For Black History month, 100 Voices brings you one of our newest contributors, Natalie Twum-Barima who shares her poem Windrush. In it, Natalie voices the people behind the journey - from Africa, via the Middle Passage and to Britain in a moving piece about family, heritage and remembrance.Natalie Twum-Barima

Women's Prize longlistee Yvonne Battle-Felton shares a sneak peak of her piece for the 100 voices book, now funding on Unbound.Yvonne Battle-Felton

"I knew I had to do it. Even if it felt like I had nothing to contribute, I would have to think of something. " Writer and editor of the 100 Voices for 100 Years project, Miranda Roszkowski realises how hard it is to talk about achievements, and pays tribute to the 99 contributors who have gone before her.…

"Life continues to throw challenges and obstacles at me. But I know I can deal with them." For Louise Houghton her path was very clear from the age of four - she was destined to be in front of the camera. Her ambition, drive and a bit of luck have got her a long way. In this uplifting piece about being true to yourself Louise tells her story and in…

"If you just teach one person something positive, then it's worth it." When costume coordinators Amy Trend, Hannah Monkley and Amy Towle dressed as Suffragettes for the Women's March in 2017 they didn't expect the fantastic response they got, or how it would lead to a whole new mindset. In an exclusive for 100 Voices for 100 Years the team behind t…

"A desert country seemed the place that best reflected our emotions." After losing their daughter, writer Sandra Arnold and her husband took to travelling to process their grief and found themselves Oman. For 100 Voices for 100 years Sandra shares her story The Stone, inspired by one of the moments from their time in the desert. A beautiful piece a…

"I felt worthless, stupid and incapable. I can’t apply those words to myself anymore. " Elisabeth Alain shares her story Bruise, and explains how she has let the wounds of a past relationship heal through her writing.Elisabeth Alain

"Mr Smith begrudgingly wrote ‘Good Effort’ at the bottom of the paper. I thought nothing of it." Miriam Elin Jones didn't have a habit of speaking up, until a particularly bitter injustice in sociology class changed her whole attitude. A funny and charming piece for 100 voices for 100 years about learning how to speak up and how we all need a littl…

"You’re never too old to become a fighter." Jane Riekemann is... a writer, a co-founder of a short story prize and a teacher. She didn't ever think she would add campaigner to that list but two years ago she became one. In a warm piece she talks about how her activism has brought her into many interesting situations (and a few unpleasant ones) but …

“I was going to try. One last time.” Emily Garside could never shake the idea that September meant new starts. So in September 2017 she took a huge leap into the unknown. For 100 voices for 100 years, she shares the story of what happens after you give everything up. An inspiring piece about ups, downs and taking chances.…

"Not a superwoman. Just a single mum." Writer Lesley Traynor reads a storming poem about the things she has achieved, as an "ordinary" woman.LA Traynor

"She picks up the phone and screams “Good morning my friend” before she knows who’s calling." For performer and writer Jessica Hayles there is one person who she knows inspired all of her own achievements. In a glorious piece for our Bank Holiday 100 voices for 100 years and 90th voice, Jessica pays Nanny B a tribute.…

"I hid for a while, a satisfied Gollum, behind my precious pen." Writer and erstwhile actress Eloise Williams has always hated the sound of her voice. She has gone out of her way to hide it, choosing a literary career where she thought she was safe... A funny, lovely piece about learning how to make people listen, however you sound.…

"She was my biggest champion. She loved and cared for me enough to be brutally honest about my work." When writer Debbi Voisey lost her friend Donna, she lost a soul mate. But it started a process of self-discovery for Debbi which she talks about in this heartfelt piece for 100 voices for 100 years, where she reads her short story Ma Chroi, dedicat…

“I found people who were eager to tell stories, not just perform.” Beth Stevens set up her blog All The Worlds A Stage at the age of 18 but it was during a production of Blue Stockings she found a community of female theatre makers that inspired her to start her own feminist enterprise. An uplifting and hopeful piece about what can happen when insp…

"No one is going to walk down the streets of your council estate and see your inner brilliance, and whisk you away. Don’t worry, you’ll save yourself." Alex Keelan gives herself some life lessons in a letter to her younger self, and in doing so teaches the rest of us some things, too. A funny, human and uplifting piece about finding your own way.…

"I’ve often gained confidence in things I find difficult to do by organising events around them." When Jude Higgins retired at 60 it didn't remotely occur to her to stop creating opportunities to get people together and share stories. In a beautiful, warm piece for 100 voices for 100 years, Jude explains how she was inspired to get involved in runn…

"I knew I had something to contribute." Sarah Jones was a student, coming to terms with a future as a teenage single mum when she became inspired to enter politics. She went on to become the first female MP ever in Croydon. She shares her story and encourages others to take a stand, and stand for election.…

"It’s not unusual to go through a phase of intense imaginative play - but my phase continues today, and I’m 35. " For performer, producer and Co-Director of Croydon Cycle Theatre Vanessa Hammick, performing has been her life-blood since she was a tottering acrobat on a chair in her living room. In this uplifting piece, she talks about the highs and…

"I’m sure you’ve heard the expression Life Imitates Art..." Writer Rebecca Rouillard was thrilled when she won a prestigious award for a book in which one of the main characters has a degenerative condition. When she woke up with a numbness in her body, she wondered what was going on.... An optimistic and honest piece about coping with Bells Palsy …

"I'm just a mum." In a moving, honest and occasionally tongue in cheek poem, poet Antonia Seaward considers what it is to be "Just A Mum."Antonia Seaward

“In teacher training you’re encouraged to create a persona - turned out mine was Mary Poppins." After years as a jobbing actor, Olivia Chappell decided to get a Real Job. She excelled at it; and then she was transferred to a new school... A story about putting yourself out of your comfort zone and how stepping away can make you come back stronger.…

"It still troubles me whether it's a story I have the right to tell." When Helen Rye created a piece of flash fiction adapted from a painstakingly researched monologue in a community theatre piece she’d written she didn’t suspect it would catapult her into the literary world. Now she considers that story, its success and the people that inspired th…

"I had nowhere to escape to." In the months following her daughter's death, writer Diane Simmons' family gradually began to return to their normal lives, but Diane didn’t seem able to move on. She couldn't write — though the image of a grieving mother at a river bank kept returning to her. She reads the story that grew out of this.…

“The shorter pieces come from something more visceral.” Author Louise Mangos knows sometimes a creative job is like a marathon, but she wouldn’t have made it as far as she has without her training in short pieces of fiction. In her piece for 100 Voices For 100 Years Louise reads her story ‘Two Hundred Years Ago We Would Have Been Dead By Now’ a pow…

“Recovery is not a win or a failure.” Playwright Emily Holyoake was never really one for cross-country; at school it more ritual humiliation than part of a healthy lifestyle. But when her father fell ill, she signed up for a 10k. And that’s where things started to go wrong. A humorous and heartfelt piece about how Emily took the steps needed to get…

"Experts thought running would make a woman's uterus fall out..." To celebrate the London Marathon, writer and journalist Sophie Haydock shares her own experience of crossing the finishing line after 26.2 miles. Amid the sweat, aches and exhaustion, Sophie tells of her joy at being free to go the distance, when many women before her were prohibited…

"We can choose to recognise all we have done... the mad paddling that goes on under water to create even the sleekest, smoothest glide on the surface." Writer Laura Windley has always been good at going into battle. Using her anger, her strength and most importantly building up resilience has allowed her to keep on keeping on. In a piece for the ev…

"I know how important voice is, but how can we define it?" Writer Jacqueline Haskell was taught that her voice was one of the most important things to get right when she started her literary career. In a heartwarming piece she talks about what it took for her to understand what that meant for her.Jacqueline Haskell

"Writing's not for me, I'd say. I can't do it." "It feels like there’s a rubber band around your chest. Every day it gets a little bit tighter, and tighter, until you feel like you can’t breathe at all." A year and a half ago, Susanna Bowen stopped writing. Affected by feelings of inadequacy and self doubt, her� words were the first casualty in a b…

“On a Sunday afternoon, I’d put a wash on, read the papers and make lists. Colour coded.” Writer and performer Ceri Ashcroft loved nothing more than making elaborate lists about, well, everything. When everything changed, the lists went from indulgence to indispensable.Ceri Ashcroft

"I had to find an alternative route... peeling away the layers of the onion to get to the real me." Lucy felt joyless when she lost her creativity during a long battle with IVF and chronic fatigue syndrome. Then, after finally getting pregnant, she returned to making. When the opportunity to share a studio with other creative women arose she didn't…

"Year after year, I refused to put my head under..." Author Sarah Alexander has had a murky relationship with water her whole life; from an element to be feared in her school days, it eventually inspired her successful first novel, The Art Of Not Breathing. In this open and touching piece for 100 voices for 100 years, Sarah shares the story of her …

"In the hospital they have some papers they want me to sign. They are explaining what the papers mean. - Just give me the pen, I say." Writer and performer Joanna Howard's second pregnancy was a little different. In a comic, warts-and-all piece for 100 voices for 100 years she shares her story of surviving twins...…

"It was a fairly quiet afternoon in the x-ray department, so I took the opportunity to have my annual mammogram..." Being a Doctor had its perks for Sarah Burnett, including having access to some excellent healthcare facilities. But when she actually got sick, it didn't seem quite so convenient after all. A humorous and heart-felt piece about learn…

"We were anarchy, we were challenge and laughter and freedom. " Every day is a school day with 100 voices for 100 years, but not quite like the one Sharon Eckman ran... In a joy filled pieced, performer and writer Sharon Eckman explains what happened when she and her band of fellow artists took over schools in North Wales. A great piece about the p…

"I made it. All those years when I thought I wouldn't. But I did." In a raw piece about the darker side of creativity and difficult relationships for 100 voices for 100 years, playwright and performer Sophie Olivia Ali shares her story of survival. She made it, and so will we.Sophie Olivia Ali

"The grainy photo shows a woman and her bike at the turn of the century... 100 years later a photo of me shows a similar picture..." To Ros Ball, the woman she called Aunty Min was a kindred spirit, though she was over 90 when Ros was born. In a heartwarming piece, author and broadcaster Ros talks about how both women were enabled by their love of …

"I looked at the blue packet on the floor and almost heard it calling me... Go on! Stand up for yourself." Young writer Della Darvill's taste in crisps wasn't the only thing that marked her as an outsider and a target for bullies. When it came to the crunch, her favourite snack came in handyDella Darvill

"I wrote it first, then I said it in my head, and finally I said it out loud." When author Emma Flint wrote her first book inspired by Agatha Christie, aged 10, she became a writer, although she didn't quite know it. In her piece for 100 voices for 100 years, Emma shares the story about how she dared to believe in herself. A piece that will inspire…

"I am brilliant at Street Fighter. I have watched Neighbours for over 30 years..." There are so many things to be proud of. Here, writer, playwright and theatre maker Sharon Kanolik lists a handful of her accomplishments, each shedding a little light on the key moments of her life. A glorious piece which sums up the ethos of 100 voices for 100 year…

"I had never seen blonde hair before..." Arriving in England with her family, Usha was confronted with a totally new culture. In a gorgeous piece of memoir about the time following her family's expulsion from Uganda, writer Usha Rowan remembers who she was trying to impress the first time she learned to use a Fork and Knife.…

“A gem stone is made after millions of years of pressure … rarely flawless, sometimes marked…” Maya Kay is made of strong stuff. In her piece “How To Be A Strong Woman” part poem, part self-motivation, Maya explores the choices she’s had to make and how her strength is built on a bedrock of support. With some noir humour and a rousing ending, this …

"There was a time in my life when I felt I couldn't, or I wasn't or I didn't know how..." Amie Taylor knew she was creative - she just didn't know how to put her voice out there. In a warm, charming piece, Amie talks about how meeting a group of inspiring artists gave her the confidence to think she could have a go herself...…

"I can’t really say sorry you know because that would be too easy. " Seven years after Jeffrey* had raped me he said this. 100 voices for 100 years aims to celebrate the process we have made towards equality over the last 100 years. It is also about the female voice and asks who controls the stories we tell. In a warm, human and daring piece, artis…

"As I read something happened. The story stopped being mine..." Writer Anne Summerfield started writing nearly 40 years ago, but it was when she finally read her work out loud that she discovered her voice as an author. In this inspiring piece for 100 voices for 100 years, Anne shares her story, and reveals what has kept her going for so long.…

"I was in love with the sight of city lights in the darkness, thousands of bulbs lighting the night." Ciara McVeigh moved to Manchester from a small town in Ireland, having never even visited the city. 3000 days afterwards, Ciara shares a story of home, and how sometimes a leap in the dark helps you find your path. A warm story for a slow Bank Holi…

"By the time we met, I knew her better than anyone." Writer Louise Taylor's writing career started with her pen friend. Over the years they shared their most intimate secrets and their burgeoning writing talents. In this moving piece for 100 voices for 100 years this Easter Sunday, Louise Taylor talks about her loss after her pen friend's death and…

"A teeny tiny bean shaped thing, had so much love already." Melangell promised to be the best auntie ever. Six years later she looks back on her relationship with her nephew and how it has changed her life.Melangell Dolma

"What a great feeling - to be so open not just with others, but also yourself. Isn't that where your first healthy relationship should start?" As a gay teenager it wasn't always easy for Christabel Johanson. Years later, as a married woman, she is thrilled to hear a young women telling her about the exploits of female lovers in the park... In a rom…