On Saturday, October 28, five-year-old British Jayce Joycey, with roots in Cameroon, in Central Africa, will be hosting his first special story time in the Library of Birmingham. He says he is excited because this is going to be huge.
“I feel extremely delightful because I will be reading one of my stories to a large audience at one of the largest public libraries in the world,” Jayce said.
Birmingham’s young author, who, at the age of four, already had two books on Amazon, says his goal is to motivate other children.
“I want to inspire children to be able to read and write their own stories too, like me or even better,” he said.
To achieve this, Jayce says there are some principles other young authors need to adhere to.
“My five golden rules for creative writing are “Think It, Say It out Loud, Love It, Write It and Inspire.”
Jayce has written five books, and he says he is working on another. “I am planning to write about Jayce’s hamster,” he said.
Ahead of the event, Jayce told MMI that he is preparing very “hard to make the day memorable.”
Not without challenges
It has not been plain sailing for the young author. Given his age, questions about the challenges he is facing were put to his mother, Anim Joyce. She says she is proud of her son’s achievements but feels that racial prejudice is limiting Jayce’s ability to get the acknowledgment he truly deserves.
“Jayce is championing a good cause – using his God-given talent to promote literary pursuit among other children. I rather feel led down by the fact that despite the hugely inspirational child Jayce is, he is still not receiving the recognition he truly deserves,” she said.
According to her, the problem is institutional and would need a broad-based policy change to get it addressed.
The UK’s national curriculum currently omits the vast contribution that black people have made to the country and the ongoing legacy of Britain’s imperial history. In reality, only 10% of all schools teach black history.
“Black children’s books are underrepresented in schools, libraries, and bookshops,” Anim lamented.
Jayce is happy to have achieved a lot, and he was deemed qualified and admitted into MENSA at Four, a social organization for highly intelligent people whose objective is to stimulate intellectual and social environment for its members.
Despite the existing challenges, Jayce is hopeful and has plans. “I have written five more books, and one will be published next year. Apart from stories, I also write poems. I have written 4 poems. I wrote my first poem, “Let’s Go to Bear Bookshop,” at the age of 4, after my first two books were published. I have also written “The Chou Chou Train” and “Butlins” and I am presently writing “The Silly Hen Poem”. I like to write about my experiences with a twist of adventure to them.”
