News

Manchester Urban Institute’s Devo Manc hub commissioned me to write three short stories to mark the first 100 days of Greater Manchester’s first mayoral term.

The stories explore what Devo Manc might be and mean for the city. I met with a range of academics working on Devo Manc, as well as other residents and campaigners in Manchester. I asked each of them: If Devo Manc was an animal, what would it be? Their answers inspired three stories: The Mini-Pig; The Giraffe and The Whale (released next week).

This work was commissioned by Manchester Urban Institute and funded by The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account.

Re/Place(d) – stories that are right up your street

From the Gates of Hell to a grand Victorian railway hotel, take a tour of local places through the site-specific short stories of critically acclaimed and award-winning writers Elizabeth Baines, Sarah Butler, Sarah-Clare Conlon, David Gaffney, Nicholas Royle and Adrian Slatcher, set against a backdrop of archive film and photography. Supported by Arts Council England.

Saturday 1 July, 7pm, free entry. The Old Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ

Re/Place(d) – workshop

Prior to the performance event, writers Sarah-Clare Conlon and David Gaffney will lead a creative writing flash fiction workshop taking people and place as a starting point for inspiration.

Friday 30 June, 3-5pm, £5. The Old Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ

In February, poet Jacob Sam-La Rose and myself are be co-leading an intensive three day writing course for young people from The Writing Squad and Hive South Yorkshire, based at Tate Exchange and programmed by Arvon.

We will be exploring themes of exchange and considering what it means to be a writer in a visual arts space.

There are opportunities to meet the young writers and get involved on 16th (2.00-3.30pm) and 17th Feb (18.00-20.00).

I have a newly commissioned piece, titled SK-13131313-1 in a limited edition publication accompanying Dafna Talmor’s solo exhibition, Constructed Landscapes, which opens at Photofusion Gallery in Brixton, London on 9th March and runs until 6th April. Continue reading →

I have been awarded Arts Council funding to work with Justlife, a Manchester-based charity supporting people close to the streets. I will be working with staff and service-users throughout 2017, and will write a novella inspired by their stories and experiences. Participants will also work with photographer Stephen King to document their experiences of unsupported temporary accommodation.

I am thrilled to be working with the Elders Company at the Royal Exchange theatre on a creative evaluation project looking at the impact of the Elders Company on members’ lives, and investigating the relationship between arts, culture and ageing.

In 2016, we launched Elders Investigate, a programme of workshops, conversations and debates. I have been responding creatively to each event – you can read my work on the Royal Exchange’s website (bottom left hand corner!), and find out more about public events here.

As part of Unearthing The Elephant, a project with artists Eva Sajovic and Rebecca Davies, building on a decade of work in Elephant and Castle, we are hosting an open discussion with an invited panel to discuss ethics, tactics and place-specificity in artistic practice, with particular reference to Elephant and Castle and its labelling as an ‘opportunity area’. Continue reading →

My commission to creatively respond to Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places project continues. I am working with visual artist Nicole Mollett, and we are both blogging regularly on the Creative People and Places website.

‘Building Whilst Flying’ by Nicole Mollett