Dear Ethel Carnie Holdsworth,

You were a Lancashire mill girl from the age of 11 who went on to be a poet journalist, novelist, anti-fascist campaigner + peace activist. I am constantly inspired by your passion + commitment, as a feminist + socialist + writer who believed that words might change the world.

I am humbled by your learning + knowledge, the fierceness of your prose + your intellect + will always be inspired by everything you achieved. Reading your novel “This Slavery” (1925) lit em on fire + showed me the rights to literature that we as working class people have, at a time when I felt more socially out of my depth than I had ever been.

Thank you for you + for your books!

Thank you for the amazing example + your achievements.

Nicola.