THE MANCHESTER ANTHOLOGY is an annual anthology that showcases the works of emerging authors from the Centre for New Writing, a collection of writers who have just completed their Master's degree in Creative Writing at The University of Manchester, launching new voices into the literary landscape and honouring their creative talents.
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The work of The Manchester Anthology is monumental in recognising emerging voices in literature, launching writers into recognition. Previous volumes of the anthology have featured contributions from students who have gone on to become established authors and win a variety of awards.
Alyas Conran, published in the 2017 edition, was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize for her debut novel Pigeon. In the same year, Beth Underdown, this year's foreworder, became a bestseller for her debut novel The Witchfinder's Sister. Furthermore, Jessica Moore was also shortlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize for her debut novel Keeper, as well as being named one of the 10 best debut novelists in the 2020 Observer Review.
The 2023 volume has a foreword by the HWA Goldsboro Crown Debut Award Winner Beth Underdown.
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, plays and screenplays. They help students to read as a writer reads, offer seminars on form and theory, and on contemporary publishing. Their teaching staff includes established, award-winning writers such as Jeanette Winterson, Horatio Clare, Vona Groarke, Kamila Shamsie, John McAuliffe, and Kaye Mitchell.
Professor John McAuliffe, Co-Director of the Centre for New Writing, said: “The Manchester Anthology is a fantastic student-led project that showcases the depth and diversity of literary talent coming out of the city.
“It means that every writer graduates from the Centre for New Writing as a published author, with an in-depth understanding of how publishing works. This brilliantly varied anthology showcases recent graduates of the Centre for New Writing, each of them working out – in fiction, memoir and poems – questions about difference and belonging, about the body and about ideas, about joy and shame and the sometimes comic, sometimes excruciating ways in which we humans discover who we are.
“Over more than a decade, the anthology has established itself as an important outlet for exciting new Northern talent and helps put our young authors on the radar of agents and publishers. Not only that, it helps inspire the next generation of writing talent to come and learn their craft in our great city.”
The students are given a budget and have full creative control over everything from editing submissions to the design of the cover and the type of paper used, to give them insight into how a book is made and to gain vital responsibility and experience within the publishing and editing industries of today.
Th 2023 Art Edition
The 2023 edition features the art of Nicky Thompson.
Nicky Thompson is a Sheffield-born MA Art graduate from Liverpool School of Art. Working as a fine artist since 1994, Thompson has owned the Lemondrop Creative design studio.
Thompson told The Anthology that he wanted 'a vibrant and disruptive colour way alongside a more traditional typographic treatment.' Thompson particuarly focused on the semiology and interpretations of design and stated he wanted 'the reader to draw their own conclusions' about the connections between this year's art and the writing inside it...
You can visit Nicky Thompson's website below to view all of his artwork and buy available small prints.