Derek Smith was born in Castle Donington in 1943. He came to Newham in 1976 to join Soapbox Theatre as a playwright. In 1979, he helped set up a community bookshop, Page One, in West End Lane, E15, as a member of the cooperative of the same name, and stayed for three years. During that time he published the first book of poetry of Benjamin Zephaniah, who was also a cooperative member. He left the cooperative in 1982, and joined Tower Hamlets Cooperative Development Agency where he worked for four years.Subsequently he pursued his career as a professional writer, publishing a number of books. He was also the Coordinator of Forest Gate Writers' Workshop for a number of years.He talks about the challenges of running a cooperative, and setting up Newham Cooperative Development Agency, funded by the Greater London Council (GLC).

In this clip he describes opening the independent book shop in Newham.

Click on the pdf icon to read the entire transcript or click on the mp3 icon to hear a clip of the interview.

Title	Smith, Derek
Maker	--
Production Date	2019
Format	Photograph
Copyright	--
Holding Institution	TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University
Related Objects	--