Happy New Year from all at Writing on the Wall!

This year marked a significant milestone for Writing on the Wall, as we celebrated our 25th anniversary with a year of writing, discussion, publication and cultural engagement across Liverpool City Region and beyond. At the centre of this anniversary year was WoWFEST 25, celebrating 25 years of radical writing, a festival that brought together the many strands of WoW’s work into a shared cultural moment. Since its beginnings, Writing on the Wall has used writing as a tool for expression, resistance and connection. The anniversary year offered an opportunity to reaffirm those values, while also looking forward, asking how writing can continue to respond to contemporary social, cultural and political contexts.

Audience feedback reflected the value of these encounters. One attendee described a festival event as “inspiring and thought-provoking, a reminder of why literature still matters”, while another commented that WoWFEST offered “a rare space where complex issues can be explored with honesty and generosity”.

Alongside headline events, the festival programme included discussions on justice, democracy, climate and global conflict. Events such as Ukraine: Resisting Through Writing explored how writers document, resist and bear witness in times of crisis. A special anniversary celebration with Frank Cottrell-Boyce at Sefton Park’s Palm House brought families and young people together through storytelling, play and creativity. One of the most moving and powerful highlights of WOWFEST25 was From Spellow to Southport…with Love, a special family-friendly celebration of resilience, creativity, and community healing. Held in the stunning Isla Gladstone Conservatory, this unforgettable event brought together four of the UK’s most celebrated voices – Michael Rosen, Jackie Kay, Jordan Stephens, and Beth Suzanna – for a day that was as heartwarming as it was thought-provoking.  A poignant and deeply emotional moment came with the presence of Lauren and Ben King, parents of Bebe King, who lost her life in the Southport attack of July 2024. They introduced Bebe’s Hive, a new community interest company founded in their daughter’s memory, dedicated to supporting grieving children through creativity and connection. Their strength and words, ‘Born from loss. Rooted in love. Guided by Bebe,’ resonated powerfully with everyone present.

Creative Heritage activity was woven throughout the anniversary year and into WoWFEST itself. Walking tours, talks and heritage-focused events explored Liverpool’s histories of race, labour, migration and activism, drawing on archival research and lived experience. Our Creative Heritage programme continues to showcase collaborative research and creative outputs, offering audiences access to histories that are often marginalised or overlooked. As one participant reflected, “The way history was brought to life through storytelling made it feel immediate and relevant, not distant or academic.”

This strand of work continues to position Writing on the Wall as a bridge between communities, researchers and cultural institutions, making heritage accessible, critical and rooted in place.

While WoWFEST sat at the heart of the anniversary year, it drew on sustained creative engagement throughout the year. Write to Work programmes supported people to develop writing skills linked to employment pathways, while The Writer’s Bloc sessions offered regular, welcoming spaces for writers to write, share and learn from professional artists and peers. Participants consistently highlighted the importance of these spaces. One Writer’s Bloc attendee described the sessions as “supportive, informative and genuinely confidence-building”, while another noted that “being in a room with other writers makes the work feel possible.”. Creative health and storytelling projects, including ReCITEand What’s Your Story, embedded writing within health and community contexts. These projects produced poems, films and performances shaped by lived experience, many of which fed into public sharing moments during the festival and will continue into future publications.

In October, Writing on the Wall continued its commitment to amplifying Black voices and histories through Black History Month 2025. The programme centred reflection, creativity and collective memory, with walking tours and events that explored Liverpool’s complex past and present.

The programme included walking tours and events, including Black Liverpool “the real thing” with Stephen Small, offering audiences the opportunity to engage critically with Black history, activism and scholarship in the city. These events reinforced writing and storytelling as tools for education, resistance and community dialogue.

Publishing remained a cornerstone of Writing on the Wall’s 25th year. New titles released during the year reflect the organisation’s commitment to lived experience, social history and community-rooted storytelling. Publications in 2025 included Silent Victims: Part One and Silent Victims: Part Two – The Impact of Thalidomide On One Family by Gary Millar, Reflections of a Mudman by Brian Mooney, and Walton Rising, by participants in our ‘What’s Your Walton Story? Project held in the reopened Spellow Library, following arson damage during the racist riots that followed the murder of the young girls in Southport.These books sit alongside festival-linked publications such as Pulp Idol – Firsts 2024, which showcases debut work from emerging writers whose journeys began through WoW’s programmes. Readers’ responses underlined the impact of this work. One audience member described a recent book launch as “moving, informative and deeply human”, while another reflected that “these stories stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.”

Marking 25 years has been both a celebration and a reminder of why Writing on the Wall exists, to support writers, platform underrepresented voices and create spaces where stories can be shared with care and ambition. As Writing on the Wall moves forward, the anniversary year, with WoWFEST at its heart, stands as a testament to the power of sustained creative practice, rooted in community and shaped by collaboration. The conversations, performances and publications that defined 2025 continue to echo beyond the festival, something we look forward to continuing to develop and deliver in 2026.

Finally, as ever, we are indebted to our Trustees, and everyone who makes our work happen – funders, partners, artists, project participants and audiences – it’s been our pleasure to work with you all.