Bridging Communities and Books: the GLL Literary Foundation story continues

By Jenny Hawke, Vice Chair and Foundation supported author Siren Knight.

What a whirlwind of a year it has been! As the GLL Literary Foundation reaches its midpoint, we are absolutely thrilled to see how this vibrant initiative is gaining support for emerging children’s and YA authors. Founded just last year by charitable social enterprise and library operator GLL—the team behind the Better libraries across Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth, Dudley, and Lincolnshire, the Foundation is already championing two incredible cohorts, providing bursary placements for up to 40 talented writers.

At the very heart of the Foundation’s mission is collaboration: pairing each author with a dedicated local librarian ‘champion.’ These champions have been diligently introducing our writers to local booksellers, publishers, literary festivals, and schools.

This past summer has been exciting, particularly as we teamed up for the annual Summer Reading Challenge. A few highlights include celebrating the National Year of Reading, when Wandsworth Foundation authors Shireen Lalji, Nadine Wild Palmer, and Ramzee took to the stage at the Riverside Radio Roadshow in Springfield Park. Teaming up with Riverside Radio and Book Clubs in Schools, they brought interactive literary fun to local families out in the sunshine. In Bromley, football author Venessa Taylor hosted a fantastic public event at Orpington Library, in partnership with the local business community at Orpington 1st. The children really enjoyed drawing posters to save the football club inspired by Venessa’s amazing book, Baller Boys and the Bulldozers. It was wonderful to be involved in some of the events over the summer and see how excited and inspired the children were when they met the authors.

It was also great to organise and host a number a schedule of webinars and virtual sessions, connecting our authors with more than 2,500 children to encourage reading for pleasure.

We are continuing to organise online ‘literary lunches’ and in July publicist Nina Douglas shared insider tips on navigating the media and putting on unforgettable book events.

In addition to the public, school and online events the authors have been busy out and about with Foundation champions. In early July it was lovely to be part of a very excited group of authors and librarian champions when we headed to London’s National Theatre for the CLiPPA Poetry Awards. Treated to amazing performances from shortlisted poets and enthusiastic school groups, we cheered loudly as The Poetry World of John Agard, written by John Agard and illustrated by Shirley Hottier (Otter-Barry Books) won the award!

We also gathered at the Centre for Literacy and Primary Education for the prestigious Branford Boase Award ceremony, congratulating winning debut author Asli Jensen and editor Shalini Vallepur for their fantastic book Love on Sight (Chicken House).

With a whole host of Foundation authors celebrating brand-new book launches over the summer, our local libraries have showcased these titles with eye-catching displays. The autumn term looks incredibly busy and exciting with more in-person visits, digital events, and marvellous moments connecting young readers with the authors they love!

Author Siren Knight reflects on the path to publication for her debut YA novel, Princess (Apparently).

Princess (Apparently) is a fun and yet emotional novel that centres around Della and her journey to finding her place in this world. Full of scandal, first crushes and the teenage experience, mixed-race Della has to navigate life as she moves between worlds from her posh London school to rubbing elbows with royalty on a Caribbean island. Much inspiration is drawn from the idea of what a Black monarchy would look like, based on a real-life portrait of two Black Haitian princesses. Storymix, the fiction development company, and I felt that the portrait represented the stately homes most UK students visit on school trips and the lack of diversity in the artwork displayed there.

Being mixed race myself, Della’s heritage represents the complexities of navigating two worlds without being subjected to the ‘half’ narrative that is often bestowed upon us. Instead, she is eager to express and accept her WHOLE self without having to feel like her identity is at odds with itself. I particularly enjoyed writing the very unique teen experience of realising that having a crush may not be as hopeless as it once may have seemed as she steps into her own uniqueness and confidence. Della, Ollie and Jaden are a great reminder to adults that teenagers are very much concerned about important issues that impact their futures and I feel that, although Princess (Apparently) is a teen novel, it contains complex themes surrounding family, identity and love that appeal to all age groups. It’s a funny, adventurous, cosy, romantic and heartwarming story that deserves its place on the shelves so you can imagine how pleased I was to be accepted onto the GLL Literary Foundation for the 2026 cohort in recognition of my debut novel.

As a GCSE tutor and English lead, I’m extremely keen to get young people reading and at its heart, that’s what the GLL Literary Foundation is all about. They work closely with libraries to make sure that young people are as supported as possible in their reading goals. Kingswinford Library has taken me under their wing as part of the Foundation, and I have received support from them in promoting Princess (Apparently). I’ve been invited to inspirational events which has led me to meeting accomplished writers. The GLL also offers a bursary to help their members to navigate their publishing and marketing journey. Jenny and Rebecca check in on me personally and support marketing via social media. I am extremely honoured to be on the cohort and have them support me as Princess (Apparently) hits the shelves.

Follow Siren on Instagram: @Sirenknight and Tiktok: Sirenkn1ght