Ciaran Thapar
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Director of Comms @YouthEndowFund | Cut Short @VikingBooksUK | All City @SubstackInc | Writing for Social Impact @CityUniLondon | Agent: @mfredturner
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Articles by Ciaran Thapar
Alarm Bells: Ciaran Thapar On How Therapy Changed Him
Before it went off, we had found a quiet rhythm. It was the beginning of summer, two years ago, and I was delivering a literacy workshop at a youth prison. I had two hours in a locked classroom to hold the attention of five teenagers with prompts to dissect rap lyrics, chair philosophical debates and spark reflective writing. After some tense, playful attempts to derail the start from the participants, they introduced themselves. After an hour, we’d curated a respectful atmosphere.
‘They’re rowdy. They’re vibing. I rip my shirt off’: the exploding career of Hanumankind, India’s hottest rapper
‘There’s a mob mentality in India’ … Hanumankind. Photograph: Diego Bendezu Two weeks ago, halfway through his first ever UK show, Hanumankind instructed the crowd to mimic him by hopping to the right then to the left, back and forth, in unison. But the rapper from India slipped and fell, limping to the end of the gig in evident pain, kept upright by his DJ and inspired by the audience’s singalong familiarity with his catalogue.
Youth violence’s rise is concerning, but mass hysteria doesn’t help
This Spring marks 20 years since the release of Bullet Boy, Saul Dibb’s film about a young man called Ricky (played by Ashley Walters) who tries to resist being dragged into a cycle of gun violence after returning home from prison. It explores Ricky’s personal battles, but also his influence over an impressionable younger brother, Curtis, and the painful disappointment of his mother, Beverley, who tries to hold her family together.
Roots Manoeuvres
A dispatch from one of the most singular club nights in Britain, right next to Heathrow Airport. For the last three years, the revival of a very British musical subculture has been gaining momentum among the suburbs around Heathrow Airport. On a Friday evening once a month, a cohort of skanking revellers gather at a clubhouse sandwiched between two parks beside the trickling waters of Yeading Brook in Hayes, and listen and move to the layered sounds of dub reggae. ‘Come.
jailed rapper Marnz Malone on confronting inmate suicide
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The UK's racist mobs horrified us all – but we can’t just imprison our way out of this mess | Ciaran Thapar - NewsBreak
A Stand Up To Racism protest in Shrewsbury, 10 August 2024. Photograph: Jim Wood/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock There is a widely held sentiment among people of colour who call London our home that travelling beyond its reaches can feel like leaving one country for another, swapping multicultural tolerance for a roll of the dice. But over the past couple of weeks, for the first time in my life, I have feared that the city’s bubble might burst.
‘Unapologetically Punjabi’: the explosive, global rise of Jawani 4eva
Marital Rape Now An Indian woman accused her husband of forcing her to have ‘unnatural sex.’ A judge said that’s not a crime in marriage CNN • 29m CNN — An Indian judge has dismissed a woman’s complaint that her husband committed “unnatural sex,” because under Indian law it’s not illegal for a husband to force his wife to engage in sexual acts.
‘Unapologetically Punjabi’: the explosive, global rise of Jawani 4eva
Designer Sukhchain Singh Sohal’s legendary parties – which aim to be halfway between ‘a wedding and a club’ – are celebrated in a new photo book Last year I travelled to East Punjab with my dad. Heading south from Amritsar along the Grand Trunk Road, we stopped in Ludhiana, a city known for its fabric and tailoring, where countless bazaar shop fronts at its chaotic centre bear my surname.
Andrea - Asher D (2006)
Last year I watched the Ashley Walters episode of Louis Theroux Interviews Series 2 on BBC iPlayer. I was pleasantly surprised to find it so candid. Walters takes the viewer through his strict life routine, admits to battling daily demons and opens up about being a recluse. We meet his wife and mum, and see him squirm with discomfort but also laugh joyfully.
Rubicon Lychee - namesbliss (2021)
Three years ago, at the start of the summer in 2021, I was gearing up for the publication of Cut Short when I received an email from an artist called namesbliss. He’d sensed our shared passion for leveraging the power of music to work with young people and reached out to connect. At the time I was drowning in the anxiety and excitement of becoming an author. I found writing and marketing my book exhausting as we eased out of Covid lockdowns.
songs to inspire primary school children
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By Lanre Bakare Verified, Shaad D’Souza Verified, Simon Hattenstone Verified, Phil Hebblethwaite, Tim Jonze Verified, Matt Mills, Alexis Petridis Verified, Laura Snapes Verified, Jenny Stevens, Ciaran Thapar
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Archetype - Joe Armon-Jones (2023)
I was lucky enough to see Ezra Collective play live three times in London across 2023. Hammersmith Apollo in February introduced me to their celebratory stage show. Before then, I’d only ever heard through headphones. Cross The Tracks festival at Brockwell Park in May let me dance shoulder-to-shoulder with my wife, our friends and thousands of others on trampled grass under the early summer sun.
Thinking About Your Love - Kenny Thomas (1991)
My love for music can be traced back to being a toddler, and the ritual of leaning over the cushioned arm of the sofa in our family home in Claygate, Surrey, to help my dad choose from his record collection. If I try to think of my earliest memory, I always come back to this. Thumbing through the plastic cases, scanning their artwork, being taught to delicately slide the vinyl out, support its labeled centre and place it with care on the turntable.
6 Figures - Meekz (2019)
When they are constructed respectfully — subtly paying homage to historic art, rather than recycling and therefore exploiting it — rap, grime or drill songs whose beats are the result of a multi-generational sampling inheritance are rare and should be cherished, like a hand-me-down family heirloom. Meekz released 6 Figures in 2019, having spent the year carving out his own lane for UK rap from the North of England. When it dropped, I found myself suddenly transfixed on his every word.
Blue Mountain - Breakage (2006)
The titles of some electronic music releases become part of their allure, like the design of a wine bottle seeming to enhance the flavour of its contents. But when a song contains no lyrics, I often wonder how its artist chose to label their creation. It took me years of daydreaming to its rumbling bass line and a holiday to Jamaica to finally clock the link between Breakage’s jungle masterpiece, Blue Mountain, and the country’s highest peak.
Don’t Be Shy - Rouge (2005)
In December 2005, when I was in year 10, my family travelled to north India. It was my first time in Asia. As we drove between relatives in Punjab — including the home of my cousin Amulya in Chandigarh — I listened continuously to my metallic green iPod Mini, which held a maximum of one thousand Mp3s. Among them was Don’t Be Shy by Rouge, which became a personal soundtrack to my time away.
Daniel Trilling · Now he had opps: Youth Work
In the summer of 2018, Lucy Knell-Taylor, a youth worker at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, noticed that teenagers were talking more often about guns and knives. One girl said she had seen someone pistol-whipped at a party; other stories suggested that weapons were becoming more easily available. Knell-Taylor’s workload began to rise.
Life Ain’t Easy - C.S & Estizz
Back in June 2019 I’d been writing about the dovetailing rise of U.K. rap and drill music for a few years. During the same period I was a youth worker in south London. I would design and deliver educational workshops with groups of teenage boys and girls at schools, youth clubs and studios, often using local music as a prompt for discussion.
All City, the Playlist
Music finds its way into so much of what I write (and think) about in these pages, my work and everyday life. So once-per-week I will introduce a song that I love alongside a short, sharp piece of writing. Every song will be added to an All City Spotify / YouTube playlist (see below).
If the Streets Were on Fire
In July 2021, British GQ published my long read about Bike Life: the adrenaline-charged youth subculture of mass bicycle ride-outs that has swept across London and the UK over the last decade. Ostensibly, it was a story about why crowds of teenagers have started pulling wheelies, filming their accomplishments and sharing them on social media.
Why Youth Work Matters
Good morning, It’s great to be here and reconnect with so many familiar faces. I’ve been reflecting a lot recently, because earlier this month marked six years since the most challenging day of my career. 2nd November 2017. I’ll never forget it. Serious youth violence across London and the United Kingdom was soaring. Media headlines about ‘knife crime’ were a constant. At the time, I’d been a youth worker in south London for three years.
#11 Jacqueline Crooks on her new novel, Fire Rush: "It's about channelling the rage from my childhood"
In my last post, I wrote about how music helped me to feel reconnected to Southall, west London, this summer, after a lifetime of drifting from the town, where my grandparents landed when they emigrated from Punjab in the 1960s. I recalled attending a dub reggae night at a football club in nearby Hayes back in June.
Turn Left and Follow the Bass
Red haze. Chandelier shadows. Worn carpet. Way too hot — a boiler room, indeed. Swinging bass. Rustic vocals. ‘No Farmers No Food’ flags blocking my view. Black attire. We’re night-timers, now. Moschino and Avirex, chappal and lehenga. Ten times leng-er. Sharp elbows to catch a glimpse. Close my eyes to feel the dhol in my chest. Step outside to take a breather. Smokers hide, the hungry snack on samosa and cha. Summer knights. Zimmers and Mercs. A train whizzes by, disappearing under the bridge.
Ria Chatterjee on reporting on youth violence: "The story should never be about the journalist...but it was having an impact on me."
In 2015, after six years of falling by most measures, serious youth violence in London and across the United Kingdom started rising again. It just so happened that in September of that year I moved into Brixton, South London, and started my career as a youth and education professional, working at three state schools in different parts of the capital and volunteering at two local community centres.
‘I’m a better musician than I ever was a drug dealer’: rapper Potter Payper on leaving prison behind
On Friday 19 May 2023, Potter Payper’s debut album, Real Back in Style, went in at No 2 in the official UK charts. By releasing a slew of classic mixtapes over the last decade, the 32-year-old had built a reputation as one of the most skilled writers in UK rap. On paper, the album was a career high, achieved against the odds. First, it has no guest features. Rappers often use collaborations to maximise their streaming audiences, but not this time, no need.
Teaching Lyrics and Literacy in Youth Prisons
Towards the end of the summer just gone I was sat in a corner of the ‘corner room’ on Curlew Unit, a wing on the A Side of Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution (YOI), peering out the barred window onto a groundsman steering a lawnmower. Green blades of grass flew chaotically into the air behind him.
Andy West on teaching philosophy in prisons: "It's in the small moments that freedom comes"
In October 2021 I received a proof copy of The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free by the philosophy teacher, Andy West. Andy’s brother, father and uncle were all in prison when he was a child. Part-memoir about navigating this family dynamic, part-philosophical handbook brought alive by accounts of his classroom encounters, the book’s chapters pivot around themes like shame, truth and love.
All City returns this Thursday
Dear Reader, I hope you’re well and had a restful summer. After a short break to take stock and rebuild, I’ll be returning to writing regular newsletters this Thursday 7th September. I started All City in January 2023 as a space for people to stay directly in touch with my work, and to develop some financial and creative independence, away from relying upon big media to publish my work. It’s gone well. I’ve learned so much along the way.
From Ludhiana to Smethwick, grass roots run deep
This story is a collaboration with Vittles Magazine, where it was originally published. At the beginning of 2021, South London-based photographer Hark1karan received a message on Twitter from a woman called Talvinder Kaur Rana, or Thindi. She’d been following his work and asked if he could travel up to Smethwick, in the Black Country, where she grew up, to take portraits of her dad with his friends on their allotment as a gift. @vittles Hark1karan had been to Smethwick before.
From Ludhiana to Smethwick, grass roots run deep
This is a paid-subscriber only edition of Vittles. If you are receiving this then thanks so much for subscribing! If you wish to continue reading, please subscribe for £5/month or £45/year. It gives you access to the entire back catalogue of paywalled articles, including all restaurant guides and columns.
Out There by Alex Donaldson: "It's important to show they are victims"
The character of Carl in my book, Cut Short, is fictional. But he is based on the experiences of a real young person who, alongside the other two main characters, Jhemar Jonas and Demetri Addison, helped me to pen its pages. Over the five year story, Carl starts as a smiley, confident and polite 14-year-old before becoming entangled in cycles of criminality after his dad leaves his family home and he is permanently excluded from his secondary school.
From Ludhiana to Smethwick, grass roots run deep
This is a paid-subscriber only edition of Vittles. If you are receiving this then thanks so much for subscribing! If you wish to continue reading, please subscribe for £5/month or £45/year. It gives you access to the entire back catalogue of paywalled articles, including all restaurant guides and columns.
Hak Baker: "I don’t like conforming. I like fighting for something"
On a recent Friday evening, I was stood outside Rough Trade East vinyl shop on Brick Lane, east London, having eaten a salt beef bagel and Bakewell tart from a local bakery. Like everyone else posted on the curb, I was enjoying the evening sun whilst waiting for Hak Baker to arrive and perform. He was running late.
Aanchal Malhotra: "I'm tired of violence being the only way to look at Partition"
So far this year I’ve travelled to both India and Pakistan; East Punjab and West Punjab; Ludhiana, with my dad, to the house in which he was born, and Lahore, with my wife, Yasmin, to her nani’s gravestone. I organised both trips for life, reconnection and healing, but they will also inform my next book, which I’ll be sharing about soon. To close my time in India, I spent a few days writing in Delhi, where I met up with the historian and writer Aanchal Malhotra.
Long-Term Mentoring Can Save Lives
By the end of 2017 I’d been mentoring a teenager called Jhemar Jonas from Brixton, south London, for three years. When we first met, he was 12 and I was 23. In our fortnightly sessions I would print off pages of rap and grime lyrics, or extracts of poetry and journalism, to read out and dissect together. It allowed me to teach him English literature skills and for us to have philosophical conversations about life, society and London.
Tony Supreme: ‘I’m about exploring wellbeing through music’
Ten years ago, Anthony Olanipekun finished a prison sentence. Now he’s the CEO of the charity, Grounded Sounds, a Soho House Foundation partner Thursday 18 May 2023 By Ciaran Thapar Photography by Tristan Bejawn In June 2019, when All City was a column for British GQ, I wrote an article about the work of a music charity based in Brixton, south London, called School Ground Sounds. I interviewed a range of young musicians who’d passed through their programme, including 17-year-old Paul Goumou.
About - All City
All City is a newsletter about justice, culture and social change, written by London-based youth worker and author, Ciaran Thapar. Stories are delivered to readers twice a month with collaborative illustrations and photography, alongside occasional news and updates. You can sign up for free. But please consider paying £4 monthly / £40 annually to help build All City into a sustainable platform. This will grant you full access to all features and content as it grows.
Write Like No One is Watching
A few weeks ago I wrote about my ritual of keeping a diary. Since I started writing my daily thoughts down on paper when I was 19, initially to combat poor mental health at university, my paper pages have become a sanctuary to retreat to. What started as an experimental coping mechanism steadily crystallised into my career as an author. Now I bring my diary everywhere with me, like a handyman carries his toolkit.
Learning More Than Teaching
Last Friday was one of the more special days of my career, so I had to come here to celebrate one man in particular. When I first met Demetri Addison he was 15. He wrote on his application for mentoring at his school that he wanted to pursue further study to understand violence in his community. He soon helped me to set up a programme for younger boys at-risk of exclusion, for which he would later be awarded both the prestigious Jack Petchey and Diana Awards.
Finding My Ancestral Home
Yesterday I took a trip to my local Snappy Snaps to pick up some photos I got developed. Over the last two years, fed up with the numb saturation of smartphone photography, I’ve made a habit of investing in disposable cameras to document my life. It’s taught me to be more patient and selective; to not worry about looking for moments, or capturing them to share with the world, but to let them occur and be present in their company, clicking only if it feels truly worthwhile.
Sofia Akel: "Books liberate our minds"
On 23rd June 2021, the day before Cut Shortwas published, I walked the residential streets of Brixton, south London, carrying a rucksack of signed hardback copies. I was delivering each with a personal note to local people who’d played important roles throughout my journey of becoming a youth worker. Some had contributed their voices, experiences and insights to the book’s pages; others had mentored or advised me on my process, descriptions and arguments.
Tragedy, Beauty, Growth
Not so long ago, and not for the first time, I wrote a letter to a young man in prison. I’ll call him Devon. Wary of getting the tone wrong, failing to keep my perfectionism at bay, it took a few scrunched-and-binned attempts to scribe the right message before I settled on the final version. My intention was not to generate a response.
Mehdi Hasan: "We can push back. We can win"
In May 2013, political journalist Mehdi Hasan took to the floor of the Oxford Union, where he’d once mastered debating as a feisty undergraduate student, to argue that Islam is a peaceful religion. Timing was crucial. Hours beforehand, an Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist attack had led to the tragic murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, southeast London. As anti-Muslim sentiment spiked across the UK throughout the summer, a video of Hasan’s blistering speech went viral.
Dear Diary
When people ask me when I started writing, there are many answers I could give them, but I usually refer back to my 19-year-old self. I was in my second year as an Economics & Politics undergraduate student at the University of Bristol. I’d thrown myself into life in a new city and had fun, but I was overindulging to a self-destructive extent.
City Talks #2: Raf-Saperra
In November 2021 I attended a screening of The Birth of Punjabi Garage, a documentary produced by Ministry of Sound and DJ Yung Singh. As audience members mingled at the bar, waiting to take our seats, I bumped into the vocalist and filmmaker, Raf-Saperra. Having discovered his folk covers and self-directed bhangra videos over lockdown, I commended his work. We got talking.
British Punjabi music star Raf-Saperra: ‘I’d be listening to Giggs on the bus - then bhangra at home’
In September 2022, the British Punjabi vocalist Raf-Saperra was inside the walled city of Lahore, Pakistan, self-directing the video for Modern Mirza, a song that’s inspired by a tragic romance in ancient Punjabi folklore. As locals gathered to watch, children started singing the chorus back to him – and it hadn’t even been released yet. “That’s when I knew it was a hit,” Saperra says.
The Nine Night
A teenage boy sprints through the front door of the community centre, darting into the foyer. Seeking a hiding place, his momentum carries him to the far side of the main room, where he dives beneath a defunct pool table. The atmosphere is buzzing. People have gathered for a Nine Night: a Caribbean funeral wake on the ninth night after a death, a chance for friends and relatives to say their goodbyes in binding catharsis. Dancing, storytelling, singing, feasting and praying are commonplace.
City Talks #1: Simon Wheatley
I first met Simon Wheatley in the summer of 2015, when I turned up at his flat in east London to interview him about the digital update to his seminal photography book, Don’t Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime. I’d recently started reporting for the British Journal of Photography—my first consistent gig as a freelance journalist—which involved blagging my way through features about photographers I had never heard of. Wheatley was the first interview I organised for myself.
Rap as Catharsis
Last month I wrote a story outlining my role as an expert witness challenging the prejudicial mining of music content as criminal evidence in British courts. I argued that UK rap and drill lyrics should not be relied upon to convict people, especially without forensic evidence of their alleged crime. “Each recording can be a purgation of negative emotions,” I explained, hinting at an alternative way of understanding violent songs, beyond simply dismissing them as a problem.
Flow Like River
During the lockdowns of 2020, one of my esteemed mentees, Jhemar Jonas, who turns 21 next month, started riding empty train carriages across London at night. He would do this armed with a leather-bound paper journal and ballpoint pen engraved with his initials—gifts bought to celebrate the commissioning of my book, Cut Short. As one of the main heroes of its true story, Jhemar had helped me to write it.
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