Etcha-sketch and Grange Hill vibes

Happy Friday to our 383 supporters! Welcome to our new friends and hello again to our pals who have been with us since the start. Another season turns and I am THRILLED to say we have raised 13 of 17 grand. We’re at 76% funded. Over three-quarters there.

We’re not stopping. We are driving to get to 80% funded this month. Once that happens, we will be rolling downhill to our target. So we’re getting into the ‘80s at 100 Voices – check out our socials on twitter and instagram.

We started the project back in 2018, to celebrate a moment in history. The writing in the collection was so brilliant and we got ourselves a publishing deal with Unbound because we want to create a physical artefact that cannot be denied – these stories are real, uncommon and important to hear. And now, in 2020, this book is more important than ever. Throughout lockdown stories of hope have kept us going, stories have helped us grieve, helped us relate to each other and helped us to come together.

This week Maggie O’Farrell won the 25th Women’s Prize. She was awarded the prize by Paula Hawkins – who is among our supporters and a super patron of 100 Voices. Hi Paula! Great choice – highly recommend Hamnet. The Women’s Prize is so important, it’s changed the landscape of publishing. But we are doing something different – of course we’re sharing stories from the UK’s finest writers, including two former Women’s Prize longlistees and a raft of award-winning poets, flash fiction writers, playwrights and novellists. But they have chosen to share their work alongside people who are just starting out, or about to bloom like Sophie Haydock whose debut novel The Flames is due to be a huge hit next year and Susmita Bhattacharya who has recently signed to the Good Agency and will be on your bookshelves soon if she isn’t already. Our writers know that not everyone’s writing is validated by the publishing industry, but that doesn’t mean their stories won’t be heard. We need to make ALL women’s stories count. This book is about achievement, about overcoming whatever challenges life throws at us, and taking pride. I can’t think of a better time to read that book (and if you need some uplift now – many of the stories are at 100voicesfor100years.com).

We’re proud of where we’ve got to and hope you are too! We would love it if you could help us to reach the finishing line - share our social media with your followers, and tell your friends about why you’re supporting us. Word of mouth works - and also people seem to support us mostly on Fridays and the weekend - so hopefully this gets to you in time to forward on.

Thanks for your help, pledges and patience. We will do this! 

Now put on those 80s tunes and let’s get to it. Have a great weekend.