About me
My name is Lauren and for the past five weeks, I have been working as a communications intern with Nottingham City of Literature, helping with the Big City Reads campaign and gaining insight into the work behind an arts organisation!
I am currently studying English and History at the University of Nottingham, going into my third year this September, and have always had a deep love for reading. Being able to share this passion with so many people and encourage young people to discover the impact that reading can have has been a wonderful and enlightening opportunity.
My role
As a communications intern, I have been able to create assets to support both our Big City Reads project and associated events, as well as to promote writer residencies within our international Cities of Literature network. This included creating social media graphics, video content, and blog posts. At first, designing these materials felt so different from the writing and research which fill my time at university, but the more I created, the more I learned about how naturally intertwined writing and designing can be. This allowed me to apply the same creativity I use in my writing to producing visually engaging designs, using colour coordination and thoughtful descriptions to promote our events. As well as this, gaining experience across multiple social media platforms has allowed me to understand the importance of adapting style and tone for different audiences, which are skills that will prove invaluable as I progress towards my future career.
Projects and Events
Given that my placement started during the launch of the Big City Reads campaign, there were many exciting events that I was soon able to get involved with. In my first week, I was able to take part in the preparation of the Big City Reads books, illustrating the complex and impressive amount of work involved in public-facing campaigns, as we packed thousands of books for distribution, using around 4,500 stickers! Being able to gain insight into the planning and coordination behind such a large campaign was incredibly valuable in showing me the importance of teamwork as everyone worked together to ensure these books were ready to be sent out to the public.
In addition, I was able to take part in our book distribution day where we handed out hundreds of copies of the selected titles across the city to members of the public. Seeing the result of all our hard work was incredibly rewarding and highlighted the importance of encouraging young people to discover the power of reading, especially after meeting so many individuals who were excited to discover new books or saw this as a fantastic opportunity to get into reading!
As I’ve spoken about, the Big City Reads campaign was an important part of my experience on this placement, and our ‘Meet the Authors’ event felt like a moment when all of the hard work across departments came together. The opportunity to speak to the authors who had been a crucial part of every step of the project was a real full-circle moment, allowing me to appreciate just how important these projects are to so many people, writers and readers alike. Seeing members of the Youth Selection Panel express how personally meaningful these books had been, including how they resonated with the representations of identity, was a great illustration of how books can bring together communities and create lasting connections through words.
Personal Growth
This placement has also given me great freedom to use my imagination and creativity to create a social media project of my own. I was given the brief to use the photos and videos from our Big City Reads distribution day and transform them into an engaging video to be posted across all platforms. The chance to take creative ownership of this project was incredibly exciting and developed my ability to think creatively and transform ideas into real outputs. I experimented thoughtfully with transitions, pacing, text, colour, music, and overlays, until I created a video which I felt captured the atmosphere of the day and took audiences along on the journey. The final video received strong engagement across our social media platforms, showing me how creative storytelling can help audiences connect with campaigns. Being able to share the excitement of this day with our online audience allowed me to again see the importance of public-facing communications in creating a sense of community and building a strong brand identity.
Reflection
As I come to the end of my placement, I feel I have grown so much through being able to get involved in a variety of areas within this organisation from events to communications to marketing to creative writing. I am excited to soon apply all the skills I have developed to both my studies and future career!
The multiple opportunities offered to me have not only developed my personal skills but have helped me to recognise what I am really interested in and strengthened my enthusiasm for making more contributions to the arts sector, which does so much to foster creativity in young people and enrich communities through artistic expression.
As an English and History student, I am constantly surrounded by the importance that words and literature can have throughout time, and to see this so strongly reflected in this organisation has been truly memorable.
It has been truly incredible to work so closely with such a welcoming and supportive team who care so deeply about making an impact on the lives of young people through the power of words, and I am excited to follow all that they do next as they continue to promote the value of reading!