2020 was a challenging year for us all. Here at Nottingham City of Literature, we used that time to reflect on our practise and to work with young people whose lives had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to funding from Arts Council England, Nottingham Castle Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, Nottingham Trent University, the Thomas Farr Charity and ChalleNGe, we were able to create Letters of Solidarity, a letter writing project that enabled young people to put their thoughts and feelings around the pandemic into words. We collected over forty of our favourite letters into a fantastic anthology, which is out now! ‘To A New Dawn: Letters of Solidarity' contains letters from young people, talking about their experiences of the first Coronavirus lockdown and the events that took place within it. It’s a beautiful, heart-breaking and hopeful collection, and we’re incredibly proud of everyone who contributed to this fantastic project!
