“ You can find inspiration, ideas for storytelling, worldbuilding and character development anywhere.”

An emotional experience

With my novel Rosewater, I want people to step into someone else’s world, someone else’s shoes, and to feel the journey and the process of the main character. I want them to find pieces of themselves in the story. I decided to write the type of book I would want to read. I see myself as a queer Black woman from south London. And in the story, there are places and moments I recognise. But alongside the specificity, there is also a universality in identifying with how we all have to show up and navigate through the world. I want people to connect with the characters either because they are frustrated with them – they are challenging, or because they see themselves in the characters and want to root for them. They are flawed but people are flawed.

During the time I was writing Rosewater, I was going through the process of losing a parent. I had low moments, and in the book there are emotional scenes and writing them I would be emotional. I was able to draw on my lived experiences and feel the emotions from my own life and translate some elements of that into the book. The book is not about me but, as artists, there are pieces of us in everything that we do.

South London lover

Specificity is really important. When a show is situated within a specific place and world, you can feel the humanity in the situation and you feel something towards the characters. Normal People was set in Ireland and you could recognise these two young people falling in love, and even though that wasn’t my life I could feel the love and intensity they shared and be moved by their experiences.

With my novel there is a real specificity: we are in south London. You could say I am obsessed with writing about it and don’t want to leave it, but it’s important to me. The specificity doesn’t need to hinder mass engagement, audience or reach. I feel people can connect with Rosewater because they know what it is to be figuring out where they fit into the world, or how we might have been impacted by the way we were shown love, in how we give love and show up.

The worlds that inspire me

There are lots of production companies, especially in the US, that I think are doing really amazing stuff. Lena Waithe’s company, Hillman Grad, is doing incredible stuff across books, film and TV. I think there’s an appetite and a space over there for the stories that obviously exist here, too. But in the US, I think there is more of an appetite and economy for a wider breadth of diversity in storytelling, which I find incredibly inspiring.

There is so much great work that exists in lots of different spaces and I try and consume as much of it as possible. One of the authors I love is Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun, and reading that was the first time I’d seen myself reflected in some way. She is a queer Jamaican woman and when I read Here Comes the Sun it was something I hadn’t seen before. Reading one of the poems about a Guyanese dish made me cry as it captured the essence of what that stands for from a cultural perspective.

The main character in Rosewater is a poet so my friend Kai-Isaiah Jamal, who is an incredible poet, wrote poems for my book. When I was imagining the main character’s voice, in my mind I could hear Kai, their sensibility and the way they tell stories in a way that is so incredibly moving.

Future worlds

When I was younger and running gal-dem, I remember saying I wasn’t going to be doing this forever. It is designed to exist beyond me and my personal desires for that community. As much as I’m in a different phase now, with its new team it will continue to evolve. I think I always knew there were lots of things that I wanted to try. You have to lean into that part of life, accepting that things change. I am moving into this next chapter.

It is a treat to be able to write and have people read your work. I often joke that I have a fake job as I wonder: how is this real life? It is a huge privilege to share my writing and work with the world. I’m still learning and evolving as a writer but I want to progress and have that impact in my worldbuilding moving forward. Through every project, there can be an evolution or development. When I started gal-dem, all that energy and youthfulness helped to get that idea off the ground. But you can see the formats that I use to tell stories have changed, and I have moved away from the journalism space. It’s a process.

Explore Liv Little’s world:

Instagram: @livslittle @gal-dem

Online: gal-dem.com

Rosewater: The debut novel from Liv Little, published by Get Lifted Books

Available online and in all good bookshops

Donald Glover

When speaking about Donald Glover, where do we begin? Atlanta? Redbone? This is America? To ask who Donald Glover is poses a complex question and it’s potentially easier to ask who he isn’t.

Actor. Director. Musician. Comedian. Producer. Political figure. Donald Glover utilises his creativity to its fullest potential, accurately depicting the world both on stage and on set. With five Grammys and two Golden Globe awards under his belt, the future of Donald Glover is larger than himself, proving what is possible for a multi-hyphenate creative.

You know how the saying goes about being a Jack of all trades? Glover is proving that you can be the master of them all too. Instagram: @donaldglover

Game creator Will Wright established the blueprint for simulation games. The original SimCity, which he designed and was launched in 1989, focused on built environments. It was followed by The Sims series, which began in 2000.

The Sims franchise is a series of life simulation video games where there is no universal goal to achieve or prize to attain. And with no end point, Wright has been able to open up a Sim- sized world of opportunities for entertaining audiences with a world powered by each player’s creativity.

The future of Sims lies in the evolution of how Sims think and behave with a promise to not only tell stories but also enable collaboration between users’ creations and those from their friends. Instagram: @thesims

Will Wright

Video game designer.

For Rihanna, first came music, then came film, next came Fenty. The cosmetic side of her business sent waves across the beauty industry when she launched her foundation range with 40 shades, and she was celebrated for her commitment to inclusivity.

She brought the same disruptive and inclusive outlook to her lingerie and clothing brand, Savage X Fenty, by stocking XS through to 5XL. Savage X Fenty has since turned heads with its live shows and been recognised for its wide range of models, headline talent and precision performances.

By fusing her talents with her iconic Fenty makeup moment during her Super Bowl halftime show performance, Rihanna proves that she really can do it all, as she pushes her brands to deliver what consumers demand and challenges the status quo. Instagram: @badgalriri

When Hanifa, Anifa Mvuemba’s clothing brand, went viral during the pandemic, strong foundations were already in place.

Inspired by her mother’s love for fashion, Mvuemba created a brand that is truly dedicated to building a world within fashion where Black women like herself feel seen. With around 90% of her team being Black women and a focus on making the everyday woman feel confident in what they wear, it’s no surprise her dresses have been pictured on the likes of Beyoncé and Michelle Obama.

More than a fashion brand, Hanifa is a gateway – showing what’s possible for Black women around the world, from Congo to California, and everywhere in between.

Instagram: @anifam + @hanifaofficial

Joerg Koch, Founder and Editor-in-chief of media and fashion company 032c, has created what can only be described as a feeling. From a research manual to a publication to a universe that interrogates (and participates in) the world of fashion from a multitude of angles, the Koch family (Joerg and his wife Maria) are empowering independent thought.

From Kim K to Little Simz, Gucci Mane to Raf Simons, a wealth of creatives have graced the covers of the magazine that is now 20 years old (and some change). Complementing such an eccentric publication is a ready-to-wear line that stocks a wide breadth of products — from simple tees to premium leather jackets.

Instagram: @032c

London’s East End is never too far from the West Coast of the US thanks to Clint419, whose streetwear brand Corteiz has generated a cult following.

With its ubiquitous Alcatraz logo, Corteiz is growing year on year. Meanwhile Clint419, who has amassed almost 500k followers on the @crtz.rtw Instagram account, has become synonymous with his brand. Despite this, the values of both still seem the same from when they just had a few thousand followers.

Building a social presence that translates into physical experiences is Clint419’s superpower. Whether on the streets of Melbourne, Lagos or London, the brand has managed to make significant noise on the ground worldwide.

Instagram: @clint419