The day commenced with a panel discussion on “Archaeotecture” chaired by Professor Teresa Anderson, with Professor Clive Ruggles and Professor Bob Cwyinski, to explore the intersection of ancient cosmologies and modern scientific discoveries. The panel discussed how Garner's fiction has bridged dialogues between disciplines such as archaeology and physics, offering imaginative continuities that enrich our understanding of the universe. The discussions were a testament to Garner’s ability to weave complex, interdisciplinary ideas into his narratives, making his work a subject of academic interest and admiration.

One of the highlights of the day was "A Walk in Time" with archaeologist Melanie Giles. Participants were taken on a journey through the Jodrell Bank site, where Giles reflected on the objects and ideas that have inspired Garner’s writing. The walk included hands-on experiences with archaeological artefacts and replicas, bringing to life themes of landscape lore, craft skills, and protective charms that are prevalent in Garner's novels.

Following the walk attendees were invited to a film screening of To The Round Meadow: Alan Garner & Jodrell Bank by Al Kenny. The film featured an intimate conversation between Alan Garner and his daughter, Elizabeth Garner, discussing his connection to the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. This conversation delved into Garner's personal memories and reflections on the site, highlighting how it has influenced his writing and enriched his imaginative landscapes.

The day continued with the panel discussion "Archaeology & the Imagination of Place" chaired by Melanie Giles. The panel, Tim Campbell-Green, Richard Morris, and Rose Ferraby, explored how Garner’s work, deeply rooted in the past, has woven archaeological knowledge, discoveries, and folklore into his narratives. Melanie Giles and Rose Ferraby discussed how their professional practices have been influenced and enriched by Garner’s storytelling and explorations of histories in the Cheshire landscape.

The final panel, "A Place Across Time" chaired by , featured Elizabeth Garner and medieval scholar David Matthews. This discussion centred on the intersections of historical and mythological time within imaginative fictions, poetry, and actual landscapes, drawing on Alan Garner’s vivid depictions of place across time in his works.

In the evening our Solstice celebrations culminated with a reading and discussion of Sarah Perry’s latest novel, Enlightenment. Set in a small town in Essex, the novel intricately weaves a narrative of entangled relationships and emotional turmoil, exploring the conflict between faith and fact. Perry, renowned for her award-winning works such as The Essex Serpent, explored the novel's themes with Chair Teresa Anderson, and wowed guests with her seamless integration of astronomical principles into the storytelling.

– the University’s creativity-championing research platform – hosted five workshop sessions in partnership with the , , and .

‘Writing for Wellbeing’ took place at Tameside, Rochdale and Bury Libraries on 13 - 15 June. Facilitators Rebecca Hurst, Tessa Harris and John McAuliffe worked with participants to explore the benefits of creative writing on personal wellbeing. 

One attendee commented:

‘Tasting Children’s Literature – An Edible Readathon’ returned on Friday, 14 June with two sessions: a private workshop for Reception children at St. Andrew’s C of E Primary School Levenshulme, held at Arcadia Library, and a public session at Swagֱ�� Central Library. Children enjoyed a storytime session with play food, colouring activities, and fruits to eat.

The Linguistic Diversity Collective held two well-attended workshops at The Portico Library on 12 and 14 June. The first, ‘What’s in a word and what’s in a dictionary?’ saw attendees take part in activities looking at how dictionaries define words and phrases. 

‘Blackout the jargon’ then invited participants to engage with scientific literature in a unique way through blackout poetry. 

Supported by , the Festival of Libraries 2024 was a testament to Swagֱ��’s enduring commitment to literacy, learning, and inclusivity. 

Find out more about the Festival of Libraries .

From 12-16 June 2024, Greater Swagֱ�� will once again celebrate the Festival of Libraries – which promises a rich tapestry of vibrant events for all ages and interests.

Authors, poets, performers, artists and historians will share their love for libraries and literature across the region’s libraries. The Festival of Libraries programme is brimming with imagination and attendees can expect exhibitions, author talks, performances, installations, live music, workshops, and international collaborations. 

These free events highlight the diverse offerings of libraries, showcasing their role as service, learning and creativity hubs which are open to all.

is delighted to be offering a series of workshops for the Festival of Libraries celebrations, partnering with the , and .

All workshops are free to attend but booking is required due to limited spaces.

This session delves into the meanings of everyday words and idiomatic phrases, offering insights into how dictionaries define words and how language learners acquire vocabulary. Run by the . 

• Wednesday, 12 June 2024, 3pm - Portico Library

Facilitated by professional writers from the , these workshops explore the positive effects of creative writing on mental health and wellbeing. 

• Thursday, 13 June 2024, 6pm -  
• Friday, 14 June 2024, 1pm – Heywood Library
• Saturday, 15 June 2024 – Ramsbottom Library

Participants will engage in blackout poetry, finding meaning in scientific texts by selecting certain words and redacting the rest to create literary and visual works of art. Run by the . 

• Friday, 14 June 2024, 3pm - Portico Library

An immersive experience and read-a-thon of classic and contemporary children’s literature aimed at young children aged 0-8. Run by the staff and students. 

• Sunday, 16 June 2024, 1pm - Central Library

An immersive audio experience allowing listeners to walk in the footsteps of those with the misunderstood condition of chronic cough. Run by the project. 

• Wednesday, 12 June 2024, 12pm, 2pm and 6pm – Longsight Library
• Thursday, 13 June 2024, 12pm and 2pm – Longsight Library

More information on the Festival of Libraries 2024, including the full programme, can be found on the website. 

In the evening novelist Sarah Perry will discuss her new novel ‘Enlightenment’ in an intimate setting, featuring a reading and a Q&A.

Date:  Friday, 21 June 2024, 10.30am – 5.30pm
Location: Jodrell Bank

The day begins with a variety of panel discussions, a walk of the Jodrell Bank site and a filmed conversation with Alan Garner exploring the themes of his literary work. Alan Garner’s writing is deeply rooted in the history and landscape of Alderley Edge, draws inspiration from the area's archaeology and the cosmic wonders observed at Jodrell Bank Observatory. 

In celebration of his 90th birthday, experts from archaeology, physics, and literature will convene at Jodrell Bank to discuss the impact of Garner's writing on their respective fields, as well as how the sciences have influenced the writer himself. Together, they will explore themes of time and place in his novels, celebrating his contribution to contemporary storytelling.

Purchase your ticket and optional lunch and transport from Oxford Road .

Date:  Friday, 21 June 2024, 6.30pm – 8pm
Location: Jodrell Bank

Later in the day, attendees can enjoy an evening with author Sarah Perry, featuring her latest novel, Enlightenment. Perry's book delves into questions of faith, physics, and human emotion against the backdrop of a small town in Essex. The newest story from award-winning novelist Sarah Perry weaves a web of entangled relationships and emotion, its characters trapped within the conflict between faith and fact. 

Traversing some of the biggest questions on an intimate and captivating level, Enlightenment will stay with you long after closing the final page.

The event offers a chance to hear Perry discuss her creative process, read excerpts from "Enlightenment," and participate in a Q&A session.

Purchase your ticket and optional dinner .

These events promise a thought-provoking exploration of literature and science, set against the backdrop of the Summer Solstice at Jodrell Bank. Tickets are available for both events, with a discounted rate available for the ‘An Evening With Sarah Perry’ event if attending both events.

These events are part of Creative Swagֱ��’s ‘Solstice and Equinox series’, a series of events which brings innovative creative artists to Swagֱ��’s four Cultural Institutions. 

Each of our unique cultural institutions – the Whitworth, the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Swagֱ�� Museum and Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre – focus on building civic, national and international partnerships to advance the social, environmental and individual wellbeing of our communities.

The Burgess Fellowships introduce two new, published writers to each year’s new Creative Writing Masters programme at the Centre.

In their role as Writer Fellows, Nat and Victoria read work-in-progress by the MA Creative Writing cohort, and by undergraduate students enrolled on the BA English Literature with Creative Writing, offering feedback and editorial guidance. 

The Fellows make a significant contribution to the Centre for New Writing’s policy to introduce a range of mentors for students and to increase awareness of the practical elements of the publishing industry, as students will work with writers who are publishing new work during their Fellowship.
 

About the 2024 Burgess Fellows

Nat Ogle is the author of In the Seeing Hands of Others, a novel. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from Swagֱ��. His work was shortlisted for The White Review Poet's Prize in 2021. He grew up in Darlington, County Durham, and lives in London. He works in bookselling.

Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a poet, writer, and artist whose work has appeared widely in publications including the London Review of Books, LitHub, and The Atlantic. She is the winner of an Eric Gregory Award, and her critically acclaimed debut poetry book, Quiet, won the Folio Prize for Poetry, the John Pollard International Poetry Prize, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. Quiet is published by Faber in the UK and in North America by Alfred A. Knopf.

The other panel members include:

• Director of Creative Swagֱ�� and Professor of Poetry, ;
•  Writer, illustrator and opera-maker, Dr Rebecca Hurst, who was commissioned to write a poem celebrating the University’s 2024 bicentennial year;
• Swagֱ��-based poet and critic, Maryam Hessavi.

Participants are invited to write a micropoem, of no more than 280 characters, and submit via email or on X (formerly Twitter) using the hashtag #micropoem24. Submissions are open to anybody and can explore Greater Swagֱ��’s industrial past, dive into the modern-day city and everything it has to offer, or even imagine its blossoming future.

Lemn said: “Swagֱ��’s micropoetry competition sets the challenging task of translating a theme into a short, tweet-like form. It’s a craft to tell a story in such a manner and I’m looking forward to reading the 2024 entries, centred around the chosen theme. As someone who published a book of tweets in the form of quatrains, I urge you to pen your poem and enter our micropoetry competition.”

Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, 10 April 2024, with winners to be announced Friday, 17 May.

Prizes will be awarded for first place (£500) and the two runners-up (£250), with a £25 book token for winner of the under-18s category. Authors of the top three micropoems and the winner of the under-18 category will also be invited to attend the University of Swagֱ��’s Community Festival on Saturday 8 June 2024.

Find out more and try your hand at the #micropoem24 competition at .

Creative Swagֱ�� were pleased to partner with , and , for ‘Bernie Sanders in Conversation with Gary Younge’ at theatre on Sunday, 18 February 2024. 

This event discussed Senator Sanders’ new book, the New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller ‘It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism’.

Senator Sanders, who is an American politician and activist from Vermont and the longest serving independent member in US congressional history, was interviewed by Professor Gary Younge, the award-winning author, broadcaster, and Professor of Sociology here at the University of Swagֱ��.

Sanders and Younge touched on issues in both the UK and US such as the wealth gap, healthcare, the climate crisis, childcare and many more, all in the name of envisioning an alternative path forward where the ‘system is no longer rigged against ordinary people’.

Senator Sanders asked how we can accept an economic order that allows three billionaires to control more wealth than the bottom half of our society. 

He also highlighted the failures of the US political system that allows the super-rich to buy elections and politicians and calls for a change to the energy system that rewards the fossil fuel corporations. 

By calling for fundamental economic and political change in his conversation with Gary Younge he provided useful insights into his book and career, which made for an interesting and engaging event.

Screenwriter and playwright Tim Price unveils his new play at the National Theatre, with doors opening this February.

Titled 'Nye', it follows one man’s dream of the NHS. Starting tomorrow on Saturday, 24 February, it runs until Saturday, 11 May.

Tim joined the Centre for New Writing in 2015 and teaches on our Screenwriting MA.

Here's an extract from the National Theatre website all about 'Nye':

From campaigning at the coalfield to leading the battle to create the NHS, Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan is often referred to as the politician with greatest influence on our country without ever being Prime Minister.

Confronted with death, Nye’s deepest memories lead him on a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament and fights with Churchill in an epic Welsh fantasia.

Michael Sheen (Under Milk Wood) is Nye Bevan in this surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain’s welfare state. It’s written by Tim Price (Teh Internet is Serious Business) and directed by Rufus Norris (Small Island).

When asked about the upcoming play, Tim said:
 
 

Discover more about ‘Nye’ and .

The competition themed is ‘200 years of creativity: Swagֱ��’s past, present or future’. Our theme focuses on Swagֱ��, a city with a global reach that celebrates its connections across the world. Entries may be submitted between Wednesday, 17 January 2024 and Wednesday, 10 April 2024.

Participants are invited to write a micropoem, in no more than 280 characters, and include the hashtag #micropoem24. Let your imagination lead your discovery and creativity: your micropoem might explore Greater Swagֱ��’s industrial past, or dive into the modern-day Swagֱ�� and everything it has to offer. As a pioneer in word-leading research for two centuries, we are sure there’s more to come, so maybe pen something you see in Swagֱ��’s future.

The launch of this year’s competition also marks the University of Swagֱ��’s ‘Light Up’ event that signals the start of our bicentennial activity for 2024.

We are asking you to send us short poems by Wednesday, 10 April 2024. 

Try your hand in our #micropoem24 competition! 

For the full entry details as well as the terms and conditions, visit the .

Award-winning writer, acclaimed author and Professor of New Writing at Swagֱ��, Jeanette Winterson returns to the John Rylands Research Institute and Library on Thursday, 14 December to share her latest chilling collection - Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories.

Ghost stories told at Christmas is a long-held tradition and a popular Victorian pastime, with families sharing spine-tingling tales around a cosy fireplace as the nights lengthened and winter settled in.

While our lives have become digital, exposed and always on, ghosts have been finding new ways to connect to us, to reach us, to haunt us.

Approaching the darkest day of the year and in the atmospheric setting of the Grade-I listed, neo-Gothic library, Jeanette will read from her new collection, talk with poet and Creative Swagֱ�� Director, Professor John McAuliffe about her work and share some of her real-life encounters with the occult. Entertaining, passionate and highly knowledgeable, Jeanette’s events are not to be missed.

On Sunday, 17 December, prize-winning poet Alice Oswald will read her work at Jodrell Bank as part of its .

Alice Oswald studied Classics at Oxford and then trained as a gardener. She worked in gardens for seven years before publishing her first book of poems, THE THING IN THE GAP-STONE STILE, which won the Forward Prize in 1996. Since then, Alice has released eight highly acclaimed collections for which she has won several awards and prizes.

Jodrell Bank is the perfect place to get into the midwinter mood as the site is transformed to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

’s ‘Solstice and Equinox’ series of events brings innovative creative artists to Swagֱ��’s four Cultural Institutions. Each of our unique cultural institutions – , the , and – focus on building civic, national and international partnerships to advance the social, environmental and individual wellbeing of our communities.

These festive literary evenings are open to all and available to book now:

• Book for Jeanette Winterson, 14 December
• Buy for Alice Oswald, 17 December

Inspired by visits to the Kielder Observatory in Northumberland, Black Fell is a game-for-music, a story in song where a psychological landscape of memory, grief and scientific passion unfolds. 

The story explores the thoughts of a central female character, an astronomer, on a cloudy night. Without the use of her telescopes, she turns inwards, where a psychological landscape of memories and scientific passions unfolds.

Funded by DC Labs, the co-creation of the research practice artefact brought musical development, led by Martin, together with Frances who shaped the poetry narrative. Hailed as a new approach to music, Black Fell is designed to bring a gaming-feel to opera storytelling.
 

Martin Suckling, Head of Music at University of York said:

How does Black Fell work?

Players are situated within a virtual ‘orchestra’ where they can freely move. Where you are positioned gives a unique balance of audio elements coupled with a variation of type of music. This shapes the direction the story takes. Audiences navigate by ear alone, or with the optional aid of a virtual ‘forest’ which provides visual feedback on their movements. Black Fell is designed for solo listening with headphones and is best played using a desktop PC or laptop. The full story only emerges over several iterations and responds to the listener’s choices as to how they move.
 

Frances Leviston, Senior Lecturer in Centre for New Writing at the University of Swagֱ�� said:

Black Fell is available from Friday 3 November 2023 on the . The piece is performed by Loré Lixenberg (voice) and Jonathan Morton (violin), with software development by Marco Ng.

Writer Jason Allen-Paisant has won the Best Collection award 2023 at the Forward Prize for Poetry.

Swagֱ�� Senior Lecturer’s ‘Self-Portrait as Othello’ is a dazzling poetic memoir, which imaginatively places the figure of Othello in the urban landscapes of modern London, Paris and Venice, inventing the kinds of narrative he might tell about his intersecting identities. 

Allen-Paisant collected the Forward Prize for Best Collection on Monday night at an awards ceremony in Leeds hosted by Poet Laureate and Swagֱ�� graduate Simon Armitage.
 

John McAuliffe, Professor of Poetry and Director of Creative Swagֱ��, said:

The news also celebrates the success of University of Swagֱ��-affiliated Carcanet Press: ‘Self-Portrait as Othello’ is the Jamaican poet’s second book with Carcanet and has also been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023.
 

Chair of Judges for the Best Collections panel, Bernardine Evaristo said:

Director for Creative Swagֱ��’s Professor John McAuliffe wrote:

Never Was takes the reader from a limbo of lost dreams to a small salt-mining town in the North, exploring transness alongside class, addiction and grief, and examining the way identity is both inherited and re-invented.
 

Judge Ellen Peirson-Hagger, assistant culture editor at the New Statesman, the prize’s partner, said:

The Prize, which celebrates “fiction that breaks the mould”, carries a prize of £10,000.

The Goldsmith’s Prize winner will be announced on 8 November 2023.

University of Swagֱ�� Senior Lecturer and writer Jason Allen-Paisant is celebrating another shortlisting today for his second collection of poems, Self-Portrait as Othello.

Self-Portrait as Othello is a dazzling poetic memoir, which imaginatively places the figure of Othello in the urban landscapes of modern London, Paris and Venice, inventing the kinds of narrative he might tell about his intersecting identities. The collection has also been shortlisted for the 2023 for best poetry collection.

Also making the 2023 shortlist is More Sky, the debut collection by Joe Carrick-Varty. The British-Irish poet is a graduate of the Centre for New Writing’s MA in Creative Writing, and was named as a Burgess Writer Fellow at the Centre in 2023.

Director of the CNW, Dr. Kaye Mitchell, writes:

Swagֱ��-based and University of Swagֱ�� affiliated Carcanet Press is also celebrating a triple shortlist award in the T.S Eliot Prize 2023. In addition to Jason and Joe, poet and novelist Kit Fan’s work The Ink Cloud Reader has completed the trio of accolades for Carcanet.

The winner, to be announced in January, will receive £25,000, while each shortlisted poet will receive £1,500.

“We are confident that all 10 shortlisted titles not only meet the high standards they set themselves but speak most effectively to, and of, their moment,” said Irish poet and judging chair , a past winner of the prize. “If there’s a single word for that moment it is surely ‘disrupted’, and all these poets properly reflect that disruption.”

“Shot through though they are with images of grief, migration, and conflict, they are nonetheless imbued with energy and joy,” he continued. “The names of some poets will be familiar, others less so; all will find a place in your head and heart.”

2023 will take place 7-22 October, featuring a programme of exciting events marking the city’s contribution to literature.

Swagֱ�� is proud to be the Festival’s official Higher Education Partner, working closely with the MLF team and offering several events in partnership with the University’s and research platform.

This year’s Festival begins with a , where lucky audience members will join award-winning poet, author and honorary Chair of Creative Writing at Swagֱ�� Lemn Sissay as he launches his new collection of morning poems, ‘Let the Light Pour In.’

Other partnership events showcase new publications by celebrated authors – including renowned contemporary novelist , bestselling American author , classicist and BBC Radio 4 broadcaster and prize-winning Icelandic novelist, playwright and poet .

On 7 October, cult author with a live electronic score by musician Roly Porter, followed by a conversation about his work.

On 19 October, join us for the annual Rylands Poetry Reading and raise a toast to of publishing some of the most vital, diverse and provocative poetry, essays, interviews and reviews from around the globe. Contributing editors Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Sasha Dugdale and Will Harris will be sharing their own poems alongside some of their favourite discoveries from PN Review.

Professor of New Writing and prolific author returns to MLF on 22 October to launch her new book Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories. She will read from her new collection and share some of her real-life encounters with the occult.

Lecturers from the Centre for New Writing feature in two events: Poet Jason Allen-Paisant is to premiere a new co-commission inspired by work in the Gallery and author Beth Underdown hosts on 7 October at Central Library. , an author event with Wen Zhen and Gu Shi on 15 October is presented by the University’s alongside Comma Press.

For those looking for more literature events after the main Festival period, there will be two partnership Bookend events in November. Beloved actor, comedian and writer joins us to discuss her memoir My Lady Parts: A Life Fighting Stereotypes, on 20 November, and on 29 November winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2017 joins us to discuss her superb new novel The Future.

Dr H. Gareth Gavin, Director of the Centre for New Writing said:

Cathy Bolton and Sarah-Jane Roberts, Co-Directors of Swagֱ�� Literature Festival  
said:

Find out more about Swagֱ�� Literature Festival and view the full programme .

The trail – overseen by research fellow, Dr Chad Campbell – ran in conjunction with and showcased over 100 young writers with work in 12 different languages.

Swagֱ�� City of Literature describes the trail as, “a walkable constellation of young voices connecting community arts centres, schools, universities, and libraries with over 40 schools in Greater Swagֱ��. The Schools Writing Trail project is a celebration of the young writers who are a vibrant part of what makes Swagֱ�� a UNESCO City of Literature.”

Project manager Dr Chad Campbell commented:

Miss Kirk, a teacher at the East Swagֱ�� Academy, felt equally positively about the impact of the project on her pupils: “Young writers have been able to see buildings they have never seen before, right on their doorstep in Swagֱ��.”

Watch the film below, produced by Swagֱ�� City of Literature, to see students visiting the Schools Writing Trail and hear more from those involved:

Find out more about the Schools Writing Trail, including an archive of some of the work, on the .

A panel of judges including former University Chancellor and poet Lemn Sissay, Creative Swagֱ�� Director and Professor of Poetry and Swagֱ��-based poet and critic Maryam Hessavi, gathered to judge this year’s Micropoetry Competition entries. 

The panel took a shortlist of the most intriguing of this year’s entries and selected the very best based on their professional judgement and instincts.

This year’s poetry competition took place from 21 March 2023 to 21 June 2023. Entrants were asked to respond to the theme of ‘Science Around Us’ in no more than 280 characters.

The winning poem was submitted by Roy on Twitter and created a thoughtful discussion among the judges about its ability to make a strong connection in short, impactful statements.

“It really takes a lot of work to make something seem so effortless yet capture so much intrigue’ commented Sissay. 

“It’s taking facts and creating something truly magical It has a killer last line, a threat of a single pebble altering the height of the sea; it’s really something.”

“I like this. You can see the thought and planning; every line matters which is so important in micropoetry” added McAuliffe. “They are making us see science, taking these big ideas and transforming these into really vivid imagery; I’m impressed.”

Hessavi noted: “It’s a very powerful story of science in nature, it has a really strong, pulsating rhythm throughout. The ‘plants that survive drought’ section gives such a great impression and really captures the emotion of science too.”

The prize for the winning poem this year was £500, with £250 in prize money going to two runners-up.

The first runner-up, submitted by Lauren on Twitter was well liked by all judges, with Sissay remarking “There’s a lot of work gone into this, the way it is structured, accompanied by the sounds captures that true impact of science and energy into a well thought piece.” 

Second runner-up submitted by Animashaun Ameen via email was praised by McAuliffe, saying “Blue Heaven has a narrative that creates a strong connection with the reader, I particularly liked the ‘mistaking lightning for thunder’ line which establishes how hard it is to know the world and gets that across to the reader early on.”

In the under-18s category, a poem submitted by Maya Pal, aged 8, most impressed the judges with Hessavi commenting on Maya’s ability. Hessavi said “to generate vivid imagery in a condensed, character-limited entry shows a high level of creativity for Maya’s age. Congratulations.” 

Finally, a poem named ‘Toast’ was highly commended. The judges highlighted the poem’s ability to praise and give thanks to some of scientific creation and others in existence. Sissay said: “’Cheers to engines’, it’s a strong, powerful opening statement and we go from industry to ‘the sun and moon’ and how science is everywhere we look and in everything we do.”

John McAuliffe said:

Each year, school pupils are invited to draft poems relating to a particular theme. This year’s theme, shared with the annual Great Science Share was ‘Science Around Us’. 

Led by Professor of Poetry and Director of Creative Swagֱ��, John McAuliffe, and Lecturer in Poetry and Creative Writing Project Manager, Dr Chad Campbell, judges awarded several prizes to pupils from Whalley Range High School, Levenshulme High School, The East Swagֱ�� Academy and Burnage Academy.

The judges assessed the poems and were looking for unique takes on the theme, effective imagery, innovative use of form, and creative command of language.

Congratulations to all the winners, who are as follows:

• Mohammad Jawal, Year 7, Burnage Academy
• Arazw Hasan and Serin Simpson, Year 7, Whalley Range High School
• Eshaal Rishan, Year 8, Whalley Range High School
• Amira Shahid, Year 9, Whalley Range High School
• Roheen Dar, Year 10, Whalley Range High School
• Nimrah Kamal, Levenshulme High School
• Mariam Attya, Year 7, East Swagֱ�� Academy
• Marina Ciubotari, Year 8, East Swagֱ�� Academy
• Brooklyn Thompson, Year 10, East Swagֱ�� Academy

On the competition, John McAuliffe said:

All winning entries from this year’s competition were also featured on Swagֱ�� City of Literature’s inaugural Schools Writing Trail, a city-wide exhibition of the ‘best of the best’ student writing displayed, in conjunction with the Festival of Libraries, from 1 -15 June.

Please see below all the first, second and third place entries plus honourable mentions:

Burnage Academy

1st Place: Mohammed Jawal, ‘Golden Poem’
2nd Place: Adhain Mohammad, ‘Untitled’
3rd Place: Cruz Reid ‘Space’s Wonders’, Haris Waqas ‘Ocean’

Honourable Mentions: Abdullah Ashar ‘Untitled’, Adam K ‘Earth Poem’, Arash Ranjbar ‘I Wonder’, Arshmaam Arshmaam ‘Atoms’, Hasan Rafiq ‘Other Life’, Zahi Khan ‘Space’

Whalley Range High School

Year 7 Winner (Joint): Arazw Hasan ‘Matter Poem’, Serin Simpson ‘The Seed that Grew’
Year 8 Winner: Eshaal Rishan ‘Altered Memories’
Year 9 Winner: Amira Shahid ‘Untitled’
Year 10 Winner: Roheen Dar ‘All the Parts You No Longer Love’

Honourable Mention: Menahil Imran ‘Mosaic’

Levenshulme High School

1st Place: Nimrah Kamal ‘Light in the dark Galaxy’
2nd Place: Zonaira Khan ‘Nature’
3rd Place: Zainal Muhammed ‘Untitled’

Honourable Mentions: Aleeha Kiani ‘Einstein’, Fatime Elani Arif ‘What am I? Oxygen’

East Swagֱ�� Academy

Year 7
1st: Mariam Attya ‘The World in its Light’
2nd: Jordan Byfield ‘Untitled’
3rd: Lourdes Boakye ‘Untitled’

Honourable Mention: Isha Hayat ‘Birds’, Daniel ‘What’s Science’

Year 8
1st: Marina Ciubotari ‘Have You Ever Wondered?’
2nd: Paris Hedgecock ‘Dear Aliens, I’m Sorry’
3rd: Elijah Kirkickaite ‘Take a Closer Look’

Honourable Mention: Cyrus Nixon ‘Untitled’, Mercy Osifesto ‘The Wonders of the Galaxy’

Year 10
1st: Brooklyn Thompson

– the University’s creativity-championing research platform – offered five workshop sessions in partnership with the , Programme in and .

‘Writing for Wellbeing’ took place at Marple and Chetham Libraries on 7 and 8 June. Facilitators from the Centre for New Writing, Dr Rebecca Hurst and Tessa Harris, worked with participants to explore the benefits of creative writing on personal wellbeing.

Also at Chetham’s Library, ‘What’s in a word, and what’s in a dictionary?’ saw the workshop group work with staff from the Department of Linguistics and English Language to look at how we define the meanings of words.

‘Tasting Children’s Literature – An edible readathon’ ran for two sessions: a private session for EYFS children at St Andrew’s C of E Primary School Levenshulme, at Arcadia Library, and a session open to the public, at Swagֱ�� Central Library. Children enjoyed a story time session with play food, colouring activities and fruits to eat.

The , overseen by Creative Swagֱ�� research fellow, Dr Chad Campbell, is also currently being hosted on campus and can be found in the glass corridor exhibition space in Samuel Alexander Building.

This year’s Festival of Libraries was a huge success and has been nominated for a Saboteur Award in the category of Best Literary Festival.

Find out more about the .

How to enter

Entries will need to combine a vast and thought-provoking topic with a strict 280-character Twitter limit.

The competition is open to everyone, and entrants can submit their micropoem via Twitter using the hashtag #micropoem23. People can also submit their poem by email with the same 280-character limit, including the hashtag.

Competition deadline

The competition will close on Wednesday, 21 June. Lemn and fellow judges John McAuliffe, Professor of Poetry and Director of Creative Swagֱ��, and Swagֱ��-based poet and critic Maryam Hessavi, will then deliberate over the submissions.

The writer of the judges’ favourite poem will win a prize of £500, while two runners-up will receive £250 each. There will also be an under-18 first prize of a £25 book token.

Martin Amis, who has just died in Florida, worked as our first Professor of Creative Writing at Swagֱ��'s Centre for New Writing from 2007-2011. All of us who worked with Martin at the Centre for New Writing send our condolences to his family.

“As Professor here, Martin set up new seminars, for writers, which looked at canonical texts, and set about introducing our students to the kind of work they might not have come across in their previous reading, the less well-known works of Nabokov and Bellow, the comic novel, the Russian novella - as well as works by Austen, Dickens, Joseph Conrad, Anthony Burgess and others.”

“Martin's position here drew interest from student writers (applications for the MA surged), but Martin's biggest contribution, possibly, was the series of events he ran at venues in the university and in downtown Swagֱ��. They drew big crowds of readers for debates about literature's relation to subjects as various (or linked!) as religion, violence, Britishness, suicide, film, which started new discussions - about the role of contemporary writer, as well as showing the continuing appetite for talk about literature inside and outside the university.”

“Martin was, also, great, congenial company: he was devoted to writing and it was a pleasure for us to work alongside someone who took such pleasure from the life of books, and life itself. We always looked forward to his return visits to the city, and are sure his books, a number of which were launched here, will continue to delight and instruct their readers.”

Professor John McAuliffe and Professor Ian McGuire
Centre for New Writing, Swagֱ�� 
 

Following the success of the past two years of celebrations, the 2023 festival showcases a vibrant programme of events in libraries across all ten boroughs of Greater Swagֱ��.

– the University’s creativity-championing research platform - is delighted to be offering several workshop sessions in partnership with the , and .

Writers from the Centre for New Writing will be facilitating a ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ workshop which explores how creative writing can have positive effects on mental health and wellbeing. ‘What’s in a word, and what’s in a dictionary?’ is a session run by the Linguistic Diversity Collective exploring the meanings of everyday words and idiomatic phrases. ‘Tasting children’s literature – An edible readathon’ is presented by academics and students in the Programme in American Studies and offers an immersive experience and readathon of classic children’s literature aimed at young children and their parents.

All workshops are free to attend but booking is required due to very limited spaces.

Writing for Wellbeing

What’s in a word, and what’s in a dictionary?

Tasting children’s literature – an edible readathon

Festival of Libraries is funded by Arts Council England and enjoys the support and collaboration of authors, artists and creatives, who all believe in the vital community and cultural role of libraries.

Find out more, including the full .

Over the past five years, the University has worked together with Swagֱ�� Metropolitan University, Swagֱ�� City Council and the city’s literary community to deliver a rich and vibrant programme of events, showcasing Swagֱ��’s talents and giving all of its residents the chance to participate in and benefit from the thriving City of Literature.

UNESCO called Swagֱ��’s report “high quality” and “a good example for other cities to follow”. They praised the city’s work to support vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, its commitment to poetry, its vibrant publishing sector, the partnership approach and strength in literature development, and the vitality its approach to multilingualism brings.

The city’s annual week-long Festival of Libraries was described as “a most impressive initiative… [attracting] great attention both locally and internationally”. The review noted the active political involvement in the City of Literature designation from both universities and Swagֱ�� City Council.

The review also praised the city’s focus on benefits for residents, and how Swagֱ�� was ambitious in contributing to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In conclusion, UNESCO said “the report reveals that Swagֱ�� makes literature a driving force for the city’s sustainability”

Swagֱ�� is gaining increasing recognition around the world for its cultural vibrancy. National Geographic included Swagֱ�� in its selection, Fodor Travel included it in its list of , and Swagֱ�� is the only UK city included in Lonely Planet’s list because of its learning and cultural developments.

Swagֱ�� was top of Conde Nast Traveller’s list, which praised the city’s improving sustainability, green space and culture. Time Out also listed Swagֱ�� as 4th in their list, and included a guided tour of our UNESCO City of Literature sites as part of the perfect day here.

“The UNESCO City of Literature designation has fostered a true ‘Swagֱ�� spirit’ of collaboration between our universities, the City and the city’s diverse literary communities,” said Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��. “This report recognises that transformational work, and we are very proud of the contribution of our staff and students to a great literary, creative environment in what our colleague Professor Jeanette Winterson has called an “alchemical city.”

“The City of Literature has fostered collaborations across the city on many flagship initiatives, from research on creativity and well-being, to working with writers through Swagֱ�� Literature Festival and Carcanet (publisher of another Nobel Prize winner in 2020). It has also led to the development of public engagement activities for schools and libraries and festivals, a key part of our social responsibility agenda.”

“Colleagues at our University’s Centre for New Writing share the City of Literature’s mission to discover and support emerging writers, and to develop projects which both strengthen our graduates’ employability skills and offer opportunities for them to become part of Swagֱ��’s diverse, evolving literary community.”

“Being a UNESCO City of Literature is such a great achievement for the city - we are one of 42 cities in the world that have this prestigious designation, and we’re proud to showcase the diverse talent of our city on the international stage,” said Councillor Luthfur Rahman OBE, Deputy Leader of Swagֱ�� City Council. “We have built on the strong foundations of Swagֱ��’s rich literary history, and alongside our partners from the city’s universities and literary community we have harnessed their collective creative energies to launch and create events, libraries and spaces where words and literature can be celebrated.

“We have supported over 100 Swagֱ�� based creatives to accomplish their dreams and secure paid opportunities in the creative industry. This is a fantastic achievement for the city and shows that we are investing in local talent and the cultural future of Swagֱ��. We’re excited for what the next years will bring!”

“Swagֱ�� Met’s involvement with City of Literature is central to our contribution to the region as a leading civic institution, and to our commitment to research and education that advances sustainable development through culture,” said Malcolm Press CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ�� Metropolitan University. “The designation has raised the profile of our City as a beacon destination for creative industries, cultural tourism and students of the arts and humanities, and established the reputation of its literature ecosystem as an exemplar of creative excellence and inclusivity.”

“I’m proud that our University is playing a key role in this work, and excited to see how it develops.”

Swagֱ�� City of Literature’s first four-year report can be downloaded .

The Fellowships introduce two new, published writers to each year’s new Creative Writing MA cohort at the Centre, and the Fellows are given special access to the archive of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Swagֱ��.

As well as working with the MA Creative Writing cohort, the Fellows also work with undergraduate students, bridging the BA to MA gap. They are integral to the Centre’s commitment to introducing a broad range of mentors for its students, and for increasing student contact with the practical contexts of the publishing industry by working with writers who are publishing new work during the course of their appointment. 

About the 2023 Burgess Fellows

Dr Adelle Stripe was born in York in 1976. Her books include the recent Sunday Times bestseller, , and  and she was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Portico Prize for Literature. 

Her writing has featured in Excavate: The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, Flashback: Parties for the People by the People and Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers. Recently, she has recorded an audio essay on Bradford Ice Rink for ‘New Postscripts’, a BBC Sounds podcast based on JB Priestley’s classic wartime broadcasts. Adelle is a former MA student at the Centre for New Writing, and has lectured at MMU, Leeds Trinity and York St John. Her forthcoming book, Base Notes, is a perfume memoir that explores the connections between scent and memory. It will be published by White Rabbit Books in 2024. 

Joe Carrick-Varty is a British-Irish poet, writer and founding editor of bath magg. His work has appeared in the New Statesman, Granta and POETRY. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2022. Joe is a graduate of the MA Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing. His debut collection of poetry, , was published by Carcanet in January.

Osman Mohamed was awarded the prize at the most recent MA Anthology launch, a collection of written works by outgoing students on the Centre’s renowned .  

The PFD Prize is awarded by Peters Fraser + Dunlop (PFD), one of the country’s leading literary and talent agents. 

“We are so delighted to award this year’s PFD Prize to Osman Mohamed for his moving, brilliantly observed work,” Said Kate Evans, Literate Agent at PFD. “This prize is all about encouraging early promise and we expect to see big things from this extremely talented writer.” 

The event marks the launch of Creative Swagֱ��’s ‘Solstice and Equinox series’, and inaugurates a new series of events which brings innovative creative artists to Swagֱ��’s four Cultural Institutions. Each of our unique cultural institutions – , the , and – focus on building civic, national and international partnerships to advance the social, environmental and individual wellbeing of our communities.

The event takes place from 6.30pm-8.00pm, online and in-person, on Thursday, 15 December 2022.
 

To book
 
Everyone is welcome to attend. You can register to attend in-person or to watch via livestream. 

To reserve your place, please book via  .

The event is FREE, but we do ask if you would consider giving a donation to the . Based in North Swagֱ��, in one of the most deprived areas in England, they provide a unique, safe place for young people aged 8-19 (up to 25 with additional needs) to raise their aspirations and enjoy healthier, happier lives.

If you would like to donate, you can do so via .

Image credit: one of the most beautiful Renaissance manuscripts of Swagֱ�� Library is a copy of Christianus Prolianus’ scientific treatise, , produced in Naples around 1478 (Latin MS 53).

The wordsmith has taken home a £15,000 prize for Blue 4 eva which frames ‘complex family dynamics’ in a ‘transportive atmosphere’, according to chair of the judges Elizabeth Day, while Madeleine Feeny in the Guardian described Send Nudes as an ‘exhilarating collection’. 

Sams was quoted as saying: “I’m always thinking about what it looks like to be a young woman: about bodies and power, about friendships and family, about the ways we’re constantly looking to break free.”

In addition to Sams’ win, four additional short-listed writers won BBC National Short Story with Cambridge University prizes worth £600. 

��󲹰����dzٳٱ�’s Accessioning examines what it is we consider worthy of remembering and her poems balance the differences between the memories forgotten and encountered again in a box or curiosity shop, and institutional memories that are preserved among museum artefacts.

“I've followed the Emma Press since its inception,” she said. “They are outward-looking, energetic, and constantly innovating. I'm really happy that my pamphlet has found its home with them. And it's nice to be stable-mates with Rebecca Hurst too.” 

Due to be published in June 2023. 

Professor John McCauliffe, poet and Director of the Centre for New Writing, sent out an email call in early March, which I answered along with a dozen or so other graduate writers. Over a couple of Zoom calls we learned what was expected of the students, and of us.

Participating state schools in Swagֱ�� were set a prompt – this year they were to write poems relating to climate change. Each of us would be assigned one or more schools in which students had submitted poems. We would visit the schools and hold a 'poetry clinic', giving the students individual feedback.

“For most of these students this'll be the first time they've met a real writer,” said Dr Rebecca Hurst, key coordinator for the poetry clinics. “It can be intimidating for them, but also exciting.”

Intimidating for me, too. In order to ensure I gave each poem its due I wrote a mini-essay of a page or so for each student's work and brought it in with me along with annotations. The other mentors did the same.

I was allocated two schools to visit in mid-May: Burnage Academy for Boys and Whalley Range High School. Both schools are large, impressive, business-like places – at Burnage Academy in particular I was surprised, walking to reception past the thronged sports field, that any of these boys had chosen to write poetry at all. And yet at both places I had half a dozen keen-eyed junior poets to mentor, and from their busy notetaking as I spoke, and the moment-by-moment shift of affect in their eyes as they listened to their feedback, I saw that these were writers sure enough just like any others I had ever sat in a workshop with.

As Rebecca had predicted, the young poets had to be guided back towards the concrete. We didn’t overwhelm them with technical annotations, but asked them to seize and stay with the everyday image, or sustain the germ of an idea they'd neglected for more grandstanding or general statements. Sometimes they wrote phrases that you felt were what they believed they were expected to write about climate change, but there was always something simple, concrete, and personal to steer them back towards.

The poets were wonderful, but so were the teachers. At both schools I met earnest teachers who'd been keen for their students to participate.

'I'm not sure they've ever written a second draft of anything,' one teacher said to me. 'This is great for them.'

Yes, a second draft is good, I thought. Then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. They'll learn that in time. The important thing is that they're writing.

You can read the winning entries of the Schools Poetry Competition 2022 in the Glass Corridor of the Samuel Alexander Building this September.

Taking place at the on Swagֱ��’s Oxford Road campus, on Deansgate, and Swagֱ�� Central Library in the city’s iconic St Peter’s Square, literature lovers can look forward to an enriching series of talks and an opportunity to hear about the writing process from award-winning wordsmiths.

The programme opens on campus on 8 October with A.M. Homes who will be discussing The Unfolding with Razia Iqbal at the Martin Harris Centre, followed by an evening with Kamila Shamsie who will be sharing her thoughts on female friendship and the themes of her novel Best of Friends. David Olusoga will be talking about his role as a writer and historian at the MHC on 15 October in an event hosted by Ellah P Wakatama, which will also be recorded for a streamed audience. 

At Central Library on 9 October, Kit de Waal’s childhood memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes will be central to her conversation with Ellah P Wakatama, while on 10 October 2021 Booker Prize-winner Damon Galgut will be sharing his thoughts on The Promise with Alex Clark. Susanna Clarke and Max Porter will be delving into Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell on 21 October at the library in an MLF exclusive event.

The auspices of the John Rylands will welcome one of America’s most celebrated poets Carl Phillips on 13 October, where he will deliver the John Rylands Reading. The gothic building will also host Cosey Fanni Tutti and Jon Savage on 20 October where they will be discussing three iconic women, Cosey Fanni Tutti herself, along with Delia Derbyshire and Margery Kempe. 

Swagֱ�� Literature Festival’s Live events programme runs from 7-23 October 2022 across the city.

The wider Swagֱ�� Literature Festival programme and tickets are on general sale from 26 August 2022 via the .

Despite the sweltering temperatures, an esteemed panel of judges including former University of Swagֱ�� Chancellor and poet Lemn Sissay, Creative Swagֱ�� Director and Professor of Poetry John McAuliffe and Swagֱ��-based poet and critic Maryam Hessavi, took a shortlist of the most intriguing of this year’s entries and selected the very best based on their professional judgement and instincts. 

This year’s poetry competition took place from 21 March 2022 to 21 June 2022 and was presented by in partnership with the and the . Entrants were asked to respond to the theme of ‘Climate Change’ in no more than 280 characters drawing on subjects including renewable energy, rising sea levels, protecting our wildlife, the future of our children and the folly of policymakers. 

The winning poem was submitted by @AjrCWriter on Twitter which put a mirror up to the judging room in a way that gave the judges pause for thought in their deliberations. 

“I love it,” said Sissay. “They are the ones telling us what’s happening. It’s something original. It’s top of the tree.”

“A great poem,” added McAuliffe. “They are thinking with their ears and not just on the page.”

Hessavi noted: “I admire how it speaks to us and the humour of it.”

The prize for the winning poem this year was £1,000, with £250 in prize money going to two runners-up. 

The first runner-up, submitted by @LChristianer via Twitter was described as “a perfect little poem” by McAuliffe and reminded Sissay of childhood, while Hessavi ruled that it was “brave and it’s a poem that takes a risk”. 

Second runner-up submitted by @josephsyard via Twitter was praised by McAuliffe for its lyricism, with the professor telling the room that it demonstrated “really, really great writing”. 

In the under-18s category, a poem submitted by Syeda Manha Rashid from Levelshulme High School via email most impressed the judges, with Sissay saying how good it was for a school pupil, while Hessavi was touched by its form and rhyme scheme. 

Finally, two more poems were highlighted for commendation from the expert judging panel.

@baztench’s poem submitted via Twitter was described by McAuliffe as “a cracker” for its descriptiveness, while Sissay said he had “never heard the changing seasons described in such a way and with such economy”.

@cathyedmunds’ seasonal poem was also widely praised by the judges, with Sissay declaring that “this is the sort of writing that should be encouraged”.

“Words matter in the world of social media where a well-turned phrase or image can suddenly resonate with thousands of readers,” said McAuliffe. “Poets practice the same skill when they turn a line, maybe not responding always to the contemporary but keeping us in touch with ancient human preoccupations too. This competition, so ably steered by our Chancellor Lemn Sissay, prizes writing which can be both of our moment but also with an eye on a longer life and we are delighted to have had so many brilliant entries again this year.”

The judging session was Lemn Sissay’s last as Chancellor, as his tenure as the figurehead of Swagֱ�� came to an end on 31 July 2022. Sissay’s commitment to the competition and to championing creative writing and poetry for the many, not the few, was celebrated by the Creative Swagֱ�� team by gifting the Chancellor an ornate writing set that once decorated the Dean of Swagֱ�� Institute of Science and Technology’s desk circa 1950-60, as a thank you for his support.

The Micropoetry Competition and its sister competition for local schools are of huge importance to The University’s commitment to Social Responsibility, engaging the general public with poetry and the urgent matter of climate change facing society. Details of next year’s competition will be confirmed soon.

Sabine Sharp completed their PhD at the University of Swagֱ�� in 2021. Their doctoral project examined what feminist science fiction novels and films might offer to contemporary debates on trans issues. In addition to working as a Research Assistant on the Trans Healthcare and Creativity project, they have helped organise the Sexuality Summer School, a week of postgraduate workshops and public events taking place each summer. For the past five years, they have taught on gender, sexuality, race, and class in the English and American Studies department. Sabine now works as an Information Support Assistant at the University of Salford's library. 

Why are we holding these events and what are their objectives?

The Trans Healthcare and Creativity project aims to facilitate conversations between members of Greater Swagֱ��’s trans community and academics, activists, creative practitioners, and healthcare professionals. Our four events in April and June 2022 have examined the present, past, and future of trans healthcare provision in the UK. 

These events have comprised of two roundtable events featuring a panel of experts from a range of backgrounds, each followed by a creative writing workshop led by a trans writer. With this format, we have sought to emphasise both the need for creative thinking in navigating current issues with trans healthcare provision and access, as well as the importance of spotlighting trans voices on this topic. 

Greater Swagֱ�� and the surrounding areas boast a rich history of trans political and community organising, something we wanted to showcase through our events. Our panels have highlighted the incredible work of organisations such as the  and , as well as trans and queer mutual aid initiatives and relevant research projects.

Why now?

In recent years, debates on trans issues have become increasingly fraught, with hostile and sensationalist media coverage and political scaremongering about trans inclusive policies. Through our events, we hope to contribute to a shift in the conversation, focusing on exploring creative responses to trans healthcare. 

Discussions in the media have tended to overlook or misrepresent this aspect of trans experience. Our roundtable events have foregrounded the exorbitantly lengthy waiting times for affirming treatment, stories of bias and gatekeeping, and the entanglement of transphobia with racism and ableism in some medical settings. 

Our events, as well as providing a much-needed space to articulate these experiences, seek to generate new approaches to thinking about transition healthcare. Our discussions so far have traced connections between the healthcare needs of various groups, underscoring the important overlaps between transition care and reproductive medicine, sexual health, cancer care, diabetes, mental health, and paediatrics. 

Adopting a broader conception of ‘healthcare’ than is usually considered in conversations on gender transition, we have sought to include the perspectives of those engaged in mutual aid organising, community support, academic research, and social work. Reimagining what trans healthcare might mean is a vital project in the current context. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has shone a spotlight on the pressures on our National Health Service. Meanwhile, many of the most marginalised members of our society face financial hardship due to the current cost of living crisis and the chronic underfunding of crucial public services. Discussing alternatives to the current system also requires reflection on a range of intersecting issues and a more expansive understanding of the range of services this might encompass. 

Why does writing possess such a crucial role in the subject of Trans Healthcare?

By pairing trans healthcare with creativity, we posit that we need to innovate in order to tackle the problems many trans people experience in medical and therapeutic contexts. Further, we argue that creative writing offers one way to develop the kind of radical thinking required to improve the current framework of provision.  

Through the writing workshops that were paired with our roundtable events, we have offered local trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people a space to develop their creative writing skills. Our two creative writing workshops have been led by trans author and journalist Juliet Jacques and trans poet Nat Raha. 

These workshops not only model career possibilities for trans people in the arts and creative industries, but also enable attendees to intervene in current debates on trans issues themselves. In trans scholar Grace Lavery’s experimental memoir Please Miss (2022), she draws attention to the restriction of genres available to trans people, historically allowed only certain forms of life-writing. Juliet Jacques’ journalism and historical fiction and Nat Raha’s poetry and zines allow our attendees to imagine the possibilities that might be offered by alternative modes of writing. 

Is this just the start for more events on the subject, or Trans-centred events in general?

We are keen to hold more events in the near future, and we are also investigating the possibilities of running short courses on trans and non-binary healthcare experiences for medical professionals. 

This concert featured the premiere of Erysichthon’s Forest, a melodrama based on the Greek myth of Erysichthon, composed by Richard Whalley, with libretto by John McAuliffe. 

It was performed by Louise Wayman (soprano), Simon Grange (bass), Petr Prause (cello) and Richard Whalley (piano). 

Music from this melodrama will ultimately form part of a chamber opera telling the story of Erysichthon, to be performed in collaboration with Swagֱ�� Opera Project.

The work is based on a tale from Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in which Erysichthon destroys a sacred forest, and is cursed for his actions by Ceres with the punishment of insatiable hunger: the more he easts the more hungry he feels, until he has consumed all of his wealth, and ultimately consumes himself. 

Analogies between this and the way humans today are consuming Earth’s resources at unsustainable levels are clear and echo the Faculty of Humanities’ priority themes of Sustainable Futures, Global Inequalities and Creativity.

The ‘Songs of Sustainability’ project was built around these values, through which four composers were selected through a call for proposals to set poems that engage with the beauty and vulnerability of nature chosen by John McAuliffe. The selected composers were Amy Crankshaw, Simon Davies, Finn McLean and Jasmine Simons, and the poets are Rebecca Hurst, Frances Leviston, Chad Campbell and Vona Groarke.

The evening concert was be preceded by an afternoon workshop with researchers from different disciplines relating to sustainability, in the hopes of informing further the expansion of the opera.

Ticket sales from the concert went to support

15-19 June 2022 saw the return of  Festival of Libraries. 

Following the success of last year’s inaugural celebration, the 2022 festival showcased a vibrant and varied programme of 80 events in libraries across all ten boroughs of Greater Swagֱ��.

 – the University’s creativity-championing research platform – offered seven workshop sessions in partnership with the  and the .

Professional writers from the Centre for New Writing facilitated a series of ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ workshops which explored how creative writing can have positive effects on mental health and wellbeing. ‘Have you seen my duckling? – Storytime in mother languages’ was run by the Linguistic Diversity Collective for parents and caregivers from minority language backgrounds and their young children, encouraging shared book reading and building a narrative around a wordless picture book.

The workshops were well received and rated highly, with attendees of Writing for Wellbeing commenting, “A really good session that got me thinking, a very good facilitator,” and “I really enjoyed the session.” 

‘Have you seen my duckling’ attracted parents and caregivers with over 12 languages spoken between them. One attendee commented that “it was amazing to have a chat with a Professor of Linguistics.” 

The workshops took place in several libraries in the Greater Swagֱ�� area. 

Find out more

Morag Edwards (nee Gornall) graduated from the Centre in 2006 and her self-published novel Broken was one of 10 works to be named Finalist for the awards.  

"Now in our 16th year The National Indie Excellence Awards has evaluated thousands of books across a wide range of diverse genres produced by self-published authors and independent imprints,” said Doug Fogelson, President of the National Indie Excellence Awards. “From this position, we find that our current selection of NIEA award recipients represent the best and brightest talents to be found in contemporary indie publishing and self-published authors today." 

Other titles by Edwards include The Jacobite's Wife, which was published by Hookline Books in 2018. 

The prize was presented to Carrick-Varty and six other Eric Gregory recipients at the Society of Authors Awards by Lemn Sissay and Joanne Harris at Southwark Cathedral this month. 

Carrick-Varty's work Sky Doc was recognised by the Society. 

This is the latest accolade for the poet. His previous work Somewhere Far was a New Poetr Prize-winner, , and in 2019 he was selected by Poetry Ireland as one of Ireland’s emerging poets. 

Poetry 

Poetry by local school children will be on display following the success of MA and PhD student-delivered poetry clinics as part of the annual Schools Poetry Competition in partnership with , the and the . These poems all reflect on the theme of Climate Change and capture a generation’s fears, passions and frustrations using the magic of words. 

Photography 

The top 30 photos from this year’s International Photography Competition run by the in partnership with Creative Swagֱ�� and the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures will have a satellite exhibition at University Place, where the public will get the opportunity to vote for the People’s Choice Award-winning photo. This year’s theme was ‘The Feeling of Home’ and the 30 shortlisted photos were selected by a panel of expert judges for their composition and storytelling ability. 

Language 

Swagֱ�� is a city of many languages and dialects and The Linguistic Diversity Collective is inviting Community Festival attendees to explore how they use their own language by contributing to a linguistic snapshot of the city. There will be family-friendly activities for everyone to participate in which will help to paint a linguistic picture of Swagֱ��. 

Jazz 

At 14.15, a jazz quintet will take to the performance area at University Place to treat attendees to some live music. The audience can listen out for some jazz standards and some improvisation from the ensemble, whose influences include Charlie Parker, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John Scofield, Ari Hoenig and Jaco Pastorius. 

The Community Festival takes place on Saturday 25 June from 11.00 to 16.00 across campus, with SALC’s activities taking place at University Place (aka the Tin Can) on Oxford Road, Swagֱ��. 

Find out more .  

Taking place at Gorton Monastery, the School will fly the flag for poetry and the art of language and words by encouraging visitors to think about how 19^th century poetry prompts thoughts relating to today’s climate change challenges.

The activity is based on Senior Lecturer in Victorian Literature  research, which combines poetry, natural history and conservation science.

In addition to encouraging visitors to think about how Victorian poetry identifies issues relating to climate change in 2022, visitors will also be able to read some of the climate change-themed poetry penned by Swagֱ�� schoolchildren for the Schools Poetry Competition in partnership with Creative Swagֱ��, The Centre for New Writing and The Great Science Share for Schools.

The Swagֱ�� Histories Festival programme launches on 8 June with a series of events across the city, culminating in a  at Gorton Monastery full of music, performance, food and family-friendly activities.

In partnership with , the Centre for New Writing is facilitating five ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ workshop sessions taking place across Greater Swagֱ�� libraries. 

The free workshops will explore how creative writing can have positive effects on mental health and wellbeing. We know first-hand the benefits that creative writing can have, and we are delighted to offer these sessions for interested readers and writers, and those who are curious about creative writing as part of their own personal wellbeing. 

Workshops will be led by one of three professional writers: Chad Campbell (Rochdale and Oldham), Rebecca Hurst (Ashton and Stretford) and Maryam Hessavi (Wigan).

Space is limited to 15 places per workshop so booking is essential.

To find out more and to book, follow this link.

The SSS is an annual five-day series of workshops and seminars for postgraduates engaged in the study of gender and sexuality. The programme is complemented by a series of public events including film screenings, lectures, and performances taking place from 23-27 May 2022. 

Each year the SSS is organised around a particular theme, with this year’s theme posing interdisciplinary and methodological questions about how identities are formed, lived, expressed and contested and their relation to desire. The event’s diverse programming brings together students, artists, activists and academics from a range of backgrounds to interrogate ideas around gender, sexuality, race and identity, encouraging a thoughtful approach to social justice issues and providing a supportive environment for students to discuss their research and ideas with peers, and to liaise with high-profile artists, activists and academics.  

Public events programme 

Opening public lecture with  (Emory University, GLQ co-editor): ‘Indigestion: Transsexulaity and the Queer Aversion to Identity’ 

While feminist and queer debates have radically opened up the ways in which we think about identity categories, debates in trans studies often circle back to identity, highlighting the vitality and political urgency identities may offer. This talk looks back at these debates to consider the ways in which the notion of an autonomous gender identity is entangled with a liberal context that upholds the fictions of sovereign individualism and freedom from social determination. IN partnership with SICK! Festival. 

• Venue: SALC Graduate School, University of Swagֱ��  
• When: Monday, 23 May, 15.00-16.45.
• This is a free event, but requires registration by clicking . 

Film screening + post-screening discussion:  (2021, dir. by Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams), followed by discussion and Q&A with Siobhan Fahey (Rebel Dykes producer), Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams. 

Join us for a screening of Rebel Dykes, a raucous documentary using animation, interviews and archival footage to explore the story of a group of women who met in 1980s post-punk London doing art, music, politics and sex, and how they went on to change their world. Producer, Siobhan Fahey and Directors Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams will join us for a post-screening discussion and Q&A. Co-sponsored by Screen, HOME Swagֱ��, and SICK! Festival. 

• Venue: HOME Swagֱ�� 
• When: Monday 23 May, 18.00-20.00 
• Tickets may be purchased . 

Performance Lecture:  (Swagֱ��-based poet, producer, programmer, facilitator and theatre maker): ‘Category Mistake’  

Join us for a performance lecture by queer Zimbabwean writer, performer and curator, mandla rae. mandla’s work examines the notion of identity and its regulation on the body to explore possibilities of resistance through a performance practice of embodied movement, gesture, and spoken word. This performance tells the story of the experience of being a ‘category mistake’ – an identity that society does not want to admit exists.  In partnership with SICK! Festival. 

• Venue: Anthony Burgess Foundation 
• When: Tuesday, 24 May, 18.00-20.00 
• This is a free event, but requires registration by clicking . 

 Performance: , ‘Ejaculation Falls’ 

This performance will see a group of people gather together to celebrate sexual diversity. It is an opportunity to share things regarding sex and sexuality that are often hidden or silenced in public conversations. 

The performance leads its viewers to the other side of norms and collective beliefs. It invites us to examine sexuality’s power and various dimensions, to give new words to the ways in which we talk about sex. Please join Essi and the performers for an open conversation, and to share your own experiences of themes addressed in the performance. In partnership with SICK! Festival and Baltic Circle. 

• Venue: Stun Studios (Z Arts) 
• When: Wednesday, 25 May, 19.00-21.00 and Thursday, 26 May, 19.00-21.00  
• To purchase tickets, click . 

Public Dialogue: ‘Performing Sexuality’ with Essi Rossi and mandla rae 

Join artists mandla rae and Essi Rossi for a dialogue exploring gender, sexuality, identity and performance. Mandla is a Zimbabwean writer and performance artist. mandla’s work explores the artist’s intersecting identities, reflections and musings – using a range of mediums but usually with an intricate focus on words and storytelling. Essi Rossi is a Finnish theatre director who lives in Helsinki and works variously with theatre and live arts. Her works are more or less tied to the question of change in the era of mass destruction and desires, and she is driven by candid ways of working with these themes. In partnership with SICK! Festival. 

• Venue: Stun Studios (Z Arts) 
• When: Thursday, 26 May, 15.00-17.00 
• This is a free event, no tickets required. 

Book Launch and Roundtable Discussion: Feeling Queer Jurisprudence: Inquiry, Intimacy and Identity ( 2020) with Dr Senthorun Raj (MMU), Dr Eddie Bruce-Jones (Birkbeck) and Professor Sharon Cowan (Edinburgh) 

Senthorun (Sen) Raj is a Reader in Human Rights Law at Swagֱ�� Law School (MMU) and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His research and advocacy interests include refugee law, anti-discrimination law, queer theory, emotion, critical legal studies, and human rights. His new book, Feeling Queer Jurisprudence: Inquiry, Intimacy and Identity draws on the analytic and political dimensions of queer, alongside the analytic and political usefulness of emotion, to navigate legal interventions aimed at progressing the rights of LGBT people. 

• Venue: SALC Graduate School, University of Swagֱ��  
• When: Thursday, 26 May, 18.00-19.30 
• This is a free event, no tickets required. 

Roundtable Discussion: Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis (, 2022) with Grace Lavery (UCB), Honor Gavin (UM) and Sabine Sharp (Chair). 

Grace E. Lavery is assistant professor of English and affiliated faculty in the Program in Critical Theory and the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis is a speculative memoir of gender transition and recovery from addiction, refracted through pop culture, queer theory, film, TV, literature, and (what feels like) stand-up comedy–like The Argonauts caught in a hall of mirrors, with a lot more sex and humour. In partnership with Swagֱ�� Queer Research Network. 

• Venue: HOME Swagֱ��  
• When: Friday, 27 May, 16.00-17.30pm 
• This is a free event, but requires registration by clicking . 

 For more on the Sexuality Summer School, please visit this  or find us on our , or  pages. 

The SSS is grateful for collaboration and support from ; , NWCDTP, Screen, , and the University of Swagֱ��. 

Following the success of last year’s inaugural celebration, the showcases a vibrant programme of 80 events in libraries across all ten boroughs of Greater Swagֱ��.

– the University’s creativity-championing research platform - is delighted to be offering seven workshop sessions in partnership with the and the Linguistic Diversity Collective.

Writers from the Centre for New Writing will be facilitating a ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ workshop which explores how creative writing can have positive effects on mental health and wellbeing. ‘Have you seen my duckling? – Storytime in mother languages’ is a session run by the Linguistic Diversity Collective for parents and caregivers from minority language backgrounds and their young children, encouraging shared book reading and building a narrative around a wordless picture book.

All workshops are free to attend but booking is required due to limited spaces.

 Writing for Wellbeing Workshops:

Storytime in Mother Languages:

Lemn Sissay OBE, University Chancellor and Festival of Libraries ambassador said: "A library is the loudest place on the high street, because books are bursting with very loud ideasI And yet it is where you can go for peace and quiet; amongst all that is happening in our world, peace and quiet has great value. Libraries change the world because people who use libraries change the world. This year’s Festival of Libraries demonstrates throughout its brilliant programme that all ages, all types, all are welcome. Your community. Your library.”

Find out more, including the full Festival of Libraries programme: 

Seghatchian is one of the producers of The Power of the Dog, which has been nominated for 12 of film’s most prestigious accolades.  

She produced the film alongside writer, director and producer Jane Campion, as well as Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier. 

“We were clear that our intention was to make a film that had cinematic ambition,” she told in an interview last year. “Working with great filmmakers is what inspires me, and Jane was everything I could have dreamed she would be.” 

The Western production is an adaptation of a 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage. It tells the story of a strong-willed rancher and stars some of film’s biggest names including Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.  

The 94^th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on 27 March 2022, where The Power of the Dog is nominated in arguably the most talked-about categories including Best Picture, Director, Writer, Actor in a Leading Role and Actress in a Leading Role.  

Image left to right: Tanya Seghatchian, Jane Campion and Kirsten Dunst.

Launched by University of Swagֱ�� Chancellor and poet Lemn Sissay OBE, the competition focuses its lens on climate change, encouraging budding poets to consider this vast and contemporary topic when they put fingers to keys. 

Entrants have 280 characters in which to express their thoughts on climate change in poetry. They can submit their micropoem via Twitter using the hashtag #micropoem22, or it is also possible to enter via email using the same 280 character limit . 

The competition will close on 21 June 2022, when an esteemed panel of judges including Sissay, Professor of Poetry at Swagֱ�� and Director of Creative Swagֱ�� John McAuliffe, and Swagֱ��-based poet and critic Maryam Hessavi will deliberate over submissions.

A cash prize of £500 will be awarded to the judges' favourite poem, while 2 runners up will recievd  £250 each, while there are 10 pairs of tickets for the Literature Live autumn 2022 programme to give to the winners.

Full details of the competition and entries are being collected as of today.