University of Bolton Library: English and Creative Writing: Useful websites

Useful Websites

As well as academic resources, you may also find the following suggested websites useful. If you are unsure of what makes a good a website, and whether or not a website should be used as a source for an assignment, the Using the Internet for Research section of LEAP Online will be useful.

Bartleby Library - Books On-line Contains full texts to a range of literature including the work of Shelley and Wordsworth. This is not an exhaustive list, but may be useful for background reading.
Celebration of Women Writers Website containing bibliographic material, analysis and commentary on female writers. The site can be searched alphabetically by author or by country of origin.
Classic Literature Contains the full texts to a range of Classics such as Frankenstein and Great Expectations. This is not an exhaustive list, but may be useful for certain authors and texts.
Complete Works of William Shakespeare Contains full texts of plays and poetry, as well as links to other resources on Shakespeare on the Internet.
First World War Poetry Digital Archive An online repository of over 7,000 items of text, images, audio and video for teaching, learning and research.
Jane Austen Manuscripts Online Digital editions of Jane Austen's manuscripts.
The Online Books Page Listing over three million freely accessible books online
Poetry Archive Archive of over 5,000 poems.
Writers Guild of Great Britain The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) is a trade union representing professional writers in TV, film, theatre, radio, books, comedy, poetry, animation and videogames. Our members also include emerging and aspiring writers.
The Poetry Society The Poetry Society was founded in 1909 to promote “a more general recognition and appreciation of poetry”. Today it has more than 5,000 members worldwide and publishes The Poetry Review.
Young Poets Network Young Poets Network is The Poetry Society’s online platform for young poets up to the age of 25. Here you’ll find features about poets and poetry, challenges and competitions to inspire your own writing, new writing from young poets, and advice and guidance from the rising and established stars of the poetry scene.

Creative Writing Projects at the University of Bolton

Victorian Bolton Celebrating Bolton's Victorian Literary Legacies. Conducted by staff and students in the English Department at the University of Bolton, this project uncovers a range of literary and historical artefacts from Bolton in the nineteenth century.
Writing Bolton Writing Bolton is a digital literature project run by Word Life in collaboration with the University of Bolton. It is a literature map of Bolton. Explore the different categories and markers to watch performances from local poets, find out about local organisations and explore literary references to Bolton locations.

Local Organisations for Writers

Live From Worktown Live From Worktown highlights a range of cultural activities in the town, including art, literature and performance.
Natter Bolton's monthly open mic night for local creatives.
Northern Authors Celebrating authors, books, illustrators and bookshops of Northern England. Organisers of National Northern Authors Day on July 1st.
The Northern Fiction Alliance The Northern Fiction Alliance is a radical publishing collective devised to showcase the creativity, diversity and spirit of risk-taking that sets publishers in the North of England apart.
Northern Poets Society Monthly online readings from Northern-based poets
Northern Writers' Studio The Northern Writers' Studio brings writers together through workshops, groups, networking and events.
Networds Networds publishes fiction and poetry from writers based in Bolton and the North West.

Theatres and Libraries

Bolton Little Theatre Bolton's award winning amateur theatre which offers a programme of seven plays each year.
Bolton Octagon The Octagon Theatre is situated in the heart of Bolton and believes in reaching out to all of the communities that surround us and are striving to bring wonderful theatrical experiences to the people of Bolton and beyond. It was the first theatre to be built in the North West since World War One, opening in 1967 with seats for between 300-390.
Manchester Poetry Library The core collection of Manchester Poetry Library consists of late 19th, 20th and 21st century poetry in English from around the world.
The Portico Library The Portico is a subscription library and newsroom in Manchester whose historic collection of over 25,000 books and archives spans over 450 years. The Portico offers exhibitions and events and organises two awards, the Portico Prize and the The Portico Sadie Massey Awards.

Northern Publishers and Agencies

And Other Stories Sheffield-based publisher specialising in contemporary writing, including many translations. Offers a subscription option for new fiction.
Carcanet Press Manchester-based Carcanet publishes modern and classic poetry in English and in translation, as well as a range of inventive fiction, Lives and Letters and literary criticism.
Comma Press Manchester-based not-for-profit publisher and development agency specialising in short fiction from the UK and beyond.
Dead Ink Books Dead Ink is a small, ambitious and experimental literary publisher based in Liverpool.
HarperNorth HarperNorth, newly established in 2020, is aims to connect writers to readers, to find, nurture and grow the best voices from across the region and bring the most compelling stories to readers everywhere.
The Liverpool Literary Agency A literary agency representing northern writers
The North Literary Agency Northumberland-based literary agency

For more northern publishers see this blog post from Writing Tips Oasis.

Writers and Poets linked to the University of Bolton

Other Northern-Based Writers

Matt Cain Matt Cain was born in Bury and brought up in Bolton. Author of "Madonna of Bolton" and "The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle"
Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is author of several books including "Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North".
Yvonne Battle-Felton Yvonne is an American writer living in the UK. A writer of fiction and Creative Nonfiction, her writing has been published in literary journals and anthologies. Remembered was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Winner of a Northern Writers’ Award in fiction (2017), Yvonne was shortlisted for the Words and Women Competition (2017), the Sunderland University Waterstones SunStory Award in 2018, and awarded a Society of Author’s Foundation Grant for Remembered in 2018. Yvonne has a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and is Lecturer in Creative Writing and Creative Industries at Sheffield Hallam University.
Adele Stripe Adele Stripe's writing is rooted in the non-fiction novel form and explores working-class culture, untold histories of Northern England, popular music, and small-town life.

Northern Writers' Awards The Northern Writers’ Awards supports work-in-progress by new, emerging and established writers across the North of England.
The Portico Prize The biennial Portico Prize promotes Northern writing and publishing.
The Writers' Guild Awards This awards from the Writers' Guild recognises writing across a range of categories including film, television, radio, theatre, comedy, books and videogames.

Podcasts

Portico Podcast log featuring and image of a winding river The Portico Podcast's Rewriting the North series explores place and writing in the North West of England through the writing of five authors.

Featured Literary Podcasts

Books and Authors Radio 4's literary podcast
The Penguin Podcast Fortnightly interview series in which authors explore their literary lives through some of the objects that have inspired their work.

The LEAP Online section Using the Internet for Research, has lots of tips for getting the best out of using the internet and avoiding the common pitfalls.

The University of Bolton Library

English and Creative Writing