Write the story you want to read

Finding your voice

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a recurring dream that ended in me trying to scream, but no sound coming out. I could never quite work out what it was about, until I wrote my first novel for young adults – Ellie Pillai Is Brown.

Like me, Ellie is a brown kid growing up in a majority white community, struggling to work out who she is and where she fits in, caught between two cultures; not quite traditional enough for her family, not quite ‘English’ enough for everyone else. For fear of standing out for the wrong reasons, Ellie tries to go unnoticed – essentially, she chooses to be voiceless.

As someone who grew up not seeing themselves included in popular culture, I couldn’t help but feel my story was somehow less worthy than my contemporaries; less funny, or interesting – less wanted. As I got older, I realised the only way to change that narrative, was to rewrite it. To provide the mirror for others, that I’d been missing myself. So, I sat down and wrote the story I wanted to read. A story about identity and what makes us who we are. About a brown girl who finds their voice and chooses to use it. Who realises she is creating her own version of the world, a world where she belongs.

All stories deserve to be told, all children deserve to be represented. Whatever your story, pick up that pen and write it. Find your voice, and make sure people hear it.

Ellie Pillai Is Brown out now with Faber Books.

CHRISTINE PILLAINAYAGAM,

Author of Ellie Pillai Is Brown

Twitter: @ CPillainayagam IG: christine_ pillainayagam

TURN TO P50 to read about the Education Corner podcast with author Elizabeth Laird

Help a child learn to read

Volunteer with Bookmark

Help a child develop the reading skills and confidence they need for a fair chance in life. Read together for 30 minutes, twice a week, for six weeks.