Carol Ann Duffy DBE
Creative Director of the Manchester Writing School and Professor of Contemporary Poetry
"One of the greatest pleasures of my working life continues to be the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Met - a department with a real sense of family,…
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Catherine Wilcox
Academic Director of the Manchester Writing School and MFA/MA Creative Writing Programme Leader
"Read, read, read. Live in your own head and inhabit the world of your fiction obsessively. A course in Creative Writing is licence to daydream." Contact: c.wilcox@mmu.ac.uk
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Livi Michael
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and MA Publishing Programme Leader
"Be patient: becoming the kind of writer you want to be takes time and it can take even longer for the publishing world to get round to your point of view!"…
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Susan Barker
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
"As a teacher, I hope to create a workshop environment similar to the one I experienced: friendly, inclusive, positive, inspiring and constructive. I believe…
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Laura Barnett
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
Laura’s first novel, The Versions of Us (2015), was a number-one bestseller; it has been translated into 24 languages, was shortlisted for Debut…
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Andrew Biswell
Professor of Modern Literature
"Reading is at the heart of our culture, but we can never do enough of it. Aim to read as widely as you can and make notes about what you read. The Italian…
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Malika Booker
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry)
Malika Booker is an award-winning poet, theatre-maker and multi-disciplinary artists, and an experienced writing competition judge. She is the founder of the Malika's…
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Sarah Butler
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
Sarah Butler has two novels published by Picador in the UK and with fourteen international publishers: Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love and Before The Fire.…
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Ellie Byrne
Senior Lecturer in English (Writing for Children)
"Read as widely as possible, across all genres from all over the world. I ask students to question everything about the world and about themselves. I work to…
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David Cooper
Senior Lecturer in English (Place Writing)
Before doctoral study, I spent several years working in the arts development sector: first as Arts Officer at the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere; and then as Literature…
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James Draper
Manager of the Manchester Writing School
I am the Manager of the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Met. Working closely with the Academic and Creative Directors, I have responsibility for…
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Nikolai Duffy
Senior Lecturer in American Literature (Poetry)
"Whatever you read or do, remember it’s ok to get lost; it’s difficult to discover things if we’re not prepared to lose ourselves sometimes.…
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Paul Evans
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Place Writing)
Best known as the author of the Guardian’s Country Diary, Paul Evans is a naturalist, broadcaster of natural-history documentaries and award-winning…
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Iris Feindt
Graduate Teaching Assistant
"Learn because you want to learn. Read because you want to read. And write because you want to write. Try different cheeses. My teaching style is wild, inclusive…
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Graham Foster
Associate Lecturer (Fiction) and Visiting Research Fellow
I have been teaching at MMU since 2008 on courses such as Contemporary American Literature, 20th Century British Novel, Postwar to the Present, and History of Text…
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Rachel Genn
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction and Script)
Rachel Genn joined the Manchester Writing School as an Associate Lecturer (Fiction) in 2011 and was appointed Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction and Script) in…
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Chloe Germaine Buckley
Senior Lecturer in English (Writing for Children)
Chloe joins the Manchester Writing School teaching team in September 2017.
Contact: c.germaine.buckley@mmu.ac.uk
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Blanka Grzegorczyk
Lecturer in English (Writing for Children)
Blanka Grzegorczyk joins Manchester Met in August 2018.
Contact: b.grzegorczyk@mmu.ac.uk
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Oliver Harris
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
Oliver Harris writes the Nick Belsey series of crime novels. In 2016 he published a study of Greek myth and philosophy in the work of Jacques Lacan: Lacan's…
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Andrew Michael Hurley
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
Andrew Michael Hurley joined the Manchester Writing School as Lecturer (Fiction) in 2016. Photo credit: Johnny Bean.
Contact: a.hurley@mmu.ac.uk
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Martin Kratz
Poetry Projects Manager
I was awarded a PhD on the poetics of touch in the poetry of Michael Symmons Roberts in 2016. My MA is in Creative Writing (Poetry) and I won an AHRC-funded…
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Rachel Lichtenstein
Reader in Place Writing
"Place Writing is an active, dynamic process that involves a deep interaction with people and environments. Get walking - immerse yourself in your subject by…
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Jennifer Makumbi
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a Ugandan novelist and short story writer. Between 2010-2016 she was an associate lecturer at Lancaster University. Her first novel,…
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Anjum Malik
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Script and Poetry)
Anjum Malik has written extensively for screen, stage and radio. She was a Visiting Teaching Fellow at the Manchester Writing School for several years…
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Alistair McDowall
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Script)
Alistair McDowall joins the Manchester Writing School in January 2019.
Contact: writingschool@mmu.ac.uk
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Andrew McMillan
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry)
"Why do I teach? Because I love it! It's vital for any writer to stay in touch with a new generation of readers and writers, and to be constantly engaged…
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Helen Mort FRSL
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry)
Helen Mort joined the Manchester Writing School as Lecturer in Creative Writing in September 2016.
Contact: h.mort@mmu.ac.uk
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Gregory Norminton
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
"My advice for any creative writer is simple: read. Read all you can, whenever you have a moment. This is happy advice – it means you are ‘working’…
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Adam O’Riordan
Reader in Contemporary Poetry & Fiction
I am the author of two collections of poems In the Flesh and A Herring Famine and a collection of short stories The Burning Ground. I edited…
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Michael Symmons Roberts FRSL
Professor of Poetry
"Any good writer is a good reader first. There’s no substitute for being steeped in the great work of the past, and reading the work of your contemporaries.…
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Monique Roffey
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
"I think it's vital that emerging writers spend a period of time as an apprentice, learning their craft. Do the best you can. Tackle difficult subjects,…
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Nicholas Royle
Reader in Creative Writing (Fiction)
"Every year among the new intake of MFA/MA novel-writing students, I find a selection of writers who are so talented that it is inspiring and exhilarating to…
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Karen Solie
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry)
Karen Solie joins the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Met in September 2019.
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Jean Sprackland
Professor of Creative Writing
"Anyone interested in studying creative writing needs to read. It’s not just about reading for pleasure, but reading as a writer. You must develop a curiosity…
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Simon Stephens
Professor of Scriptwriting
"Manchester Metropolitan is a university of infectious intellectual breadth and energy. The potential for collaborative work with some of the leading teachers…
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Joe Stretch
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Fiction)
Joe Stretch is the author of three novels – Friction, Wildlife and The Adult. The Adult was nominated for the Portico Prize and received the Somerset Maugham…
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Becky Swain
Director of the Manchester Poetry Library
Becky Swain joins Manchester Metropolitan University as Director of the Manchester Poetry Library in August 2019. Contact: b.swain@mmu.ac.ukb.swain@mmu.ac.uk
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Kaye Tew
Director of the Manchester Children's Book Festival
"Having come into education quite late in my own career, I want to communicate my own passion for reading and creative writing and to tell young people that…
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Alex Wheatle MBE
Lecturer in Creative Writing (Writing for Children & Young Adults)
Alex Wheatle MBE joins Manchester Metropolitan University as a Lecturer in Creative Writing in January 2018, teaching on the Writing for Children and Young Adults…
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Julie Wilkinson
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Script)
After graduating from St. Anne's College, Oxford, I trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School under Nat Brenner, as an actor and director. I was an acting/writing…
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Lara Willams
Associate Lecturer (Fiction)
Lara Williams is a writer based in Manchester, England. Her writing has been featured in The Guardian, The Independent, Vice, the Times Literary Supplement,…
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Sherry Ashworth
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Sherry Ashworth was a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Manchester Writing School from 2006 until her retirement in 2012. She returned to the School…
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Ed Caesar
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Ed Caesar is an author and feature writer. As a journalist, he has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Outside, The Smithsonian…
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Mandy Coe
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Mandy Coe’s 2010 collection If You Could See Laughter was short-listed for a Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) Children’s Poetry Award.…
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Tim Cresswell
Visiting Professor of Place Writing
Tim Cresswell is a geographer and poet. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on themes of place and mobility including, most recently, Maxwell Street:…
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Amanda Dalton
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Amanda Dalton is a poet and playwright, working in theatre and radio. Her poetry is published by Bloodaxe. She lives in West Yorkshire and works part-time as Director…
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Steve Dearden
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Steve Dearden is the Director of the Writing Squad, the north of England’s development programme for writers aged 16-21 and beyond. Previously has been Director…
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Paul Dowswell
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Paul Dowswell is a British writer of non-fiction and fiction, writing mainly for children and young adults. He has written over 60 books, mostly with history as…
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Boris Dralyuk
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Boris Dralyuk is the Executive Editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books. He is a literary translator and holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from UCLA,…
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Guy Garvey
Visiting Professor
"I'm really looking forward to working with young songwriters at Manchester Metropolitan University. I've never had a conversation with another writer…
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Colin Harvey
Visiting Professor
I’m thrilled to be joining Manchester Met as a Visiting Professor. I’m Senior Narrative Designer with Sony VR and a writer working across different media,…
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Rachel Mann
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Rachel Mann is an Anglican priest, scholar and poet based in south Manchester. Between 2009 and 2017 she was poet-in-residence at Manchester Cathedral and helped…
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Shirley May
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Shirley May has performed predominately in the North West, nationally and internationally, appearing at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York and the Calabash writing…
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André Naffis-Sahely
Visiting Teaching Fellow
André Naffis-Sahely is a poet, critic and translator. He was born in Venice to Italian and Iranian parents, and grew up in Abu Dhabi. He has a BA in History…
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Ra Page
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Ra Page is the founder and CEO of Manchester-based publishing house, Comma Press. He has edited over 20 anthologies, including The City Life Book of Manchester Short…
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Stephen Raw
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Stephen Raw (born 1952, London) has lived in Manchester for the last 40-plus years having completed an MA at Manchester Metropolitan University when it was Manchester…
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David Shook
Visiting Teaching Fellow
David Shook is a poet, translator, publisher and filmmaker. He was raised in Mexico City and earned a BA at the University of Oklahoma and an MSt at Oxford University.…
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Hugh Stoddart
Visiting Teaching Fellow
Hugh Stoddart has written the screenplays for many successful films both for TV and cinema. He has adapted novels such as To the Lighthouse, We Think the World of…
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