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10 minutes, 10 questions with writer Ian Kershaw

We spoke to the writer about helping young people as a mentor and the craziest thing he's ever done!

1. What did you want to be when you were 16?

To continue to be happy. There’s been ups and downs along the way but on the whole I think I’ve achieved it. It’s a bit fridge magnet-y but I like ‘It will all be okay in the end and if it isn’t okay now then it isn’t the end’

2. What do you do with Arts Emergency?

I’m a professional writer in life and an Arts Emergency mentor.

3. What are you most proud of?

In life - my family. In Arts Emergency - helping a mentee see that what may seem unobtainable is obtainable.

4. What do you think is the best thing about the cultural and creative industry?

Working with brilliant people. And it’s fun - it’s hard work obvs but it’s fun - writing something for theatre is called a ‘Play’ - there’s not may other jobs where you get to play.

5. Did you go to uni?

Kind of - I trained as an actor at Welsh College of Music and Drama and got a grant by doing a BA in Theatre History. I was writing while I was there - my mates had pictures of Robert De Niro on their walls I had Alan Bennett.

6. What advice would you give to someone who is unsure about what to do after school / college?

In the word of the mighty philosophers S Club 7 ‘Reach for the stars’.

7. What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?

Invading the stage when Iggy Pop and The Stooges played Glastonbury was a moment.

8. What do you know now, that you would tell your younger self?

Say ‘yes’ more. Look after people - on the whole other humans are really nice.

And mainly that you aren’t born with a map but you will die with one - nobody really knows how you get from A to B but when you look back you’ll see that if you hadn’t done A then you wouldn’t have got to B.

9. Describe Arts Emergency in three words?

Supportive, encouraging, heart.

10. If you were stuck on an island, how do you think you would survive?

I’d be able to build a shelter and catch a fish but I’d only truly be able to survive if I had company.