Leeds students embrace the ‘power of the pen’ to produce thought-provoking anthology

Leeds students have relished the chance to express themselves beyond the world of social media – and become published writers.

Colour is a collection of short stories, poems and self-reflection essays by students from Leeds City College’s 14+ Academies.

More than 80 teenagers from the 14+ Academies, which offers an alternative to mainstream education for Year 10 and 11 students, have had their works published in the book.

Working across a range of formats and genres tied together under the broad concept of ‘colour’, the young writers explored some hard-hitting topics – including mental health and identity – in their contributions.

These were then reviewed by 14+ Academies teacher John Davison who edited the book and categorised the submitted pieces into different themes, aligned to a variety of colours. 

He said:

“I’m so proud to celebrate our students being able to produce creative writing at their own cognitive level, but also accepting support and pointers from the editing and proofreading process which has at times taken their works to what I regard as a professional standard. 

“You could see some of these writers being published in much wider circulated volumes in the future. I have high hopes for our students and what they will do.”

The cover art and illustrations in the book were produced by Graphic Design students at the college’s Quarry Hill campus, which is home to the departments of Social Science and Creative Arts.

The participating students, plus supporting staff, got the chance to celebrate their achievement at a recent launch party.

One of the featured young writers, Thomas, said:

“I really enjoyed creating something which can be viewed and enjoyed in the real world, as opposed to being strictly digital.” 

Another, Florence, said:

“I loved listening to other people’s pieces and how powerful they were.”

Student Ash, meanwhile, was delighted to see their work in print:

“Having my work printed in a real life book is so amazing, even if it’s scary and nerve-wracking to know that other people may be judging my writing.

“I think this was a great opportunity and more places should do anthologies like this!”

Head of 14+ Academies, Niki McKenna, added:

“I am incredibly proud of every learner whose work has been published in Colour. Seeing our young people become published writers is a fantastic achievement and a real celebration of their creativity, confidence and hard work.

“The collaboration with our Graphic Design students makes this even more special. I hope every person involved with this project, including staff, feels a huge sense of pride seeing their work in print and recognises that their ideas and voices are worth sharing.”