combined with submissions from children in other regions to create many unique versions of the story. Two collections of short stories are then professionally published. The contributing classes will also attend a live interactive reading in their local area to hear their story brought to life. Dominique Palmer, environmental activist, and Love Ssega, British-Ugandan musician known for his campaigns on social, educational and environmental issues, will tour the UK with these performances from 28th June to 14th July.