26 Stories of Christmas

Writers’ group 26 has collaborated with illustrators from the London College of Communication and Plymouth College of Art to create an online advent calendar for short story fans.

For 26 days in December – from 1 December to Boxing Day – one illustrated story a day will go live on website www.26storiesofchristmas.com, which has been created by consultancy Fabric.

Written by a 26 writer and illustrated by an artist from the LCC or PCA, each story has to respond to a randomly selected object, ranging from batteries to an old oilrigger’s jacket.

Rob Self-Pierson, 26 board member, says, ‘We asked each writer to choose an object that means Christmas to them. We put the objects in a hat and paired them randomly with our writers, so that nobody knew what they’d get. Everyone then had just two weeks to write a cracking story.’

The writers were then paired off with an illustrator, to develop a visual image to sit alongside the story.

Fabric founder Sam Gray, who developed the idea for the project, says, ‘We want to show that Christmas isn’t all gifts and tinsel. Everyone has a unique story to tell.’

The first of the 26 Stories of Christmas goes live on 1 December. Maraschino Christmas has been written by Will Awdry, creative director at Ogilvy, and illustrated by Laura Warrington from LCC.

Follow the 26 Stories of Chirstmas project from 1 December at www.26storiesofchristmas.com