Childhood

Our early years should be carefree, stress-free, worry-free. Yet all too often we’re made to feel ‘not quite right’ in some way, whether that’s because of the way we dress, the music we like — or, more insidiously, because of the colour of our skin. School days bring their own issues of peer pressure too, teaching lessons way beyond the classroom. But what happens to our own memories of that time when we grow up, or when we become parents ourselves? And what do we do with the knowledge that formative years are experienced very differently across cultures — and that ‘childhood’ is, after all, just a sociological construct that changes with the times? These are just some of the complex, moving and, at times, humorous issues examined by award-winning authors Jay Bernard, afshan d’souza-lodhi and Catherine Johnson.

Celebrating ten years of Speaking Volumes, Not Quite Right for Us is a singular collection of stories, essays and poems by a dynamic mix of established and surging voices alike; it’s a warning shot, an affirmation, an education ...

In this episode we’ll hear ‘Hey Coffee’ by Catherine Johnson; ‘Lessons in Assholery’ by Jay Bernard; and ‘The Freshie Rocker’ by afshan d’souza-lodhi. Our guide is children’s author, illustrator and publisher Ken Wilson-Max.

In forty short stories, poems and essays — by turns wry, gentle, furious, humorous, passionate, analytical and elliptical — these forty writers, new and established, speak volumes, invoking their experiences of outsiderness and their defiance against it.

Not Quite Right for Us is a stellar new anthology which explores the many ways we’ve all been made to feel ‘not quite right’ at some time or another.

Recorded in collaboration with Speaking Volumes.
The anthology is available at all good bookshops, or order from Flipped Eye Publishing.
If you enjoyed this episode of NQRFU, try London by Lockdown: a podcast about falling in love with a new city in the middle of a pandemic; remaining curious and open; and about making it work. Available on all podcast platforms or our website.

Information
Music composed by Dominique Le Gendre
Narration by Lucy Hannah
British Library
Extra music & SFX from Epidemic Sound
Episode Image by Tamara Gore on Unsplash