At a university where 45,000 students cross paths every day, it should be impossible to feel lonely

Harry Sharples’ poem “Golden Mummies of Egypt”, takes inspiration from the halls of Manchester Museum, offering a fresh perspective on the fate of an ancient woman.

Poet Reece Williams shares his experience of finding his way into the arts from being a Moss Side teenager to making his theatre debut at Home

A celebration of the beloved work of the masterly Nobel Prize winner and poet Louise Glück following her recent passing

After relocating to Manchester’s Contract Theatre, the Mancunion attends the prestigious Forward Prizes for a night of awe and bereavement

Cocktails and Cinquains returned for a second event at Contact, following its debut at Keisha Thompson’s welcome party

Conrad Pope reviews the excellent new LP from South London spoken-word artist Kae Tempest.

Sarah Taylor reviews an enchanting set from Freya Beer, who interweaves poetry with glam-rock instrumentals making for a captivating show.

Hannah Wellock talks to Shyemah El-Azzabi, UoM’s very own BookTokker about her BookTok

Alex Bikard reviews Mandla Rae’s As British as a Watermelon at Contact Theatre

Hailed as a “raw and thrilling new talent”, Freya Beer mixes poetic lyrics inspired by Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski. With a distinct gothic sound influenced by Nick Cave and the films of David Lynch. With a string of stellar singles under her belt already, music critic John Hobbs predicts a Mercury Prize for Freya. […]

Thomas Moore and Ellen Conlan Ellis’ new collaborative series for The Mancunion explores Roman mythology in a brand new way

The Fire of Joy is the final book by Clive James. It’s a beautiful exploration of the history of poetry

Aileen Loftus chats with John from 21 to find out more about the literary magazine and the process of translation

One of Manchester’s finest young poets, Tom Branfoot, explores the liminal sense of darkness in new poem ‘Nocturnal’

In our final piece of lockdown writing, Lucy Johnson’s poem is a poignant piece about distance during the pandemic

Heidy Lo has been writing for five years, and her latest piece ‘Closure’ is available to read here

New to Manchester, Erasmus student Dana Kenzhekeyeva describes her experience of lockdown in two new poems

In an analysis of the relationship we have with our technology, Zoe Bracegirdle writes a love poem to her Alexa

Bea Bacon kicks off the creative submissions section with a reminiscing poem longing for the library lost