Dear Readers,
As we welcome in the new year, I wanted to take the time to look back at the Monthly Spotlights that we have run throughout 2021, and the brilliant writers that have created them. These writers have been a driving force throughout my year, their talent has kept me going. Coming out of lockdown I have found it very difficult to find the motivation to organise for Very Rascals, but connecting these writers, reading their work and sharing across our pages has been the one constant that I never wanted to miss.
So. A huge thank you to everyone who shared their work with us. Each one of you has shared something personal and powerful, and we are very proud to have this wealth of creativity on our pages - we are richer for it.
Now, without further ado, below are the links to all of the writers, their work and a few little stories about how they ended up on our pages. I hope this creativity and passion can fuel all you readers into the new year, and who knows, maybe one of the pieces will get you writing. If that is the case, please do send it our way!
Happy New Year!
Love,
The Rascals
Charlotte (she/her)
Steph (she/her)
Our first ever spotlight was by Shelley Rose Kapur. She shared her work with me on a whim, just to get some feedback. I ended up loving it that much that Shelley soon became the inspiration behind the Monthly Spotlight series. She kick-started it all… Thank you Shelley xx
Alex O’Byrne changed the game by not only sending in a poem but an accompanying video by her friend Bailey. It was the first time we spotlighted two creatives working together, and we are so happy that we did. This is such a powerful video, with a wonderful message.
Tiajna Amayo marked the start of us reaching out to creatives we didn’t know. I had been following her work online and was already inspired by what she had done. A tentative DM later and we had a brilliant piece of new writing in our inbox. Working with Tiajna, and the positive experience, gave us the confidence to reach out to others we hadn’t chatted to before.
To close the year we shared a piece of writing from Kiki Brown. This piece felt like we had come full circle. Another leap in the dark from our writers, as this was the first piece of work that Kiki had had published. It truly was an honour to share this one, and we hope it sparks an avalanche of published work from Kiki as we want to read it all!!
