This Black History Month, we are celebrating Scribes with Vibes, a creative writing collective who met through the council’s adult learning service and speak to the inspirational people involved.
Supported by the council’s Black History 365 initiative and in partnership with Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA), Scribes with Vibes provide a welcoming and supportive space where writers from Black and wider diaspora communities can find their voice, grow in confidence and tell their stories. They host creative writing courses and workshops that explore personal expression and inspire people to read, learn, and understand history through cultural and social perspectives.
The creative force behind Scribes with Vibes is Karen Huggins, a designer, teacher, poet and author. Karen has published two books this year – Pot's House Party and A Thread Never Broken. She has a clothing range for children, Little Huggins, and teaches pattern cutting with GCDA. She met Lviss David on the GCDA creative writing course. Lviss is a poet, plumber and founder the spoken word group, Partners in Rhyme.
With their book launch taking place this Friday, Scribes with Vibes has grown into a creative community where writers share experiences, celebrate heritage and find a sense of belonging through storytelling. Black History 365 is a programme that supports local organisations to celebrate Black history throughout the whole year, not just during October.
Councillor Adel Khaireh, Cabinet Member for Culture, Equalities and Leisure, said: “Scribes with Vibes is an important part of our Black History 365 legacy. By providing a space for writers of African and Caribbean descent, Scribes with Vibes offer a way to explore history, reclaim narratives, celebrate diverse cultures and talk about collective experience. Self-expression is fundamental to how we relate to ourselves and one another. Greenwich has always been shaped by the stories of its communities, and Scribes with Vibes shows that culture is created by local people every day.”
Councillor Asli Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Economy, Town Centres and Co-operatives, said: “We are the borough that creates opportunity. It is amazing that after meeting through our adult learning service, Karen and Lviss are empowering others to embrace their creativity. Adult learning isn’t just about gaining knowledge or acquiring a new skill. From the first step to launching your own business to the joy of starting a poetry group, adult learning motivates you to try something new, connects you with a community and creates momentum for others to realise that they can do it too.”
Mel Taylor, Head of Learning and Deputy CEO at GCDA, said: “Scribes with Vibes really demonstrates the power of adult learning to bring people together and create opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom. Karen and Lviss have built something that is inspiring others to find their voice, share their stories and celebrate their heritage – it’s so special. We're incredibly proud to have played a small part in that journey and excited to see the impact this anthology will have."
For Black History Month, Scribes with Vibes are proudly launching their anthology book Where I’m From on 30 October at Woolwich Front Room. This collaborative collection brings together nine writers from diverse backgrounds, each sharing their thoughts on identity, heritage, family, culture and belonging.
Through poetry, personal stories, and lived experiences, Where I’m From explores different journeys while celebrating shared connections. The writers reflect on their roots, their communities, their memories, and the generations that came before them.
The launch will be an opportunity to see the contributors perform and receive a copy of the book. Free tickets are available online.
If this has inspired to looking to learn something new, Greenwich Learns has a range of free and low-cost adult education courses available to residents.
Karen's story
A true multihyphenate, Karen is an entrepreneur, writer, designer, teacher and mentor. Karen grew up in London during the 1970s within a close-knit family and her work is deeply rooted in her Trinidadian heritage and the stories, traditions and values passed down through generations.
Inspired by the beautiful clothes her mother made, Karen had a passion for sewing from an early age. She studied Fashion Design and Technology at the Kent Institute of Art and Design. Karen is the founder and maker behind clothing brand, Little Huggins, handcrafting joyful garments for children under five that combine fun and functionality.
With GCDA, Karen studied courses including business start-up, taking a product to market, creative writing, book-keeping and social media. Previously a teacher at Lewisham College and London South East Colleges, Karen is now an expert tutor with GCDA, leading a pattern cutting course at Woolwich Common Community Centre where she teaches advanced students how to create made-to-measure skirt and bodice patterns, guiding them toward designing and sewing their own custom garments.
Karen founded Scribes with Vibes last year. She published her first work of fiction, Pot’s House Party in August. An exuberant story of migration told through the perspective of sisters, Pot and Lid, it is a funny and imaginative retelling of the journey made by the Windrush generation and their experience of arriving in England. Inspired by the kitchens of her childhood, Karen dedicates the book to her family.
A Thread Never Broken was published in September. A contemplative collection of poetry, it unfolds in four parts: Roots, Awakening, Seeing and Home. It explores identity, faith, heritage, resilience and belonging, tracing the threads that connect the past, presence and sense of home. In the foreword, Karen describes home as "a place not defined by geography but by the quiet certainty of knowing who we are".
Most recently, Karen was at the Black Book Festival and Education Expo at Goldsmith’s College.
Find Scribes with Vibes on Instagram: @scribeswithvibes365
A conversation with Karen
Why did you start Scribes with Vibes?
I did a creative writing course with GCDA for one term because work got in the way. I wanted to continue, so with a few people from the class, we would meet on Zoom and it rolled on from there. We meet once or twice a month, and I started planning writing exercises. The name Scribes with Vibes came about, and it's just a group of friends coming together to continue writing together.
Home features prominently in your work. What is your fondest memory of growing up?
Growing up in a Caribbean home, it's always filled of people and they're not always family. The kitchen and dining room is where everyone congregates because the living room is like a Caribbean shrine – you don't really go in there. The kitchen is the place where everyone hangs out: talking, cooking food, doing people's hair or watching television. It was a carnival of everyone in the family, and visitors also come along, so it's like an extend family unit. I was the youngest in my whole family, so I was these little eyes looking at all the people and trying to decipher what they were saying. Sometimes it goes over your head, the old talk. But that's what it was like. A Caribbean home with family and laughter.
You created four stained-glass portraits of the women in your family. Can you tell us about them and how they have influenced you?
These are currently on display in the Greenwich Park Adult Learning Centre. They're of my Mum, my Aunty Monica, my Aunty Nola - all three are sisters – and my cousin Jennifer, who was Aunty Monica's daughter. They were all very much strong women in my family. The aunts were all mums to us, and all the cousins were children of the sisters, so we were all connected. My cousin Jennifer was just the calmest person. She spent a long time with my mum and aunt in Trinidad growing up. My 'sister-cousin' I called her. She was the bridge between generations. She understood what the older people were talking about.
You have been an educator for many years and returned to the classroom as a student. How important is lifelong learning and what has your experience been like with GCDA?
GCDA make learning is accessible. They get professional people with lifelong experience to pass on their skills. For me, when I came back to the classroom it was a refresher as it had been a long time since I'd practiced. As children, the reason for education is clear but as adults, aspiration can get overlooked until something knocks on the door and reminds you there could be a course for that. There can be an apprehension with adult learning, but I've had students of all ages - you are never too old to learn. Adult learning is important as there's always things that you want to do, and even though you might not make a career of it, it's still an achievement and you can build up self-esteem.
You’re very talented and work across different disciplines. What is your greatest source of inspiration, and do you have a favourite medium?
My inspiration is believing in myself because sometimes that was a challenge. I know I can do something, but can I believe I can do it. Sometimes I wake up in the morning, have an idea and I'd ring colleagues at 8:00 in the morning to tell them. I get inspired and think to myself, okay there's something there, a seed I've got to nurture to see where it's going.
I don't have a favourite medium – I like to try anything. I do carpentry too. My mum was a single parent back in the seventies. She wouldn't get a workman in – she learnt how to do it. So, I would put up wallpaper with her, things like that, and I learnt how to be creative.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to nurture their creative side?
Keep fear outside the door because we have our own inner fear, but we also have the ones that were given to us by outside voices. They don't belong to you, and fear is not a place where we need to live. Once you take fear out of the equation, it allows you to flow and allows you to grow.
Tell us about the Scribes with Vibes book launch.
The book launch is this Friday at Woolwich Front Room at 6:30pm. There will be nine of us from the group who have written pieces throughout the course that took place in March and April this year. Some of the work was so deep because the space allowed people to just speak and let things out. The writing process lets them dig deeper, and it was very emotional. I thought this can't stay in the classroom, this has got to go into a book, so let's make this happen. It is so important to for people to see their work in print. It sparks the next journey for them and other people as well. The launch is to celebrate those that were on the course, the book [Where I'm From] and to hopefully inspire people. The book will be handed out to everyone at the launch so you can read their stories.
Lviss’s story
Lviss enrolled onto the Creative Writing for Wellbeing class after appearing on the BBC programme DNA Family Secrets. Lviss’s mother came to the UK from Dominica aged 17 and passed away in 1999. Lviss’s twin brother sadly only survived three days after being born. Lviss did not meet his father.
Lviss grew up with a strong sense of being a southeast Londoner but wanted to find out more his ancestral bloodlines on both sides of his family. Through the programme, Lviss discovered that his ancestry is over 80% Nigerian. The researchers could not find Lviss’s father, but they retraced his maternal family tree, which is when Lviss learnt that the name his mother gave him at birth was in honour of her grandfather.
Through creative writing, Lviss has been able to process difficult emotions, which had previously even led to ill health. Lviss describes this as life changing. Exploring themes of resilience and selfhood, Lviss’s poetry is heavily influenced by nature.
Since starting the course, Lviss won a London-wide poetry competition, became the Plumstead Poet Laureate in 2024 and has since become a judge and co-presenter for the annual competition run by Art Plumstead. Lviss has also founded Partners in Rhyme, a poetry night which celebrates unity. The first Partners in Rhymes night took place at the Woolwich Front Room in co-hosted by GCDA and Lviss now runs the night with a residency at Plot 9, a community garden in Maze Hill. He has performed at Eltham Library at Severndroog Castle, Fire Pit Tales, St George’s Garrison Festival, the Rhymers' Club Open Mic and Plumstead Make Merry to name a few.
Lviss returned to adult learning and received a teaching diploma through GCDA in July. He now teaches at Construction and Engineering Opportunities (CEO) CIC, a plumbing and construction training centre in West Croydon.
Lviss was house and garage DJ for 20 years. He played all over London, Essex and Wales as well as having stints in Ibiza and France and set up Rugged Records in Deptford High Street with support from The Prince's Trust. He retired from music in 2004 and became a father in 2008.
Find Lviss on Instagram: @imtheplumbingpoet
A conversation with Lviss
Why did you start the creative writing course?
I started my creative writing journey in January 2024, but I'd tried to get on the same course the previous year. One of the reasons is because I needed a bit more structure in my writing. The writing that I'd done previously had really been just for myself. I felt like I needed to take it to another level and at the same time, I had quite a lot of personal stuff going on in the background. In 2023, I went on to a BBC programme called Family DNA Secrets with Stacey Dooley. The reason was to find my father, and to give my dead brother – my twin brother – a voice because he never had one. Throughout the year we were filming, it was like the genie came out of the bottle. All the angst and rejection were unleashed, and I was forced to deal with these emotions.
I hadn't been back into a classroom since school and the first time I walked into the room, the lights were too bright, everybody was too noisy, I was with complete strangers, and I didn't know what to expect. I started having a bit of a panic attack. I remember sitting in the chair and my head was spinning. I don't think I contributed to the first lesson – I just sat there in my own little world. To their amazement, I came back the next week. I'm not saying it got easier, but the tutors are really good. They encourage you and bring you out of your shell. I felt I was being nurtured.
How important has creative writing been to your wellbeing?
The course I was on was called 'Creative Writing for Wellbeing'. I didn't realise how cathartic it would be. I spent that first year writing about myself and my feelings. I wrote a poem to my twin brother and a letter to my mother. I found that through writing the angst lift lifted and it was very cathartic. It is different now. I write about stuff going on in world. I try to describe London as much as I can, and I like to research.
Describe your poem Skin.
I wrote this in February or March 2025, and it is to do with how I felt about growing up in South London, being in the workplace and the racial prejudice I'd encountered. It was initially about how I felt, and I just parked it. Then in November, I went to the Royal Academy with the missus, my daughter and she brought her friend. It was an exhibition by the artist Kerry James Marshall called The Histories where he depicts Black civilization from early on to present day. I spent about two and half hours at the exhibition, went home and revised the poem. I felt so inspired, and I wanted to give the poem more depth.
Tell us about your journey to becoming the Plumstead Poet Laureate.
There's a story behind this one. I had a problem with my work van and I took it to a garage behind the Lord Herbert in Plumstead. I had to wait in the pub and met a guy called Jake. He was a barista, so I bought coffee and we had a chat. He told me he was bassist, and I mentioned I was a poet. I recited a poem I had written here [at the Woolwich Front Room] based on a prompt given to me by the tutor Amanda. He said, "Mate, I've got to give you this." It was a flyer for a poetry competition. So, I entered in October 2024 because I needed the experience outside of the GCDA workshops. I got through to the last twelve at the finals in the Old Mill pub in Plumstead Common, and then I got down the the last three. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't told anyone or put it on social media. I recited a poem about where I'm from - about living in south London, growing up in the seventies and early eighties. People in the pub voted, and I won. It was a big thing for me as I had to acknowledge the fact that it validated my writing. I had a bit of imposter syndrome going on when you're sitting there with all these creative writers and poets.
The following year, I was a judge in a group of about six or seven. You receive the poems and reach a consensus on the ones that should be heard on the night. This year, I've been helping with promoting and presenting – it's been great to give back. It's an amazing competition and there is a lot of local talent. The final will be held at the Old Mill on 10 November. It's a good night and we get about 100 people to come to the pub. The energy is incredible and it really brings people together.
You are known as the plumbing poet, so moving to your day job. How did the course with GCDA help you get a teaching position?
This is an interesting one because I finished the creative writing course in December '24 and started my poetry journey going into '25. What I like to do every year is to take the next step up. I'm 57 and father to twin girls – I want to mention that because I'm also a twin. One of my girls wants to be a tutor and I knew needed to find something else because I can't be plumbing until I'm 60 or 65. So I went on to the GCDA website looking at all the courses and the teaching diploma course came up. I read the description, and it is an in-depth course one day a week for seven months, so I thought, I can make this work. I signed up and got the last spot. It was a fast-paced course and a real baptism of fire. It is academic and I had to learn things like Harvard referencing. Six or seven weeks after my first assignment, I felt like the tutor had scrambled my brain, but then you start to learn the language and settle into it.
It was Mel [at GCDA] who suggested I could teach plumbing. I said no at first as I wanted to change direction and do something completely different, and after about two months the penny dropped. As part of the course, you have to teach so I did what I know. Sometimes GCDA have a knack of seeing stuff before you do. The course finished in August. I applied for jobs, got an interview at the construction training centre in West Croydon and I started there four weeks ago. The crucial thing is because of the training with the GCDA, I had been pushed out of my comfort zone and for the first time ever, I wasn't nervous. That's the power of that course – GCDA do amazing work.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to write creatively?
We are born creative – it's whether we allow ourselves to develop it. I feel like everybody has some kind of creativity inside of them. Some people are better than others, but I don't want to put what I do on a pedestal. It's okay to try and fail. It's about meeting people and growing.
I met Lemn Sissay – he's someone I look up to. The first book of poetry I had was Let the Light Pour In. Every poem is four lines, and it is just an incredible piece of writing. I went to see him at the reading room in the British Library. He was presenting a collective for young people called the Scratch Collective. It was an absolutely brilliant night and he signed my book, so I was well chuffed.
Let's talk about Partners in Rhyme and what you are doing next.
Partners in Rhyme was an idea I had where poets could have a conversation with the audience. We started with the help of the GCDA in the Woolwich Front Room. It was amazing: it was a safe environment for people like myself, and we had six poets and about 45 people in the audience. I thought I had this fantastic idea, and then I realised that this is going on all over London! Mary Jane [at GCDA] was the compere because I was really nervous. I'm still terrified standing in front of people. That was the first one and with the help of other poet friends, we have been doing them every three months. I've run them all around south London because it is a south London thing – it's mainly for locals – but I have had guests that come from afar for the open mic. My sister, Alison Love David, comes to them. She's a keynote speaker, singer and songwriter. It started off with poetry and there's more now. It includes songs and storytelling, so it's quite eclectic. I try to mix it up and every single person has a different style. The next event will be with GCDA at Catford House on 19 December. Tickets are free and will be available online soon.