26 Writers in Residence

Some organisations use Writers in Residence to share insights about their offices, people or location. That’s fine. Well done them! But we wanted to subvert the idea: to write instead about somewhere everyday, overlooked or unusual, and to let the writer find their own space.

And, in the best tradition of 26, our writers were given a randomly selected letter of the alphabet as a starting point. They chose a place that began with that letter and wrote about it. Somewhere that held a special interest for them, somewhere, perhaps, they loved or hated. The more specific the better. One shop would beat a high street. A high street would still be OK. But an entire town would be too big for this brief.

Once the writer had chosen their place, they needed to actually go there, not just look it up on Google or Wikipedia. And they were encouraged to go back two or three times.

We wanted them to team up with a photographer, designer or artist to create an image to go with the piece. They could also make sound recordings or just record a podcast and publish the transcript.

You can see the results here. One letter, one day at a time: poems, short stories, articles, reflections and songs. We hope you enjoy them and come back for more.


  • About the project
  • Home

Ey up, look aht, Rebecca’s abaht!

Address: Apperley Bridge, Bradford Words: Irene Lofthouse Audio & images: Tony O’Connell collaborator, photographer and audio…

Bandstand of broken dreams

Address: Bandstand, Canbury Gardens, Kingston-upon-Thames Words & Images: Andy Hayes It was that rare thing, a…

Curios and cast-offs

Address: Crisis, Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park Words: Emily Bate Images: Hannah Wood and Emily Bate The ordinary…

Drinking Fountain, Desborough Park, Maidenhead

Address: Drinking Fountain, Desborough Park, Maidenhead Words & image: Caroline Hopper Walker 1: Oh that’s good, look at…

East Belfast Mission With A Rosary In My Pocket

Address: EBM, Skainos Centre, Newtownards Rd, Belfast Words:  Therese Kieran Image:  Sinead McNulty Mission. Go east,…

Fruteria La Charca

Address: Fruteria La Charca Words: Samm Short Deep in the cold stores, Pedro plucks a bunch of…

In defence of a ‘Gormless Northerner’

Words & images: Louise Steggals “Alright George” Everytime I walk past him, a nod and a…

Hole in the wall

Address: Westow Street, London SE19. Words: Wendy Jones Images: Raymond Sacks Each day he walked past the…

Instant interiors, initiation II

Address: IKEA Reading, Reopening, 20 October 2016 Words: Sabine Harnau Music: Holger Schueler The flags wave in yellow…

Julius’s Room

Address: Antrim Road, London Words: Claire Bodanis Design/illustrations: Michael Hirschl Production: WebPublication…

Koutoubia Mosque

Words: Maria de Dozsa Image: Patrick Rafferty 5.30am. Through the darkness a gentle hum reverberates around…

Lonely Strings

Address: The Lanes, Brighton Words: Tara Scammell Images: Tara Scammell & Samm Short Musician:  Sandy Bennet – he was both…

Moulin Rouge

Address: Moulin Rouge, Nottingham Words: Bert Preece, Richard Rudkin (link to original review) Design: Alex Walker My…

Nature Trail

Address: Radstock Branch Line (disused) Words & Images: Jess Swales  Runkeeper. Your activity has started. Today…

Olwen’s Room

Address: Olwen’s room, Treoes, Vale of Glamorgan Words: Clê Morse-Privett Photography/image: Anonymous Olwen sits in her…

Posting for beginners

Address: Pearse Street Library, Dublin City Library and Archives, Dublin 2 Words: Henrietta McKervey Illustration: Denise…

Queen Street

Address: Queen Street, Arundel, West Sussex Words: Rebecca Dowman Images: Alex Zeman “Hear ye, hear ye! Today…

Even as the river and the sea are one

Address: Rye Harbour Nature Reserve Words & Images: Neil Baker Mid-tide. March 9. Mid tide and…

The Steepness of the Brae

Address:  Shepherd’s Brae, Newport-on-Tay, Fife – shortcut between Shepherd’s Road and the main West Road Words: …

Thomas Beach’s Grave

Address: Thomas Beach’s Grave, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh Words & Images: Mary Paulson-Ellis Your name is here, but you are…

Perspectives

Address: United Reformed Church, Buckingham Words & Image: Lisa Allen She pauses as she draws back…

The Volunteer

Address: The Volunteer Inn, Broad Street, Lyme Regis Dorset Words: Sophie Olszowski Images: Jules Critchinson I’ve…

Waiting Games

Address: The Waiting Room, Meadowbank, Auckland, New Zealand Words & Images: Paul White People There’s bad blood…

Xystus

Address: Xystus, Greenwich Park, London Words: Hester Thomas Illustrations: Sanjukta Sen There’s nothing I don’t know about…

This is not Yattendon

Address: (Not) Yattendon. Dehesa de la Serna Avila, Spain. Words & Music: Nick Parker 1. We arrive…

Zone of Unwritten

Address: unnamed area of land between the Lammerlaws,  train station,  docks, industrial site and sailing club…

  • About the project
  • Home