THE MANCHESTER ANTHOLOGY is an annual publication from the Centre for New Writing, showcasing the work of graduates from the MA Creative Writing programme. Featuring short stories, poetry, non-fiction and novel extracts.
The Manchester Anthology highlights emerging voices in literature. Entries include novel extracts, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Previous contributors have gone on to become successful writers, such as Beth Underdown, Alys Conran, Joe Carrick-Varty, Thomas D. Lee, Jessica Moor and Nat Ogle.
On Volume Sixteen, Professor Gareth Gavin said:
'The writing exhibited in this Anthology is brilliantly polished, but every piece is also testament to the development of its writer’s process.
There are so many ideas here – a keepsake box containing only ‘dangerous things’; a potentially inauspicious haircut in a salon in a side alley, the walls ‘covered in posters of Hong Kong celebrities from the 90s’; ‘plants seeding / themselves silly’ watched over by ‘parkless kids’ – and there are certainly more where those ones came from."
The 2026 anthology launches on 19th October, and can be bought from Blackwells at University of Manchester. Alternatively, read the PDF after launch for free by following the links above.
About The Centre for New Writing
Championing contemporary fiction, poetry and creative writing since 2007, the Centre for New Writing at The University of Manchester teaches people how to write novels, short stories, poems, and creative non-fiction. Tutors also help students to read how a writer should read, offering seminars on form, theory, and contemporary publishing. Their teaching staff includes established, award-winning writers such as Jeanette Winterson, Jason Allen-Paisant, Horatio Clare, John McAuliffe, Luke Brown, and Kaye Mitchell.