World Letter Writing Day is a day that people from all around the world will pick up a pen or pencil & write a letter…it’s that simple!
Now who do we write a letter to? Well that depends on you.You could write a letter to a loved one, a friend or even a stranger.
I became interested in letters in the late 1990’s when I started a project called; Australian Legends.
I wanted to meet, photograph & if I could, interview those whom I considered to be an Australian legend. I sent out proposal letters asking to meet a particular person to photograph them & hear about their amazing lives’. I was always excited when I went to the letterbox & there was a letter addressed to me from one of the legends. Some were typed, the others were hand written, & at the bottom was the legends signature which only they themselves could personally do.
In 2005 my book: Australian Legends was released. I had met, photographed & interviewed 80 legends, & it all started with me simply writing a letter to them.
We are more expressive when we write a letter compared to an email or txt where we just want to take short cuts, we try not to make spelling mistakes when we write, we usually take pride in our handwriting & we all want our letters to look & sometimes feel special to the receiver, a hint of perfume, a photo, a favourite flower petal. We usually just make more of an effort.
Here at World Letter Writing Day we’re not saying to dismiss how we all communicate these days.
We communicate everyday using everything from emails, txt’s & social media. All we’re saying is just for a moment, have a think about who you would like to write a letter to, pick up a pen & start writing, send a letter to someone today that you love, once loved or never loved at all!
Our aim is to visit as many schools as possible to teach school children about writing letters. We love visiting schools & asking the children to write a letter, many of the children have never written a letter before so it’s a great thrill for them when they do. It’s also a great thrill when the recipients receive a letter from the children.
Even though we celebrate World Letter Writing Day on the 1st of September you can write a letter any day of the year. So pick up a pen or pencil & write a letter to someone today.
Happy World Letter Writing Day!
Richard Simpkin
Founder WLWD