We’re proud to post a message from Sally Gardner shared with our finalists at the launch of this year’s anthology.

Sally talks about her journey to becoming a writer and questions an unhelpful educational focus on the qualifications of being writer (like spelling!) rather than the importance of story and inspiration. She speculates whether one of the greats of English literature might well have been found today thanks to Undiscovered Voices. As a ‘fell-walker’, Sally talks about the difficulty of the creative process and how much luck is needed after the difficult climb up the mountain of ideas.

We’d like to thank Keith Rogerson for recording and editing this video and thank Working Partners for hosting the interview!