Timeline

Lifetimes, the biographies of thirteen working class people from Manchester is published. It comes from a project set up by journalist-turned-community development worker Greg Wilkinson to encourage people to tell their own stories.

Women-only writer groups Mum’s the Word and Home Truths are set up by Commonword workers to widen writer participation. Commonword publishes Marshall’s Big Score, centred on an interracial relationship between two men in the north west of England.

After taking up a marketing role at Commonword, Mike Narayansingh sets up the Moss Side People’s Writing Group to encourage writing from people in Moss Side. It takes place at the Greenheys Centre (now the Greenheys Adult Learning Centre) on Upper Lloyd Street, Manchester.

Identity, a weekly writing workshop for Black and Asian writers is set up at Commonword through its Cultureword programme and publishes its first anthology, Black and Priceless. Commonword also publishes She Says through its new imprint, Crocus Books. It features the work of five contemporary women poets from the north west of England.

Commonword holds a series of poetry slams, some in conjunction with Manchester Poetry Festival supporting writers such as Dike Omeje, Rosie Garland, Marvin Cheeseman and Zahid Hussain whilst publishing poetry collections by Mandy Precious, Pam Leeson and Healing Strategies for Women at War, a collection of poetry by five black and Asian women.