The Listening Programme is well underway!

We wanted to understand the journey of making emerging work and surviving on the fringes - where are the support and platforming opportunities found? How are artists growing their practice post-pandemic? We’ve had our listeners write blog posts about what they discovered. Find out more here!

Read our first Listener blog post of 2026!

→LISTENING PROGRAMME
SPACES TO BE PRESERVED - POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD SCENE IN MANCHESTER
Summer Listening 2026
Rose Condo, Poetry and Spoken Word
SPACES TO BE PRESERVED - POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD SCENE IN MANCHESTER
Summer Listening 2026
Rose Condo, Poetry and Spoken Word

“…I attempted to quantify the current scene in Manchester by making a list of regular nights, and I stopped at around thirty. That’s over two dozen regular poetry events in the Greater Manchester area. By the time I have finished writing this piece, another few will probably have started!…”

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Summer Listening 2026
Rose Condo, Poetry and Spoken Word
Another listening trip occurred at Moss Side Together Festival last weekend - "The Manchester creative scene is a bit of a spider web of those with deep roots to the city, whether familial or professional ties. The Council's 'Pride in Place' in
Our Listening Programme is officially back for 2026 with 'Spaces to be Preserved' by @rosecondo! Rose has been attending many old and new open mic poetry spaces across June! In case you didn't know, our Listeners have been getting out and about acro
Our Listener went to Torso by Maddie Maycock @crocsportfolio presented by @dividedcultureco at @seesawspace and was thinking about: "Ive seen exhibitions and performances at SeeSaw, its such a good canvas to create against. The room consists of
Our Listener attended Pull Up Speak and Sing @pullupbarcafe and was thinking about: "Poetry was literally pulling people in off the street. The cafe’s performance space was set up by the wide-open front doors, and the voices on the mic ca
We did some Listening at @other_peoplespoetry hosted at @seesawspace this week. "Each poet sharing 4 poems by others and 1 of their own. A range of experience in the room, though one poet said they hadn’t read their work out loud in over
A Listener popped along to the performance of Clothes Swap last week @watersidearts_ "There is a real sense that rawness is needed in telling queer stories. That the dingy places we meet and the lack of glamour in actually curating community a
A summer of listening has begun with a trip to @weinventedtheweekend "Events like this cultivate a sense of humanness that is never visible in colder weather. The word 'gallivanting' was designed for situations like these. I learnt fingerspell
ANNOUNCING OUR FABULOUS SUMMER 2026 LISTENERS We'll be sending this new cohort out to discover new events, locations and artists across Manchester. Looking to understand how the different scenes are growing, the artist journeys, who the audiences ar