Creative Manchester

Director of Creative Manchester, John McAuliffe will take part in an evening of poetry and music with Manchester Collective String Quartet, as part of the Didsbury Arts Festival on Thursday 2 July 2026.

Centre for New Writing

Manchester Collective X John McAuliffe - Inner Voices Shape-shifting ensemble with a mix of cutting-edge contemporary music and classical masterpieces, staged nationally and internationally.

NEW EVENT: Research Café: Housing with care and creativity with older LGBTQ people

Location: Kanaris Theatre, Manchester Museum
Date: Tuesday 7 July, 2-4pm

Join us for research findings, creative outputs and more from this interdisciplinary pilot research project exploring the experiences, needs, and aspirations of older LGBTQ people.

Over the past 10 months, the researchers have observed the process of co-designing Kindred House, an extra-care housing scheme developed through a collaboration between a community steering group of older LGBTQ people and local residents, Manchester City Council, Great Places Housing Group, and the LGBT Foundation.

Image credit: Len Grant

https://ow.ly/86F350ZaoWo

🎉 Universally Manchester Festival returns on Saturday 13 June 2026.

Join the Linguistic Diversity Collective for their three incredibly exciting activities including a stall on the Uyghur Language, a blackout poetry workshop and a languages trail at Manchester Museum.

📍 The University of Manchester, Oxford Road
🕚 11am – 4:30pm
🗓️ Saturday 13 June

Find out more: https://universallymanchester.com/

A new banner for Rochdale – Unity Is Strength 🏳️

Ruth Flanagan, artist, Cartwheel Arts You Live and You Learn Coordinator and Community Innovation Practitioner through Creative Manchester, has developed Unity Is Strength.

Unity Is Strength demonstrates how a community arts project can place the participants as ‘owners’ and build a space for reflection and conversation. A series of workshops brought together women from the town’s diverse communities, including women who have experienced forced migration, to create an embroidered banner.

The Community Innovation Practitioner (CIP) Awards, are part of the Creative Communities programme and funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council - AHRC.

👉 https://ow.ly/N6Y750Z9Ony

Happy week!

We are delighted to be hosting a range of events around Manchester in collaboration with Manchester City of Literature to celebrate.

📍Chorlton Library (9 June), Old Trafford Library (10 June), Z-arts (11 June) and Cheadle Library (11 June)

See the full details of our events here - https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/festival-of-libraries-2026-programme-announced/

We’re delighted to announce that Prof John McAuliffe, Director of Creative Manchester, recently visited Japan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tokyo University of the Arts and The National Center for Art Research, Japan.

As part of this MoU, the three partners, will work collaboratively with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) GM Place Partnership, to strengthen international research collaborations, knowledge exchange and learnings focused on creative health and social prescribing.

💡https://ow.ly/UsNW50Z8NB2

❓ What is Jamaican Patois/Patwah? How much variation is there between different regions of Jamaica and /or across generations, and why? How are younger generations learning, adapting, and using the language in Manchester and beyond?

️🖊 Come join Dawn Edge, Serge Sagna from Linguistic Diversity Collective and Creative Manchester at this dynamic event for that aims to engage all generations of people of Jamaican descent living in Manchester and members of the wider public who would like to learn more about Jamaican Patwa / Patois. We will explore the meanings, uses, origins, and evolution of Jamaican Patwa.

🧑‍🎓 Come ready to share, learn, and laaf till yuh glad bag buss!

📆 Wednesday 10 June, 5:30 – 7pm, Old Trafford Library

🎟️ Book your tickets here - https://www.manchestercityofliterature.com/event/jamaican-patois-patwah-creole-on-the-map/

🖊️ Writing for Wellbeing: Join Centre for New Writing poets at the Manchester City of Literature to learn how creative writing can positively impact your wellbeing. These workshops have limited places and booking (free) is required.

📍Chorlton Library (9 June) and Cheadle Library (11 June)

Book: https://ow.ly/GOQF50Z4kR7