Embedded Files
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To help intersectional minorities develop the skills to write bold fiction through a Podcast.
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To provide a space to hold socially conscious, creative work from intersectional creatives
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And to inspire them to make change through critically-engaged writing practice.
Our Story
The Founding Story
Imagine this
Only at eighteen, the last year of sixth form and first year of University, you realise that there are individuals like you who do great things. They're People who have overcome significant barriers – like you.
It has taken you 18 years to realise that there are successful people who happen not to fit the norm you've been told your whole life. The best part is that they show you that you can succeed and overcome your barriers. Maybe you can be successful too - whatever that looks like.
Fast-forward a few years
At twenty-one, you finish your undergraduate degree in English and produce a dissertation on disability in 21st-century young adult literature. This teaches you there is a long way to go for quality representation.
Now at 22
Your heart has been broken once, and you moved across the country to train as a teacher. You pass your teacher training course and have a drive for socially conscious storytelling, but you've only put a name on what you've been doing since the first year of your degree.
From the need to create much-needed conversation, to the discovery of their disabilities, sexuality, ADHD and Autism, I understand what it means to have to figure yourself out and tell stories which have identity at their heart.
Ink N Quill has become a deeply personal mission – especially post-teacher training. Stemming from my PGCE in Further Education, I have developed a deeper understanding of systems of oppression and how individuals have increased barriers to success.
As a founder from an intersectional background, as the story shows, I know first-hand the additional barriers standing in the way of the success of a minority writer. The three main ones are:
Rejection
Inaccessibility
Perceived incapability
Ink N Quill has become a deeply personal mission – especially post-teacher training. Stemming from my PGCE in Further Education, I have developed a deeper understanding of systems of oppression and how individuals have increased barriers to success.
From the need to create much-needed conversation, to the discovery of their disabilities, sexuality, ADHD and Autism, I understand what it means to have to figure yourself out and tell stories which have identity at their heart.
InkNQuill has become a deeply personal mission – especially post-teacher training. Stemming from my PGCE in Further Education, I have developed a deeper understanding of systems of oppression and how individuals have increased barriers to success.
As a result, Ink N Quill champions bold, brutal, societally-conscious stories which ask questions that beg to be asked and grappled with. On this website, you will find three elements that the team and I are proud of:
A magazine (and press) to provide voices to these underrepresented individuals because they deserve the same chance as other writers, and bring a valuable perspective to the industry.
A podcast effort to provide a platform to promote budding intersectional writers and publishing professions. The point is to have a conversation, because they are human before labels.
An educational mission to equip disadvantaged, intersectional writers with skills needed for their writing as intersectional, intentionally disruptive practitioners: critical theory and wider social engagement, and craft skills to tell brutal stories that respond to society as we see it.
The Podcast
Talking to people is fun—for some more than others. Learning from others’ experiences makes us all more knowledgeable. If you agree, Eri has the podcast for you.
Currently on hiatus while seeking volunteers, Eri’s mission is clear:
to write, help others create, and inspire them to create unforgettable stories. As host, Eri draws on a deeply intersectional background, bringing honesty to the trials and triumphs of the creative journey.
The Writers' Den Podcast, featured on ComebaCK among others, was founded with a clear purpose: to educate and ensure that intersectional, underrepresented writers have a chance at success.
As the original pillar of the organisation, the podcast is at the heart of every conversation, connection, and engagement with industry professionals. We pride ourselves in creating a welcoming, supportive environment, which is why we offer a spot on the podcast to all industry professionals, staff, volunteers, and those who are successful at publishing with us.
Some episodes have included:
Environment, Activism, and Culture
WIPS Trans Rights, Classics and Healthcare
Creativity, Education, and LGBTQ+ minority rights
Publishing and a small amount of marketing
Through the wide variety of topics we cover, primarily focused on the intersection between writing craft and social impact, the mission of empowering and educating a new generation of writers is at the heart of everything the podcast has achieved.
Our mission and calling are to create a new generation of diverse voices who are critically engaged, creative writers at the forefront of their craft. This is all fueled by the conversations we have had, and will continue to have, on the podcast.
This platform values the contributions of intersectional creatives, actively combating the systemic barriers that can often silence new voices.
Our notable podcast guests have included The Young Writers Initiative, The Willow Literary Magazine, and established publishing professionals and social activists, all of whom have helped us provide valuable insights to our community. We will continue to do so in the future because these conversations are vital to the developing intersectional writer.
We all know the traditional publishing structure:
Get an agent
Spend your life marketing your work,
Wait two years for publication.
For some, this is the right process, but for others - especially intersectional writers - it isn't the right fit. With the process of rejection at every turn, drafting endless query letters, and the feeling of negativity which may befall the writer, Ink N' Quill (conceptualised in 2021) knows what rejection feels like.
Even for those who get through, it relies on luck, and most importantly, the successful prediction of quick-shifting market forces.
InkNQuill has another, inventive way forward. With this feeling of rejection, the mission was clear: make space for storytelling, which is five things: bold, brutal, boundary-breaking, and societally engaged.
With the knowledge that intersectional writers face more barriers to success, the press focuses on these individuals. As such, we are driven to publish the work of bold intersectional writers and empower them with the platform, support, and a positive experience of publishing that INQ brings with it through the founder and active writer E. J. Kingdom.
The major difference between InkNQuill and traditional publishers is that we understand the traditional downfalls and inaccessibility of the publishing process, so by contrast, we have an innovative process for submissions.
The Press
InkNQuill ress is commite to developing the skills and promoting the voices of the intersectional writers it serves. Three was a drive towards creating intersectional voices, and as such, highlighting the breadth and depth of the intersectional experience through publishing and amplifying as many coices as possible.
The Magazine
Magazines are accessible ways for individuals to get credibility and experience, through shorter projects which allow experimentation and sometimes a theme to fit around. The magazine is the best starting point for a budding writer. The second part of the original mission - publishing writers through a magazine - has always been central to our mission here at InknQuill.
Eri wanted a home to place the work of emerging writers. Having their start in short fiction before they started to write their first novel, it was obvious that giving others a chance through developing their own magazine was the best way forward. From being accepted into smaller magazines themselves (such as Honeyfire Magazine), they knew the confidence and credibility it provided, and so wanted to set up their own.
Of course, the difference here was that it was originally founded for those thirteen to twenty-five, but has since been refined to a wider mission: championing intersectional writers; from supporting young writers, to supporting young intersectional writers, we have always had the back of the community of young creatives.
The magazine reflects this mission. We are interested in bold stories which challenge how society thinks about the minority experience. We want to amplify the voices of others through publishing short fiction through the blog and later, the press.
The Educational Aspect
Education is a human right, and there is no denying that. Education and the power it brings, as Eri knows first-hand, is central to our mission. As a qualified English teacher, our founder, Eri, understands the transformative power of learning and loves nothing more than to use knowledge to empower and cultivate critical, culturally-relevant inquiry in the minds of learners, and thus develop culturally aware writers.
This dedication to education is the foundation of our programs, which blend analysis of a wide variety of literature and creative writing to develop craft, critical analysis to understand and engage with critical theory, workshops to critique and develop work, and are interwoven with an understanding (or willingness and commitment to) intersectionality in a way that empowers minority writers to write their truths.
InkNQuill offers a variety of interactive self-led and live online courses and engaging workshops that blend creative and critical theory practice. Led by passionate tutor(s), our sessions are designed to help you develop your writing ability and familiarity with critical theory to help develop you as a creatively conscious critical writer with a range of exciting techniques and exercises at your disposal, which is essential to be a quality, internationally disruptive practitioner.
Paid intensive twelve-week courses include (up to 20 students):
Disability and Queerness in Contemporary Creative Writing
Writing for Neurodiverse individuals
Our goal is to empower a new generation of creatively conscious critical writers who can contribute their unique voices to the world of literature and help create a more equitable society.
If you’re not quite ready to take on a paid offering yet we have a series of free live and recorded events for you to engage with and see if you enjoy the style of teaching Eri is known for. The following is not an exhaustive list and we are committed to creating more events for our supporters:
Writing For Change
Sculpting Facts and Narrative Shapes
The “Responsible storyteller”: authorial responsibility and the art of fiction
We hope these sessions help you create, inspire you to write your truth and to continue to write interesting stories.
InkNQuill was founded on the idea that inclusive, critically-engaged creative writing education should be at the forefront of everything we do. We use practice-based, evidence-informed solutions to help develop inclusive curricula, creative writing education, and help develop your practice. We deliver your staff and students' results, which align with our mission statement: to develop creative-critical practitioners who can create disruptive literature.
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