An extract from Beverley’s blog as she travelled to Seven Stories in Newcastle to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her book Journey to Jo’Burg and see the arrival of her archive at Seven Stories
“I’ve driven 800 miles and every mile was made worthwhile by a wonderful day on 4th June, the highlight being the Drama Club’s play to celebrate Journey to Jo’burg‘s 30th year and the arrival of my archive at Seven Stories in Newcastle.
Weaving their own contemporary story around Naledi’s and Tiro’s challenging journey in apartheid South Africa, the Shotton Hall students created an imaginative piece about how stories are passed on – both within and across generations. At the heart of their work was a strong empathy with Naledi and Tiro and a rejection of injustice. I loved the freshness and vitality of the students’ work and, judging from audience response, so did 200 Year 6 primary school children attending the performance at East Durham College. For a fuller report, you can read The Northern Echo.
Earlier in the day, Seven Stories’ archivists showed me how my materials are being stored and currently being catalogued. Fascinating! Here I am with archivist Kris McKie and collections assistant Danielle McAloon with some of the special cardboard boxes containing papers that not long ago were kept haphazardly in boxes under beds.
My work will have some very wonderful companions in the Seven Stories’ Collection, including some of my all time favourites. Elizabeth Laird is one of them.”
This was taken from a post on Beverley’s blog. You can read the full piece and see more photos from the day here.