Yesterday I wandered past a shop that was selling more than your average Hoxton curiousities.

Congealed ear wax. Thickest Human Snot. Distressed Damsel’s Hair. And tinned Fears (containing a short story from either Nick Hornby or Zadie Smith).

The shop was Hoxton Street Monster Supplies – Purveyor of Quality Goods for Monsters of Every Kind.

Following in the footsteps of Dave Eggers and his 826 literacy project which has taken off in New York and San Francisco, the Monster shop is (ingeniously) a fantastical shop front, intended to ignite the imaginations of children passing by.

Once you step inside and walk behind the hilarious and charming notice board (with ads for ‘we fix your grave-stone while you wait’ and ‘Wolf-walking’) you step into a writing centre,
where kids aged 8-18 can get tuition on writing stories.

There is help, on rotation, from professional
writers (Nick Hornby and Zadie Smith among them) and other volunteers. They’re recruiting for more volunteers now.

Check it out here http://www.ministryofstories.org/  or at 159 Hoxton Street, London N1 6PJ

And there are more pictures and things here