People

Our survey of writers in the city encompassed multiple forms of writing, from poets and novelists to theatre and screenwriters. We sought to explore what the skills and professional development needs are for the sector, and what the networks and pathways into industry and production look like from the perspective of writers.  

Writers surveyed were at all levels of experience, from emerging writers to experienced professionals. With so many universities now producing graduates in creative writing in the city there is a section of this demographic that require higher-level skills and professional development linked to industry access.  

However, not every writer will attend or needs to attend a university, and other routes into writing via local workshops and courses are also important to uphold access and diversify who gets to write. Also, not every new writer is a young writer, and writers of different ages also have similar needs.  

“The scene is very lacking in opportunities, especially for those on a low income.’ Writer  

Writers  

Writers in Leeds describe a scene that is operating in often vibrant and flourishing individual hubs but lacking in overall direction and leadership. Writing activity is taking place in the city through workshops, readings, spoken-word nights, festivals, and peer- group meetings, but these are often disparate and disconnected.  

These activities tend to be generated by the enthusiasm, creativity and energy of the individuals, small organisations and groups who run them. They can therefore rely on personal commitment and shoe-string budgets, making them challenging to sustain.  

There is considerable talent in the city amongst emerging writers and across multiple genres and art forms, but where writing development is taking place, it is often through informal mentoring, short-term projects and at events, rather than through structured, long-term developmental programmes.  

Experienced writers aren’t always being rewarded appropriately for the work they put in to developing emerging writers in the city. Several we spoke to were more likely to be employed by organisations in other parts of the country.  

Community workshops in libraries and other venues in the city allow people new to writing to gain valuable creative, personal and professional skills and a sense of validation. Where these workshops are taking place (such as through Peepal Tree Press or Leeds Library Service, they are impactful, with the potential to both introduce people to writing and encourage particularly talented people to take further steps towards a possible career in writing.  

In our interviews and surveys we saw how Leeds consists of small communities of writing rather than a single community. This can be considered a strength and understandable given the city’s diversity and size and represents its ability to encompass a range of different artistic approaches, backgrounds, and identities. However, these communities would benefit from better connections to each other, greater opportunities, and more efficient information sharing.  

There is evidence that writers in Leeds believe they are not valued as highly as they deserve to be, and that literature is not as visible as artforms such as theatre and music. We found that people aren’t always aware of where events are or what opportunities exist for development or funding – and several suggested that a regular email newsletter and a way of centralising how people find out about the city’s literature programming would be beneficial.  

A long-term commitment to writer development in the city coupled with investment in grass-roots development at community level would have the potential to enhance and diversify the writing scene, as well as properly reward the writers who are part of it.  

“There seem to be a range of very good independently run events and writers' circles, but these often seem very much removed from the world of mainstream publishing/production, making it hard for writers here to sustain themselves financially.” Writer  

There is a detachment from the writing industry, with very few writers reporting engagement with agents or publishers. This is in common with certain other parts of the North, where writers do not frequently have access to a largely London-based publishing industry. There is some evidence that this is beginning to change across the region, with large publishers like Hachette leading on opening regional offices and a thriving independent publishing scene in the North West. However, the lack of a mechanism in Leeds to broker links with the trade has led to a lack of opportunities. There is potential to develop models in the city that enhance writers’ awareness of the industry and connect industry professionals to the writing scene, fostering better communication and creating opportunities.  

“(Activity) seems to be very fragmented; little commercial encouragement; difficult to access.” Writer  

Organisations that work with writers echoed some of these points, in particular a lack of support for writers who are some way into their careers and who need more access to professional development and industry introductions.  

Another issue that was frequently mentioned is the need to prioritise and support access to new and diverse voices that would represent the demographic of Leeds and capture an authentic voice of the city.  

There have been effective writer development activities in parts of the city but there is a case to be made for a programme that works across Leeds and West Yorkshire to provide sustained long-term support, with points of entry and progression routes for writers at all career stages. There are already pockets of activity often run by volunteers, peer networks or on a shoestring, although these are usually aimed at early career writers.  

“I think there's a really brilliant and thriving poetry and spoken-word scene, and lots of support for people who want to access one-off writing workshops or to begin writing. But there's very little to support a writer with a publishing track record or any links with the mainstream publishing industry.” Organisation  

The issues of suitable and affordable space for literature activity, networking and information were also a priority for both writers and organisations. This was echoed in conversations with BookTrust’s CEO, Diane Gerald, who wondered, as an organisation looking at a period of recruitment and growth, where the start-up/growth spaces were for creative organisations were in the city?  

“There's a real lack of accessible space in the city centre which is affordable enough to host creative writing workshops or courses.” Organisation 

Based on the results of our questionnaire and interviews, writers would like to see more of the following:  

1. Commission and publication opportunities such as paid employment, Leeds- based writing competitions, Leeds-based literary journals, or a local council- funded small press.  

2. Funding opportunities and funding guidance.  

3. Creative skills development and mentoring programmes.  

4. Information about events and opportunities.  

5. Peer networks and structured opportunities for networking.  

6. Connectivity – particularly links between the universities and other writing organisations in the city.  

7. Access to industry and industry professionals.  

8. Support for underrepresented groups, such as by making events and activities more accessible, whether geographically (events being central or providing better public transport), or by ensuring that events do not have any financial barriers, or by making things accessible online for those who cannot attend in-person events. There was emphasis on the importance of ensuring a greater understanding of the challenges disadvantaged groups might face in the writing industry, and the importance of ensuring that the writing industry reflects the diversity of the city.  

9. Physical space in the city for writing, such as a literary arts centre that could host local and visiting writers to give readings and run masterclasses, a space to network and book space to write, a space to get advice on career development. Similar venues given as examples include the Burgess Foundation in Manchester, and the Bradford Producing Hub. 

10.  Events in the area, such as a regular literary night (with both bigger names and local emerging writers), open mics, community led writing groups. There was also mention of the importance of ensuring that local emerging writers are involved in major events, and existing events/festivals having a wider scope and being advertised more widely.

The grassroots and sometimes fragile nature of literature and writing activity in Leeds, and the difficulty of sustaining income or developing a ‘portfolio career’ in the sector, means that some people feel that there are “no role models or elder states people to learn from” as well as “no next generation coming up through the grassroots” to take over.  

We met more than one independent producer who had recently left or who planned to leave the sector as they could not see the pathway to either suitably sustaining and resourcing the activities they lead, or to building an organisation or job for themselves. This pattern of exhaustion, financial precarity and producer churn is not unusual in any city, but in Leeds talented and active people are falling out of the picture or giving up.  

There is a need to build capacity for existing producers and activists to develop skills. Access to finance and business planning would support them to be ambitious about what they could achieve, and potentially help them to sustain paid work as well as project activity. The ambition or potential of some activities is also thwarted by a lack of fundraising expertise to underpin and stabilise core activity, and a lack of ability to grow a business to the point where it can attract larger investment.  

Jack Simpson at Hyde Park Book Club, part of the team behind Leeds Lit Fest, talked about “re-framing Leeds talent” so that “young people from Leeds feel that Leeds is a city where literature makes things happen”. This would also help to attract people to the idea of jobs in the sector. He noted that, as the Leeds Lit Fest team looks to whether the organisation should become a co-operative structure or a CIC, “there are no elders to advise us” and nowhere obvious to look for this kind of business development support.  

Writer, talent programme manager and event promoter SJ Bradley proposed a collective approach to some of these issues: “Use an asset-based approach – draw the networks together and build up capacity in marketing, admin and support”. She also noted the possibility of supporting a wide array of activity with proper back-office support from one skilled body or person.  

The grassroots nature of much activity could be holding some back from developing broader stakeholders and funding? As Stephen May, Literature Relationship Manager at Arts Council England, notes when reflecting on the city: “A fierce protectiveness towards a DIY aesthetic and small-scale grassroots activities, is a distinctive feature of the Leeds literary ecology”. Our research found on the whole that although proud of what they had been able to achieve most producers and organisations would welcome broader access to finance and investment than they currently have.  

There will be a growing literature workforce in Leeds over the next ten years due to the development of BookTrust, the British Library and the National Poetry Centre, and these organisations will need to recruit talented staff with local knowledge. This is the opportunity for some collective thinking about how this could be achieved to meet the goals of an inclusive economy. The literature scene in Leeds will need leaders. The job of running arts organisations is complex and challenging, and future leaders will need to be nurtured.  

With writing underpinning the film and TV industry and a growing appetite for adaptations of novels, the impact of place-based writing is significant for both the economic benefits of production and the associated tourism and profile raising. West Yorkshire has already benefitted from the international profile of shows such as the BBC’s Gentleman Jack and Happy Valley, which have seen an influx of tourists interested in visiting the region.  

Generating great writing from the North often takes a wide structure of writing development and support, as Benjamin Myers’ novel The Gallows Pole demonstrates.  

Benjamin Myers is a highly acclaimed writer living in the Calder Valley. His work came to prominence with the support of a Northern Writers’ Award from New Writing North and publication by local independent press Bluemoose Books. He garnered major success with his historical novel, The Gallows Pole.  

Having moved to Mytholmroyd in 2009, Myers was inspired by the area’s scenic landscape and rich history. Published in 2017, The Gallows Pole draws on the real events of the Cragg Vale Coiners, a gang of forgers active in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire in the late 18th century. The novel was a bestseller in the UK and in Germany and was the first British book to be acquired by Third Man Books, the publishing arm of Jack White’s record label in the US.  

West Yorkshire is deeply embedded in The Gallows Pole, and this acute engagement with place has contributed to an influx of readers travelling to the area to immerse themselves in the landscape described in the book. The novel has inspired a walking trail, and Myers collaborated with local cartographer Christopher Goddard to create an illustrated map of The Cragg Vale Coiners’ Walk, interspersed with extracts from The Gallows Pole correlating to the real-life locations mentioned in the book.  

The Gallows Pole was adapted into a three-part BBC television series by filmmaker Shane Meadows. The series was filmed in Heptonstall, and broadcast in 2023. Myers’ 2019 novel The Offing, set on the North East coast, was adapted for both stage and radio serialisation, and the film adaptation goes into production in Whitby later this year. It stars Helena Bonham Carter.  

In 2022, Myers worked with New Writing North to introduce a new award: the Finchale Award for Short Fiction. By supporting this annual award, Myers has been able to give back to the community and recirculate the support he himself received from subsidised and independent literary organisations and publishers in the early stages of his career.  

“Winning a Northern Writers’ Award was the first crucial step in my writing career. I always vowed that if I were in a position to give back the £5,000 prize money via an annual competition, I would, and fortunately now with one of my novels being adapted for the screen, I can.” Benjamin Myers