Andy asked Damian Barr:

With changes to Universal Credit working-class writers, and indeed any writers without a second income, no longer have the safety net of financial support. In the long term do you see this changing the opportunities available for anyone without inherited wealth?

Damian Barr Andy thanks for this question. I grew up in a house without books- the first books I owened were given to me by Social Services. In Maggie & Me I talk about the importance of libraries and stories to giving me relief and escape from poverty and violence. Working class readers and writers face increasingly big obstacles. Advances for writers are shrinking, libraries are closing and AI is advancing. Safety nets are being taken away, as you point out. So, yes, i feel very strongly that there is a real danger that the number of people who can 'afford' to write and fight to get published is shrinking and becoming richer and more uniform. This dearth of stories will impoverish us all. I would say the Society of Authors, the Royal Literary Fund and the various regional writing development groups, like New Writing North, continue to offer material support and help.

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