Cathy Bolton was a writing development worker at Commonword for many years, when she ran the Womanswrite workshop and was instrumental in establishing Commonword as a linchpin of north west writing. She secured an MA in Writing from Sheffield Hallam, her poems and short fiction have appeared in a number of literary magazines and anthologies. She got her first publishing break in the Crocus Book anthology She Says and went on to co-edit a number of other collections for Crocus Books including Bitch Lit. She went on to become the Co-director of Manchester Literature Festival and continues to make an impact on Manchester’s literary scene.