Meet our new trainees

Posted by theministry on 19th September 2024

Our Trainee Programme is back for round two.

We’re very happy to have a brand new set of trainees back at Ministry of Stories HQ ready to learn a whole host of skills to make writing exciting for young people.

These four fantastic writers will be hitting the ground running, getting stuck into projects such as Spy School, Speak Up and our one off workshop Storymaking. They will also meet and learn from our expert facilitators and have a chance to lead activities or sessions.

In return for them bringing their skills to our team, we will be offering termly reviews and a chance to develop their skills to plan, create and deliver creative writing projects across school and community settings. By the end of the programme they will have learned how to deliver inspirational creative writing projects that help young people discover the joy and power of writing.

Our four fantastic 2024 trainees are:

Regan - a black man with dark twists hair - sits with his hands folded in front of him. He wears a dark jumper with white writing on it and a white collar. He smiles happily at the camera.

Regan

Under the stage name Wave Noir, Regan Jordine is a hip hop artist, songwriter and performer. He currently has an artist’s residency at the Horniman Museum and has been previously featured by Spotify on their Fresh Finds and Fresh Finds Hip Hop playlists.

My three favourite pieces of writing are:

  1. Higgs by Frank Ocean
  2. Berserk by Kentaro Miura
  3. Summertime by Vince Staples

Maria, a young white woman with long dark hair, wearing a striped tank top, sits smiling at the camera.

Maria

Maria Ilona Moore is a writer and editor. Her short stories, poetry and non-fiction have been published in various anthologies, magazines and online. She can’t get enough of Ministry of Stories and has been a volunteer Writing Mentor since 2018.

My three favourite pieces of writing are:

  1. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  2. This Poem by Catherine Pierce
  3. The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

Fathima, a young woman, sits smiling at the camera. She wears a dark, long sleeve top and a pale lilac hijab.

Fathima

Fathima Zahra is a poet, performer and facilitator. She completed her MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths University of London. She is a Roundhouse Poetry Collective and Barbican Young Poets alum. She has worked with young people as a mentor and facilitator for organisations including Debate Mate, ICA and the London Archives.

My three favourite pieces of writing are:

  1. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
  2. If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay
  3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Ashante, a young black man, sits in a green t-shirt and dark hair smiling broadly at the camera.

Ashanté

Ashante Thomas-Burton is a poet, presenter and practitioner. He is currently freelance at the Black Cultural Archives as a creative consultant and has had works displayed at Horniman Museum and UCL Stratford. They look forward to belonging to a new crew at Ministry of Stories.

My top three writings are:

  1. Anansi the Trickster Spider by Unknown – a collection of Ghanaian folklore from my childhood about character up to mischief. Some may say I’m a bit of an Anansi myself…
  2. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – Need encouragement to dream again? Want to be reminded of what you can achieve with a great support system? Or are you just a little bit hungry? READ THIS!
  3. Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel – anything by Michaela Coel is just GOLD to me! (check out her old poetry) But reading this play, to watching the channel 4 show, to seeing her in the Black Panther movie; it has all inspired me to be a better writer.
NEXT PAGE: Culloden Comics