Writing on the Wall are excited to announce the Eric Scott Lynch Memorial Writing Competition, in collaboration with Andrew Lynch, Unite the Union, Unison Northwest and schools across the Liverpool City Region. This competition, open to school children aged 8 to 14, will welcome creative writing submissions that explore the pertinent themes of antiracism, social justice and equality. Led by spoken word artist Blue Saint, children will produce creative writing, with entrants being published in an anthology and winners announced at a special celebration event during WoWFEST 25. Considering the racist riots of summer 2024, it is evident that racism remains a feature of British life with violent potential. We believe educating and engaging future generations will be essential in tackling societal racism and promoting solidarity.
Eric Scott Lynch was born in Liverpool, in 1932, to a Black British mother and Barbadian father. During a time of extreme systemic and institutional racism, Eric left school at age 14, barely able to read and write. Through self-determination and perseverance, Eric taught himself these vital skills and with them became an avid reader and historian, with a special interest in the history of Liverpool and its connections to the transatlantic slave trade.
Employed in the building industries in the 1960s, Eric became an active trade unionist and shop steward, advocating for stricter health and safety measures for employees in what was then one of the most dangerous industries to work in. In the late 1970s Eric and other local black activists formed the Liverpool Black Organisation who would play a crucial role in raising awareness of the issues facing black people at that time. The LBO would go on to help organise major antiracist protests and initiatives for the health and wellbeing of the community.
In the 1980s Eric began working with Liverpool City Council, continuing his health and safety advocacy and striving for racial equality. It was during the 1980s that Eric began to give guided walking tours, sharing his years of research, on the various street names and buildings around the city centre that are directly related to the enslavement of African people between the 18th and late 19th centuries. In the early 1990s these tours would be formalised. Eric, along with community members, played a key role in Liverpool’s City Council’s official apology for its slave trading past in 1999, as well as the establishment of Slavery Remembrance Day. He would also work with National Museums Liverpool to develop his walking tours and became a member of steering groups for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Gallery and eventual International Slavery Museum. Eric would continue to lead walking tours into his 80s and received a Citizen of Honour award for his achievements in 2018.
Eric passed away in 2021. His son, Andrew Lynch, works to celebrate and continue Eric’s incredible legacy. In 2023 the the first of ten “Eric Scott Lynch Slavery Heritage” street plaques was unveiled on William Brown Street. These plaques commemorate Eric’s commitment to uncovering the city’s history of the transatlantic slave trade, as well as providing context to the slave trader who the street was named after.
Eric was a tireless antiracist and civil rights campaigner who advocated the importance of education throughout his long career. Writing on the Wall are proud to be a part of the continuation of Eric’s legacy through coordinating the Eric Scott Lynch Memorial Writing Project, and to promote the causes Eric dedicated his life to, which align so much with our own.
Special thanks to Andrew Lynch, Unite the Union Northwest, Unison Northwest, and trade unionist and activist Dave McCall, for honouring WoW by commissioning ourselves to deliver this vital project.
If you have any questions regarding the Eric Scott Lynch Memorial Writing Competition, or any of our other Creative Heritage projects, contact janaya@writingonthewall.org.uk
