I AM Talks: Jasmine Richards
Jasmine Richards is an author of children’s books, publisher, a screenwriter and the founder of Storymix, an inclusive fiction platform to encourage Black writers. Storymix fosters the creation of children’s stories with diverse casts of characters in an organic, joyful and authentic way, working with emerging and established writers and illustrators from BME backgrounds to offer pathways into publishing.
IAH – What was your relationship with books as a child?
I was an absolute bookworm! I actually preferred reading about kids playing than playing myself. I grew up in North London, in a social housing, which I always start with when I do presentations in schools, to show that writers can come from all sorts of places. A key component of my childhood was that my mum took time to read to me, and we lived near a library. She was a single parent and a young mum, and knew it was a safe space for me; so I was there all the time, and very well supported.
IAH – Did this have a great impact on your studies?
I went on to do a degree in English at Oxford University at 18. I was reading more and reading the canon. It was useful but lots of them were also problematic books, like Robinson Crusoe, the story of an English man who went on to be a slaver, became a slave then sold a boy as a slave to save himself and buy a plantation. It was a traumatic read for me; the language was offensive and racist, but there was no warning then. There is a bit more now, 20 years later.
IAH – Did your reading inform your writing?
As a child, I read no book with a Black female character lead. The first was Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (the 1976 novel by Mildred D. Taylor). That was the first time I saw myself in a story. I could identify with characters like Matilda, of course, as there are other parts of myself. The reading at Oxford was useful for what I do as an author and a producer, and what I do for my kids, my nephews.
IAH – How was your experience at Oxford as a young Caribbean British woman?
I feel very lucky as ultimately I had a very positive experience there, while most of my Black friends didn’t. But the first term was incredibly difficult. Out of 400 students, only one guy came and checked on me, a third year in classic. And I came from a state school while he from Eton College! But I didn’t sound or look like anyone else; and I escaped back to London every weekend! At least until one day a friend asked me to stay to get to know me… She became one of my bridesmaids years later. After that, I only went home at the end of the term. I was also in a former women’s college, more radical, further out of the city, with 50% state-school kids and left-leaning. I got lucky.
IAH – Were discussions on the issues that affected you possible?
In tutorials, there were one or two students I could speak to about my feelings. Like when I had to read Robinson Crusoe, I didn’t get to the end of it, and focused on other books instead. But I had to find ways to not talk about most things that offended me.
IAH – How did you transition from university to writing and working in publishing?
For a year, I worked for an inner city state school, in a job to encourage students to go to Oxford University. There I met someone who worked at Penguin House and encouraged me to work in publishing or at least become a trainee. I wanted to write books but it took encouragement for me to try. So, I applied to the graduates’ traineeship; it was very competitive but I got it. It was quite well paid, and I could still live in London with my mum. I worked at Penguin for about 20 months; then I worked in the United States. Back in London, I wanted a job in children’s editorial, and found one with a start-up. I had to take a significant pay cut but still had the safety net to live at my mum’s. There couldn’t have been a better job to become an author, to learn how to do everything in the publishing industry and set up a company. After that I was headhunted to run a project at Oxford University Press, then became a senior editor and had two babies!
IAH – That’s when Storymix was imagined? How did you have the idea?
I was on maternity leave for baby number 2 and looking for books for my older child. And I couldn’t find picture books that looked like him. I had a moment of realisation and even rage… I was angry at the system but also at myself to admit there were almost no Black or Brown children in these books. So, I had to do something. I had to be very ambitious, needed to be the best editor I could be and to climb the ladder. There was also a tension between going ahead in this career and remaining authentic. But I saw that my own children were invisible; it’s like admitting they’re not important enough to be in a book. I thought I could fix this by writing one. And I could create my own company, to get a greater quantity of books published. That’s what I chose to do; I was sometimes told it’s radical, as no one else does it, but it’s just what I do; I never thought of it as activism. I help writers develop ideas, or I develop ideas and find the writers for them, and the publishers to print them.
IAH – So, what did you write and help publish so far?
My own novel came out earlier this month, The Uncommon Curse. It’s inspired by the time I used to live in the Cotswold, so it’s about kids living in a rural setting. Then I have a series with Storymix like Aziza, who’s a young and beautiful Black girl, as precious as a white girl could be. All of them are trauma-free zones! I just want to create books that are for Black and Brown people too; they’re for all children, but they’re inclusive. Storymix is an incubator for creators, to help amplify our voices, to try and create stories that treasure Black kids.
