On Monday, I gathered with around 20 writers and illustrators to kick off the second stage of a project I'm running with my distant design partner, Sam Gray (he lives in Plymouth, I live in London). The writers were from the writers' organisation 26, and the illustrators from the London College of Communications. Most of the writers who came earn their living from writing for businesses, while the illustrators were students on their work-placement year.
26 Stories of Christmas is the latest in a magical line of 26 projects - some of which I've admired from a distance, some I've written for, and some I've helped run. This one came from Sam's mind - and it's a gem.
We asked 26 writers to choose an object that means Christmas to them. Then we mixed up the writers and their objects, pairing each writer with another's object. The challenge was for writers to write a 500-word piece of family fiction (the sort of story you might read to everyone, from grandkids to grandfolks, after Christmas dinner). Nobody knows who's been paired with their precious object. No-one, except the team behind the project, knows what the writers have come up with.
Objects ranged from an oilrigger's jacket to a wood fire, while stories feature heartbroken batteries, talking riddles, poignant pocketwatches, a colourful series of events in a pub and much more. Some made us laugh, some made us cry - they all made us long for Christmas.
We'll share stories one a day from 1st to 26th December. But there's more. At Monday's get-together at the everso Christmassy ice rink outside the Natural History Museum in London's South Kensington, we paired some of our professional writers with LCC illustrators. The students now have two weeks to respond to their writer's story visually. That might be through graphics, photography, typography or good old-fashioned sketches and illustrations. Other illustrators around the country are doing the same.
The briefs are open to creative interpretation. The deadlines are tight.
On December 1st, you'll be able to pop along to 26storiesofchristmas.com and enjoy the first of 26 festive tales. You'll also have the chance to sign up to our iPad app, which will deliver a story a day to your iPad.
26 Stories of Christmas is proof again that wondrous things can happen when you bring people together.
4 comments:
It is indeed a lovely project. And an iPad app too! Looking forward to reading everyone else's stories.
I came back from New York with a lovely advent calendar bought in the Met. This could become another of those Christmas rituals. Well done to all, and looking forward to opening up the story box daily.
Thanks, Neil. Glad to have you involved in this one. Enjoyed the beard by the ice rink, too.
Sounds lovely, John. And thank you. We're all looking forward to launching this one.
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