City Poet: Charlotte Shevchenko Knight

Manchester City of Literature project

Charlotte Shevchenko Knight is a poet of both British and Ukrainian heritage. Her debut collection Food for the Dead, published by Jonathan Cape in 2024, was a winner of an Eric Gregory Award (2023) and the Laurel Prize for Best First Collection UK (2024).

Charlotte was a Manchester City Poet for 2025, and created the following works:

‘The Journal Entry’
Commissioned for Manchester Literature Festival 2025 (English.)

‘SPEECH ACT: a river in eight culverts’
Commissioned as part of ‘REAL CONTENTMENT,’ a 2025 project with Nanjing City of Literature, funded by the British Council.

‘An Immigrant Gardener’s Manc A to Z’ by Nóra Blascsók
Ukrainian Translation.

Readings at Manchester Literature Festival 2025: Multilingual City Poets 2025
An evening of poetry with Charlotte Shevchenko Knight and Nóra Blascsók, debuting new commissions exploring themes of Welcome and Sanctuary.

‘We should be friends forever’: Odesa x Manchester Poetry Exchange Project
A poetry exchange project between primary school children in Odesa and Manchester.

‘The Lightest of All Luggage’ A Multilingual City Poets Anthology
Commissioned by Manchester City of Literature. Writer of ‘SPEECH ACT: a river in eight culverts’, along with a translation of ‘LIGHT ECHO’ by Nóra Blascsók.