Become’s Link-Up with Kirsty Capes
Our weekly Link-Ups are a special place where young care-experienced people (aged 16-27) come together to chat, vibe and have fun. Last week, we were treated to a very special guest – Kirsty Capes!
Our weekly Link-Ups are a special place where young care-experienced people (aged 16-27) come together to chat, vibe and have fun.
Last week, we were treated to a very special guest – Kirsty Capes!
Kirsty is a care-experienced author and advocate for more positive representation of care-experienced people in the media. Her new book, Careless, follows the story of Bess, a teenager in care who discovers she is pregnant. Kirsty has spoken out about issues relating to the care-experience recently in Cosmopolitan, The Guardian, and her book is loved by the likes of Pandora Sykes and Benjamin Zephaniah (plus all of us here at Become).
We kicked off the Link-Up with a fun ice-breaker game, then Kirsty read a chapter from Careless. The group asked Kirsty questions about her time in care, her writing inspirations, and her advice for other aspiring novelists.
“Don’t ever think you aren’t good enough because you are” – Kirsty Capes
Kirsty then opened the floor and welcomed everyone to share the stories, poems and novels they were working on and ask for advice. From short horror stories to a murder mystery, we were blown away by the creative projects young people were working on.
Kirsty also shared the wide range of scholarships, mentorship schemes and more available to under-presented groups in publishing.
Of course, we finished with a game of ‘Stop the Bus’ – a Link-Up favourite!
It was fantastic to see how many care-experienced young people were engaged with writing and aspired to write more in the future.
Because of this, we have decided to hold a one-off writing evening with young people on World Writing Day (24 June) and provide a space to share ideas, ask for advice, and spark more creativity.
You can sign up for this by emailing [email protected]
Our Link-Ups happen every Tuesday, 5:30-7pm on Zoom. We’ve had special guests, cooking and craft sessions, and care-experienced young people have also led sessions themselves – showing us the wonders of poetry, and even how to invest in stocks and shares. And we want you to be a part of it!
Link-Ups are always free, and you can attend as many, or a few as you would like to. It’s your space to have fun, suggest ideas, get involved and feel part of a community.
Sign up for our Link-Ups here (16+)