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New grants from the Mo Siewcharran Fund to take on interns from BAME backgrounds have been awarded to the Royal Society of Literature, Europa Editions UK and Swindon’s Prime Theatre.
The grants, awarded by a fund set up in memory of former Nielsen Books director Siewcharran, cover placements of up to six months for young candidates passionate about publishing or the theatre.
At the Royal Society of Literature, the grant will create a communications and administrative assistant internship.
Its director Molly Rosenberg said: “As the RSL turns 200 in 2020, we are committed to encouraging, promoting and engaging readers and writers of all backgrounds and experiences, particularly those who have historically not found their voices represented in British literature. We are incredibly grateful to Mo Siewcherran’s family and to Creative Access for the opportunity to work with a trainee across our programmes, and for the chance to support arts leaders of the future.”
The fund also supports a publishing traineeship with Europa Editions UK. Its director Daniela Petraccosaid: “At Europa Editions we believe passionately that to remain relevant, publishing must become more inclusive. We are delighted to work with Creative Access —whose vision and dedication have been and are instrumental in opening up the publishing industry to young people from under-represented backgrounds.”
The fund was established by Siewcharran’s husband, John Seaton, in order to encourage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue a career in the arts.
He said: “We were so thrilled to receive so many strong applications to the fund but of course that made the decision-making especially hard. Mo was passionate about both publishing and theatre and felt strongly about supporting people from non-white backgrounds and I’m sure that these latest roles will provide excellent opportunities for more young BAME candidates who will become part of Mo’s legacy.”
The fund is supporting four interns per year for five years. Publishing or theatre organisations with less than £15m turnover which want to apply for a future grant should email josie@creativeaccess.org.uk.