Finalist in the ITV National Diversity -
Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2022
& Lifetime Achiever Award 2019
Videos
Virginia Woolf Statue in Richmond
film for itv National Diversity awards- Lifetime Achievement
A trailer for Rock n Roll Island
BOOKS TO READ
To read some of the books which I have
written or edited go to AURORA METRO BOOKS.
IN THE PRESS
In 2020, Cheryl's music documentary Rock n Roll Island: where legends were born was a Sunday Times Critics' Choice program and a pick of the week in the Radio Times and several national newspapers before airing on BBC4.
She commissioned and edited 50 Women in the Blues which was featured and given glowing reviews in several Blues magazines, with photographer and contributor Jennifer Noble featured on the cover of BITS.
In 2019, Cheryl was a finalist in the itv National Diversity Awards for Lifetime Achievement and in 2022 she was a finalist in the same awards as Entrepreneur of the Year.
PLAY REVIEWS OF MY WORK
‘… the talk is direct but authentic; the characterisation plain but telling. One is drawn into the predicament of the unanchored, almost derelict youngsters. The author’s voice of understanding and social statement cannot be ignored. And she makes good theatre of her material.’
-- The Stage
-- The Observer
‘A welcome antidote to King’s Road fashion, it’s a hell that’s already arrived for many and is on its way for more… an excellent play beautifully written by Cheryl Robson… ‘
-- What's On
-- LAM Magazine
‘ …a mature piece of writing, whispering volumes as it details how insidiously – and inexorably- money, masonry and murder are tied in brutal knots.’
-- City Limits
Pick of the Week
‘…a cleverly scripted work that examines the power and intrigue of the financial world.’
-- The Stage
‘…ambitiously spans the confusion generated by women trying in their various ways to have it all: the baby, the career, the sexual freedom and the security. Comedy springs from sly satirical takes on her protagonists, but not to the detriment of the more revealing and loaded downside of her play: the personal cost of her protagonists’ ambitions… where Robson and Frankcom make their greatest impact is the way they skilfully nurse their 60s caricatures to become the compromised, damaged individuals we discover in the 90s.’
-- Time Out
‘… the talk is direct but authentic; the characterisation plain but telling. One is drawn into the predicament of the unanchored, almost derelict youngsters. The author’s voice of understanding and social statement cannot be ignored. And she makes good theatre of her material.’
-- The Stage
‘this always watchable play (reminiscent in many ways of Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom… has an engaging optimism. And for once in the theatre, the women really do get all the best lines - which gives the quintet of young actresses roles to relish.’
‘Ms Robson’s play is original in tone, wide-ranging in scope and provocative in its import. While sensitive to its period it remains admirably free of fustian… the writing is intelligent and funny.’
--The Evening Standard
‘Cheryl Robson, to her credit is a writer capable of thinking big - The Taking of Liberty is an epic piece about women and the French Revolution with a cast of 12.’
-- The Observer
‘Discarding all previous male interpretations of the French Revolution, Robson comes up with a completely fresh view that exposes those treasured shibboleths of ‘liberte, egalite and fraternite as hollow irrelevances where women were concerned.’
‘A welcome antidote to King’s Road fashion, it’s a hell that’s already arrived for many and is on its way for more… an excellent play beautifully written by Cheryl Robson… ‘
-- What's On
-- LAM Magazine
‘ …a mature piece of writing, whispering volumes as it details how insidiously – and inexorably- money, masonry and murder are tied in brutal knots.’
-- City Limits
Pick of the Week
‘…a cleverly scripted work that examines the power and intrigue of the financial world.’
-- The Stage
--The Independent
‘Cheryl Robson, to her credit is a writer capable of thinking big - The Taking of Liberty is an epic piece about women and the French Revolution with a cast of 12.’
-- Time Out
‘… the talk is direct but authentic; the characterisation plain but telling. One is drawn into the predicament of the unanchored, almost derelict youngsters. The author’s voice of understanding and social statement cannot be ignored. And she makes good theatre of her material.’
-- The Observer
‘A welcome antidote to King’s Road fashion, it’s a hell that’s already arrived for many and is on its way for more… an excellent play beautifully written by Cheryl Robson… ‘
-- What's On
-- LAM Magazine
-- City Limits
Pick of the Week
‘…ambitiously spans the confusion generated by women trying in their various ways to have it all: the baby, the career, the sexual freedom and the security. Comedy springs from sly satirical takes on her protagonists, but not to the detriment of the more revealing and loaded downside of her play: the personal cost of her protagonists’ ambitions… where Robson and Frankcom make their greatest impact is the way they skilfully nurse their 60s caricatures to become the compromised, damaged individuals we discover in the 90s.’
-- Time Out
‘this always watchable play (reminiscent in many ways of Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom… has an engaging optimism. And for once in the theatre, the women really do get all the best lines - which gives the quintet of young actresses roles to relish.’
--The Independent
‘Ms Robson’s play is original in tone, wide-ranging in scope and provocative in its import. While sensitive to its period it remains admirably free of fustian… the writing is intelligent and funny.’
--The Evening Standard
‘Cheryl Robson, to her credit is a writer capable of thinking big - The Taking of Liberty is an epic piece about women and the French Revolution with a cast of 12.’
-- The Observer
‘Discarding all previous male interpretations of the French Revolution, Robson comes up with a completely fresh view that exposes those treasured shibboleths of ‘liberte, egalite and fraternite as hollow irrelevances where women were concerned.’
-- What's On
‘… the talk is direct but authentic; the characterisation plain but telling. One is drawn into the predicament of the unanchored, almost derelict youngsters. The author’s voice of understanding and social statement cannot be ignored. And she makes good theatre of her material.’
-- The Stage
‘A welcome antidote to King’s Road fashion, it’s a hell that’s already arrived for many and is on its way for more… an excellent play beautifully written by Cheryl Robson… ‘
-- LAM Magazine
‘…a cleverly scripted work that examines the power and intrigue of the financial world.’
-- What's On
‘ …a mature piece of writing, whispering volumes as it details how insidiously – and inexorably- money, masonry and murder are tied in brutal knots.’
-- City Limits
Pick of the Week
‘If you feel the generation gap is widening to exclude you, I’d recommend a visit to catch what I feel is an important social document.’
-- The
Morning Star
A FEW BOOK REVIEWS OF MY WORK
RE: 'CELLULOID CEILING'
Every aspiring filmmaker, every woman filmmaker should delve into this book, its panoramic view of filmmaking can only propel you forward.
-- Sight and Sound Magazine
'This is a book to smack down on the desk of Thierry Fremaux, the director of the Cannes Film Festival (or any programmer, professor or snotty cinemagoer who claims women aren't as good at making films, or aren't interested in making them), as abundant evidence not only of international female filmmaking, but its dynamism, ambition and complexity.'
-- The F Word
'The arrival of a new book, 'Celluloid Ceiling'could not be more timely. It takes a purposefully global overview of the status quo and in doing so provides some fascinating stories and insights, reminding us of what is lost when we limit the discussion to Anglophone directors.'
-- Indiewire
RE: PROVENCE; PEOPLE, PLACES, FOOD
‘…an excellent travel guide to Provence, including anecdotal information about famous people from Provence, the culture, the food
and the wine.’
-- **** Readers’ Favourite
RE: 'SILENT WOMEN'
'What is perhaps most compelling about Silent Women is its documentation of the sheer graft and willpower behind these pioneering women’s work. Favouring historicity over critical theory, it does that most noble task of telling the stories that need to be told.'
-- Lara Williams, London Review of Books
'You may come to this spry slice of film history prepared to celebrate a handful of women who helped shape the movies in their blinking infancy. The surprise of the essays collected here is their sheer volume in every corner of a business apparently better able to accommodate female talent then than now.'
-- Danny Leigh, Financial Times
'Silent Women, in uncovering a diverse range of female voices from the past, offers a variety of present voices… On this evidence, the relative diversity of the industry’s past should shame it into taking action in the future.'
-- Pamela Hutchinson,
Sight & Sound
RE: VIRGINIA WOOLF IN RICHMOND
“Lively, diverse and readable, this book captures beautifully Virginia Woolf’s time in leafy Richmond, her mixed emotions over this exile from central London, and its influence on her life and work. This illuminating book is a valuable addition to literary history, and a must-read for every Virginia Woolf enthusiast…”
-- Emma Woolf, writer & Virginia Woolf’s great niece
REVIEW OF 'SOUTHEAST ASIAN PLAYS'
http://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/AJELL/article/view/1081/770
REVIEW OF COUNTERCULTURE UK- A CELEBRATION
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rebecca-gillieron/counterculture-uk/
RE: 'THE ORIGINAL SUFFRAGE
COOK BOOK'
'It’s a fabulous historical document of its time but also an interesting cook book to boot, interspersed as it is with line drawings and including letters to the editor – or Editress as she is described in the contents section of the book. Recipes aside this is a great gift idea. It’s both practical and fascinating on so many levels and I’ll be trying out more of the recipes over time. A unique way to celebrate the centenary of women getting the vote.'
'The recipes in the compilation run the gamut from simple soups to fish (Virginia fried oysters and ‘shrimp wriggle’ both make the cut), meat (the baked ham à la Miller is described as “a dish fit for the greatest epicure”), breads and puddings, the latter section incorporating a series of “admonitions” directed at “those who would excel in cake making”.
As the writer Cheryl Robson observes in her endnote, “most of the contributors to this cookbook are long-forgotten but their legacy survives today in the spirit of social activism that inspires others to work for a better, fairer world”.
-- Town and Country Magazine
'Giving Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson a run for their money, the cookbook includes a wide range of soups, salads and casseroles. Drinks also feature, from the “Peppermint Cup” to a wide selection of “Albuminous Beverages” (“When a large amount of nutriment is required the albuminized drinks are valuable. The egg is a fluid food until its albumen is coagulated by heat.”)
Kleber, however, writes in her foreword to the book that “as it is a serious matter what is put into the human stomach, I feel it incumbent to say that my readers may safely eat everything set down in this book'.
-- The Guardian
BIO
Cheryl Robson FRSA| Writer, editor, publisher, and filmmaker has twice been shortlisted by the itv National Diversity Awards - for Entrepreneurship in 2022 and for Lifetime Achievement in 2019.
Cheryl was born in Australia and has lived also in Singapore, France, and UK. She studied Drama & French at University of Bristol then worked at the BBC in London for several years before setting up a theatre company (The Women's Theatre Workshop) producing and developing feminist plays. She gained a PGCE in Drama (Middlesex University) and an MA in Playwriting Studies (University of Birmingham) and went on to create the award-winning publishing company Aurora Metro Books, well-known for its diverse and inclusive range of titles.
The company's highly curated list includes over 300 British and international writers, translations from over 20 languages, and drama with over a dozen unique world drama collections. Their books have won or been nominated for numerous literary and theatre awards and the company was shortlisted for the IPG National Diversity awards in 2019 and 2020. www.aurorametro.com
As a book editor, her work has won the Pandora Prize from Women-in-Publishing, the Raymond Williams/Arts Council Publishing prize, a Special Jury Prize for Peace, Best Innovative Foodbook and Best Seasonal Foodbook from Gourmand World Cookbooks, been shortlisted for the People's Book Prize and her book 'Silent Women; pioneers of cinema' was voted Best Book on silent film in 2016.
As a playwright, she has won the Croydon Warehouse International Playwriting Competition, been shortlisted for the Roger Leach Memorial prize and longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. Several of her plays have been produced to acclaim in London. She has edited or contributed to over 100 books with work also published in The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, Culture Trip, Riviera News and more.
Her film Rock n' Roll Island, has been selected for several film festivals in UK and USA, won a Gold Remi at Houston Worldfest and was nominated at Raindance London. It was broadcast on BBC4 in 2020 garnering 750,000 views, a Sunday Times Critics Choice and Radio Times Pick of the week. www.cherylrobson.net
Cheryl is best-known for her leadership of the successful 5-year campaign to erect a statue of Virginia Woolf in Richmond which was unveiled in November 2022 on Richmond riverside. With the charity she founded, Aurora Metro Arts and Media (www.aurorametro.org), they have delivered dozens of arts and education projects, funded by Arts Council, Heritage Lottery and many others, including exhibitions, workshops, readings, films, and a new archive project which aims to preserve local arts and music heritage www.metroarchives.org.
With husband Steve, she also co-founded a successful change management business EAChange www.eachange.com over 20 years ago which has delivered thousands of projects for blue-chip clients internationally and was twice listed in the Sunday Times/Virgin fastest-growing companies list. They successfully led a management buyout in 2021 of the company and now own the independent bookshop called Books on the Rise in Richmond, (named best independent bookshop in SW London within the first year of opening), which offers weekly literary events with top authors. www.booksontherise.com