Why Bedfordshire’s Stories Matter to Me
National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
For me, reading has never been just about books. It has been a lifeline, a way of making sense of the world when real life felt unrecognisable, and a way to remember that my voice – and the voices of people like me – matter.
As Poetry Champion for Bedfordshire and Chief Executive of Nine Red Presents… (CIC), I’ve seen first‑hand how stories can change the way we see ourselves and each other. In community centres, libraries, school halls and living rooms across the county, people who thought they were “not readers” or “not creative” have found their words, shared their experiences and discovered that their lives belong on the page too.
That is why, for the National Year of Reading, my pledge is rooted in love for Bedfordshire’s people and their stories. I want more of us – especially those who fall through the gaps of traditional services – to experience reading not as a test or a chore, but as a form of healing, connection and power.
Through Nine Red, we are developing a programme of poetry, storytelling and book‑based activities that will:
- Create gentle, welcoming spaces where people can read, listen and share without fear of judgement.
- Spotlight writers, poets and storytellers from across Bedfordshire, including those whose voices are rarely heard in mainstream spaces.
- Use reading and writing as tools for wellbeing – helping people process life events, build confidence and feel less alone.
- Publish three Anthologies sharing the voices of Bedfordshire. A Women’s Anthology, A Cultural Voices Anthology, A Young Voices Anthology.
- A Bedfordshire Day Event celebrating writers from Bedfordshire. The Bedfordshire Day Book Salon & Poetry Recital
In people’s lives this might look like a mother and daughter reading a poem together for the first time and recognising themselves in its lines. It might be a young person turning difficult experiences into spoken word, and realising that what they have survived has value and meaning. It might be an older resident sharing memories of Bedfordshire from decades ago, so that a new generation can inherit that living history.
At the heart of my pledge is a simple belief: every person in Bedfordshire deserves to see themselves reflected in stories, and to feel that their own words are worth reading and listening to. Reading can open doors – to education, to opportunity, to self‑respect – but it can also open hearts. In a time when many of us feel isolated, unheard or under pressure, sitting with a book or a poem can be a powerful act of self‑care and connection.
The National Year of Reading gives us a chance to bring partners together – libraries, schools, community groups, faith spaces, arts organisations and grassroots projects – to make reading more visible, more joyful and more accessible across the county. I am especially passionate about reaching people who might never walk into a traditional literary event: those navigating trauma, caring responsibilities, financial stress or health challenges, who still carry whole worlds of story inside them.
Alongside this work, the books NINE RED Presents… (CIC) publish are part of the same vision. The Collateral Beauty Series is a love story to Luton – told through poetry, play and prose – and the anthologies emerging through this pledge will help capture the voices, memories and imagination of Bedfordshire in print. Together, these books are part of how we read Bedfordshire and how Bedfordshire reads itself.
My hope is that, by the end of this year, more Bedfordshire residents will be able to say: “I found myself in a book,” or “I wrote something I didn’t know I was allowed to say.” If our work can help even a handful of people feel more seen, more resourced and more loved through reading, then this pledge will have done its job.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who is already part of this journey, and I warmly invite new partners, readers and would‑be readers to join us. The pages are open. The stories are waiting. This is our year to read Bedfordshire – and to read ourselves – with compassion, curiosity and pride.
Bedfordshire Day Book Salon & Poetry Recital
On 28 November, together with NINE RED Presents… (CIC), as part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire campaign, I will be hosting the Bedfordshire Day Book Salon & Poetry Recital – an intimate, county‑wide celebration of local writing and spoken word. During the day, a curated book salon will showcase a small number of Bedfordshire authors, small presses and community groups through stalls, informal conversations and family‑friendly activities. In the evening, the space will be transformed into a seated poetry recital for around 50 guests, spotlighting Bedfordshire voices and the community‑created “Ballad of Bedfordshire”, with opportunities for networking and book‑signing.
The daytime programme will include: a multicultural book fair with local and diverse authors and publishers; storytelling and reading circles; “Manifest and Move” (spoken‑word affirmations with music and Kemetic‑yoga‑inspired movement); and The WordWell Corner – a space where poetry and literacy intertwine with holistic wellness, promoting personal growth, healing and community connection through the power of words.
The evening event will be a poetry recital, with readings and spoken‑word performances that foreground voices from across the county who are often under‑represented in literary spaces.
Call for Women’s Submissions
As part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire campaign. We will publish a new collection of poetry and short prose by women and femme‑identifying writers whose lives have been shaped by surviving, resisting and transforming difficulty. Pieces can be serious or humorous, dark or light, but must follow our safeguarding and anonymity guidelines and be rooted in women’s lived experience. There’s no fee to submit or to be published, and contributors keep full copyright while helping sustain Nine Red Presents… (CIC)’s creative and healing work.
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Share Your Cultural Story
As part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire campaign. We will publish an anthology celebrating the many cultures, languages and lineages that shape life in Bedfordshire and beyond. We welcome poetry and short prose that foreground specific cultural textures – language, food, music, faith, family stories, neighbourhoods and journeys – including multilingual and code‑switching work. Submission is free, contributors retain copyright, and income from book sales is reinvested into Nine Red Presents… (CIC)’s community programmes.
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Young Writers – Send Your Work
As part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire campaign. We will publish a collection of poems and short prose by young people, capturing how it feels to grow up here and now. Linked to BedfordSHARE and our intergenerational poetry work, it gives space for young writers to sound like themselves, including slang, dialect and online language, within clear safeguarding guidelines.
There is no cost to submit or be published, and every copy sold helps fund Nine Red Presents… (CIC)’s youth and community arts projects.
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BedfordSHARE (Poetry Together) / Bedfordshire Voices – Five‑week local rollout
A five‑week, six‑community programme using poetry, story and wellness circles to capture Bedfordshire lives for touring installations and anthologies.
NRP’s National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire campaign
National Year Of Reading
“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
A Project by
Poetry Champion for Bedfordshire
Naz Knight and NINE RED Presents… (CIC)
BedfordSHARE (Poetry Together) / Bedfordshire Voices
Five‑week local rollout
As part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire campaign. The Bedfordshire Voices structure is a five‑session programme delivered in each of six Bedfordshire communities. Across Weeks 1–4, local residents take part in gently structured workshops in reading, creative writing, storytelling and spoken word, building their own poems and short pieces in response to Bedfordshire life, memory and identity. These sessions also create contributions for Our House: Doors into Bedfordshire – a travelling installation that gathers “doorway” texts, poems and audio fragments from every stop on the tour.
Week 5 is Sekhmet’s Sanctuary & Radiant Roots, a dedicated closing wellbeing session. Here, participants are invited into a calm, boundaried space with grounding, breath, sound, colour and light practices to help integrate what has surfaced during the creative work, with the option (never requirement) to share pieces within a held, celebratory circle.
Naz Knight’s BedfordSHARE / Poetry Together project is woven throughout as a named intergenerational strand. Their poems contribute both to the national Poetry Together campaign and to the local Bedfordshire Voices anthologies, ensuring that every tour stop includes a clear space where generations meet on equal footing as readers, writers and bearers of the county’s stories.
Inviting people to see their own lives as stories worth reading, writing, sharing and passing on.
Upcoming Event Schedule
Session One
Theme: Shared reading, introduction, identity, belonging
Duration: 2.5 hours
Finding Your Voice – ‘It All Counts’
This session welcomes participants into a safe, trauma‑aware group space and gently introduces reading for pleasure as something social, personal and creative. People arrive to a soft landing with tea and check‑ins, then move into a short opening circle that frames the National Year of Reading message: “it all counts”.
Together, we read short poems, lyrics and locally rooted texts, then use prompts such as “Where I Come From” to spark autobiographical reflection and intergenerational conversations. There is time to write, share in pairs or small groups, and optionally practise reading work aloud, before closing with simple ideas for “taking reading home” into everyday life.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Session Two
Theme: Storytelling, memory, oral history, spoken word
Duration: 2.5 hours
Stories That Shaped Us – Cultural Focus
This session centres stories from Caribbean, African, South Asian, Eastern European and Bedfordshire communities, including folk and fairy tales from “The Other 33” strand. Participants listen to short tales and testimonies, share “stories that shaped us” in a guided circle, and then craft their own poems or short pieces using simple storytelling and spoken‑word techniques. The focus is on building confidence in telling and hearing stories aloud, using reading and listening as a bridge into writing, and deepening connection across generations and backgrounds.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Session Three
Theme: Poetry therapy, healing, reflection, emotionally safe expression
Duration: 2.5 hours
Poetry as Medicine – Connected Healing
This session gently explores how reading and writing can support healing and self‑understanding. Using carefully chosen poems, affirmations and reflective texts, participants are invited to notice what they feel and remember, then experiment with “poetry as medicine” through guided and quiet writing, collage or line‑building. There is always the option to share, but never a requirement to disclose. Connected Healing sits within a safeguarded therapeutic arts and recovery strand, drawing on Sekhmet’s Sanctuary and Radiant Roots practices for grounding, cultural nourishment and emotional regulation.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Session Four
Theme: Collaboration, intergenerational exchange, rehearsal, anthology building.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Voices Together –Collaborative reading, writing, and spoken word
This session focuses on bringing individual voices into shared, collaborative forms and preparing work for public sharing. Participants co‑create group poems and paired pieces, take part in intergenerational exchange activities, and rehearse for live reading or performance. Along the way, they select and lightly edit “door texts” for Our House and shape draft contributions for the Bedfordshire anthologies, turning private words into collective offerings.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Session Five
Theme: Integration, wellbeing, sharing, legacy.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Sekhmet’s Sanctuary & Radiant Roots
This closing session offers a calm, sanctuary‑style space after four weeks of creative work. Participants arrive gently with breath and intention, share a quiet reading moment, and experience Radiant Roots sound, colour and light practices to support grounding and integration. There is time for optional community sharing, tea, poetry and intergenerational exchange, as well as a simple touchpoint for BedfordSHARE / Poetry Together submissions, anthology next steps and signposting to libraries, reading groups and National Year of Reading opportunities before a final closing circle.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Connect with us
Get in touch
Whether you’d like to join a session, host Bedfordshire Voices in your community, partner with us for the National Year of Reading, or ask about the anthologies, we’d love to hear from you. Click the link below to register your interest, ask a question or start a conversation about bringing reading, poetry and storytelling into your space.
Be a part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Seize Your Moment
The BedfordSHARE Anthologies are a growing collection of community‑rooted books celebrating the voices, memories and creativity of Bedfordshire. Bringing together poetry, short prose and locally inspired writing from women, young people and culturally diverse communities, they create space for stories that are too often overlooked and affirm that every voice, every experience and every kind of reading counts.
Who We Are
NINE RED Presents… (CIC) is an independent, community‑rooted publisher using poetry, storytelling and creative practice to bring under‑represented voices into print. As a Queen’s Award‑winning community interest company, it reinvests income from its publishing work into arts, wellbeing and trauma‑informed community programmes across Bedfordshire, ensuring that books become both a platform for local voices and a resource for wider social good.
Women’s Only Anthology
Due for publication in Spring 2027, this collection will gather poems and short prose by women and femme‑identifying writers whose lives have been shaped by surviving, resisting and transforming difficulty. It will sit alongside the wider creative and wellbeing work of Nine Red Presents… (CIC), offering readers honest, tender and powerful reflections on what it means to keep going.
There is no cost to submit your work and no cost if it is selected for publication. As a contributor, you will retain full copyright in your piece and will be able to buy copies of the book at a discounted rate to resell, gift or use in your own community work.
About your piece
- Your piece can be serious, humorous, dark or light.
- It should be rooted in women’s lived experience, in any style that feels true to you.
- You must follow the guidelines in the brief, especially around safeguarding, anonymity and non‑graphic content.
- This book is intended for adult readers and older teens.
- Line and word count limits, formatting details and submission guidance are set out in the brief.
About the charity
Nine Red Presents… CIC is a non‑profit arts and wellbeing organisation creating poetry, storytelling and creative healing projects with and for communities who often fall through the gaps of traditional services. This includes indirect and direct victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, people experiencing mild to moderate mental health challenges, and communities affected by cultural deprivation and limited access to creative opportunities.
Income generated through book sales is reinvested into Nine Red Presents… CIC’s community programmes, helping to sustain creative and healing projects for the people and communities it serves.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Cultural Voices Anthology
Due for publication in Spring 2027, this anthology will celebrate the many cultures, languages and lineages that shape life in Bedfordshire and beyond. It will feature poetry and short prose that centre diasporic, mixed‑heritage and multi‑identity experiences, including multilingual and code‑switching work that lets writers sound like themselves.
There is no cost to submit your work and no cost if it is selected for publication. As a contributor, you will retain full copyright in your piece and will be able to buy copies of the book at a discounted rate to resell, gift or use in your own community work.
About your piece
- Your piece can be reflective, joyful, angry, experimental or simple, as long as it feels authentic.
- It should foreground specific cultural textures: language, food, music, faith, family stories, neighbourhoods and journeys.
- You must follow the guidelines in the brief, including respectful representation of communities and careful handling of sacred or sensitive material.
- The book is aimed at adult and older teen readers.
- Length, language and formatting details are included in the brief.
Cultural Voices Anthology Brief
About the charity
Nine Red Presents… CIC is a non‑profit arts and wellbeing organisation working through poetry, community arts and cultural storytelling to support people whose experiences are often under‑represented. Its work includes programmes for indirect and direct victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, people experiencing mild to moderate mental health challenges, and communities affected by cultural deprivation, exclusion or disconnection from the arts.
Income generated through book sales is reinvested into Nine Red Presents… CIC’s community programmes, helping to sustain creative and healing projects for the people and communities it serves.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire
Young Voices Anthology
Due for publication in Spring 2027, this collection will showcase poems and short prose by young people, capturing how it feels to grow up here and now. Linked to BedfordSHARE and intergenerational poetry activity, it will give space to young voices speaking in their own words about school, home, friendships, online life, fears, joys and futures.
There is no cost to submit your work and no cost if it is selected for publication. As a contributor, you will retain full copyright in your piece and will be able to buy copies of the book at a discounted rate to resell, gift or use in your own community work.
About your piece
- Your piece can be funny, serious, spoken‑word‑style or quietly reflective.
- It should sound like you: slang, dialect and online language are welcome.
- You must follow the guidelines in the brief, including safeguarding requirements and how difficult topics are handled.
- This book is for young readers and the adults who care about their voices.
- Age range, word and line limits, and formatting guidance are set out in the brief.
About the charity
Nine Red Presents… CIC is a non‑profit arts and wellbeing organisation creating opportunities for people to find voice, confidence and connection through poetry, storytelling and community arts. Alongside its youth and intergenerational work, it supports indirect and direct victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, people experiencing mild to moderate mental health challenges, and communities affected by cultural deprivation and limited access to creative opportunities.
Income generated through book sales is reinvested into Nine Red Presents… CIC’s community programmes, helping to sustain creative and healing projects for the people and communities it serves.
Part of our National Year of Reading -“Go All In” – Read Bedfordshire