Our supporters
Patrice Lawrence
Patrice Lawrence is the patron of All Stories. She is an award-winning writer for children, teenagers and adults. Her books include Orangeboy (shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award and winner of the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstones Prize for Older Children’s Fiction), Indigo Donut (winner of Bristol Crimefest YA Prize and shortlisted for the Bookseller YA Prize), Rose, Interrupted and Eight Pieces of Silva (Winner of Woman and Home Teen YA). All four books have been nominated for the Carnegie Award. She was a 2020 Costa Book Awards judge and is a judge for the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction. Patrice is very proud to be the patron of All Stories, and you can find her video with submission tips here.
Arts Council England
All Stories is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, who are the national development agency for creativity and culture. They have set out their strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 they want England to be a country in which the creativity of each person is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. Arts Council England invest public money from government and the National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision.
ALCS
All Stories is part-sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society. ALCS make sure writers receive the money they’re entitled to when someone copies or uses their work, such as photocopies, cable retransmission, digital reproduction and educational recording. They’re a not-for-profit organisation, with over 110,000 members. ALCS collect money from all over the world and have paid a total of £500 million to their members to date. They also campaign and lobby on matters important to writers to ensure writers’ rights are recognised and rewarded.
SCBWI
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is generously donating a year’s membership to each All Stories mentee. The SCBWI is the only international professional organization for authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults. Founded in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles-based writers, the SCBWI is a non-profit with over 22,000 members in around 80 regions around the world. The British Isles region offers professional development, networking and marketing opportunities, events, retreats, conferences, critique groups, awards, competitions, and numerous publications. This vibrant community supports writers and illustrators at all stages of their career. Whether you are published, self-published or new to your craft, SCBWI has something for you.
Our partners
Metal
Metal was founded by Jude Kelly CBE in 2002. Metal provides innovative, multi-disciplinary residencies and development opportunities for artists from the UK and overseas, from spaces in Southend on Sea, Liverpool and Peterborough. Interested in how artistic process, and the practice of artists can input into, and influence social, economic and political issues of the day, Metal works with artists, educators, communities, individuals, businesses and agencies across all sectors to create a wide range of activities and projects that include residencies, exhibitions, commissions, festivals, performance, talks, workshops and publications.
All Stories has partnered with Metal to offer a opportunities during their Essex Writers House programme, including a session for sixth-formers from underrepresented groups to encourage them to consider a career in children's books and 1-2-1 sessions for writers to gain feedback on their work.
Essex Book Festival and Essex and Thurrock Libraries
All Stories has partnered with Essex Book Festival and Essex and Thurrock Libraries to offer in-person writing workshops to people from underrepresented groups. Online workshops will also be available, and the sessions will be followed by support to establish writing groups. For more information, head to the Workshops page.
Each year Essex Book Festival hosts 100+ events in a range of venues across Essex, extending from Chelmsford Theatres, Basildon Library, Chalkwell Hall, University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University, Harlow Museum, Focal Point Gallery and Wivenhoe Bookshop, to Jaywick Martello Tower, Cressing Temple Barns and Tudor Palace Layer Marney Tower. The festival was established by Essex County Council in 1999 to celebrate the book in all its forms with the widest possible audiences. It has grown exponentially since then. Now recognised as one of the leading festivals of its kind in the East of England, it invites writers and artists from all over the world to take part in its activities and events. In addition, it hosts a year-round series of writing and reading programmes for all ages and abilities, including writing workshops in HMP & YOI Chelmsford. It became an independent charity run by a board of volunteer trustees in 2011.