Aged 11-17? Send me your poems by 31 July in the #FoyleYoungPoets of the Year Award! I’m judging this year’s competition with 🦻🏽Raymond Antrobus and can’t wait to read your writing. Help us spread the word and enter now: foyleyoungpoets.org

The Costa Short Story Award is open for entries until 1st August. Submit up to 4,000 words for a chance to win £3,000. It's free to take part. costa.co.uk/costa-book-awa… @CostaBookAwards #writingprize #writing #shortstories

REMINDER: We’re still looking for #submissions from creative people of colour from, or currently based in, the North West of England! ‼️ DEADLINE: Tuesday 1 October Please RT 🙏🏾

Join us for an evening of readings from the poetry and prose of Tania Hershman and Rosie Garland, two acclaimed Manchester-based writers who are currently working in the Gothic mode - in conversation with our Professor Dale Townshend eventbrite.com/e/writing-manc…

Good morning lovely people! My grand finale reading at John Rylands Research Institute and Library Library is on October 17th and tickets have JUST gone up! It's free, but you need to book. The last event filled up in a heartbeat - GET IN. eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-w…

New on our blog: a fantastic poem by Fahad Al-Amoudi of The Writing Squad, commissioned for our #LetTheArtistsIn event Newcastle Castle. Read it here! firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/a-b…

They tore down my auntie’s building, kicked out her great grandchildren, stone by stone this terradome had never known such growing pains Fahad Al-Amoudi's moving poem inspired by Newcastle Castle's history firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/a-b… The Writing Squad Arts Council England, North #ACEsupported

In case you missed it: Last week we published a beautiful new poem by Fahad Al-Amoudi, commissioned for our event Newcastle Castle and inspired by the building's bloody history. Read it here: firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/a-b…

Gullivers Haunt Manchester halloweenMCR Joining us on Monday 7th October at Gullivers is ABI HYNES @AbiFaro, drama & fiction writer extraordinaire! A Channel 4 Screenwriting 2018 grad, Abi’s short fiction has been published widely, & she is one of the masterminds behind First Draft. Tix: fatso.ma/Nmbd

JUST PUBLISHED: Three new poems by @r_awolola, originally commissioned for and performed at our #FlyingDonkeys event Newcastle Castle. Read them here: firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/the…

In case you missed it - last week we published 3 poems by @r_awolola that mix the history of Newcastle Castle with contemporary politics. You can read them for free here! firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/the… #poetry #spokenword #newcastlecastle #LetTheArtistsIn

"Death is a next-door neighbour Who visits far more often than grief." Read 3 new poems by the brilliant @r_awolola, inspired by the history of Newcastle Castle firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/the… #LetTheArtistsIn Arts Council England, North

#poets + #museums = magic Today we have come together to launch the zine publication #LetTheArtistsIn Poets In Residence Merrie Joy Williams, Lydia Hounat & Roma Havers inspired by @MMUSpecial Manchester Metropolitan Uni supported by Arts Council England The Writing Squad & First Draft

Great to hear @lymhlymh sharing her new weave written out of her First Draft residency @MMUSpecial and Manchester Writing School this summer. Here she reflects on her experience in a photo-essay. www2.mmu.ac.uk/poetrylibrary/…

Nov. 21 I'll be in Manchester reading from Remembered and enjoying a potluck supper. The meal celebrates #community #Sharing. I hope you join me and bring a dish to share at this free event. facebook.com/events/4371195… @joannuski The Real Story Comma Press🍉 #CeasefireNow Commonword Verbose Manchester

Next up from our anthology contributors is Abi Hynes (@AbiFaro) with "Rosie", in which a close encounter between the human and the animal finds a dark, inchoate, primal kinship between them: ThisIsSplice.co.uk/2019/07/24/ros…. The whole piece is available on our website.

💙💛💖Happy publication day to The Craft and the 24 poets who contributed essays & editor Rishi Dastidar 🔱🌊 - so proud of this awesome writer’s handbook! The perfect desk companion, packed full of ideas on making & shaping poetry today. Order here: ninearchespress.com/shop.html#!/Po…

Hey hey #spokenword friends. My spoken word night Big Words, what I run with that playwright fella Ali McDowall, is BACK on the 28th November. Fancy 5-7 on our invisible microphone inside @vinyl_fiction? Gimme a shout. instagram.com/bigwordsmcr/

I've got a great workshop lined up for LITmacc, and it's only a 20-minute train ride from Manchester Piccadilly. Pep up your performance — aimed at short story writers, but perfectly suitable for poets and novelists too. litmacc.org/post_type_even…