Manchester City of Literature are inviting poets to apply for consideration to be a new Multilingual City Poet alongside our current City Poet Jeremy Pak Nelson.

The City Poets will work together across our partnership network, acting as an ambassador for Manchester’s residents, communities, and literature organisations. The City Poet roles carry a civic responsibility, much like conventional Poet Laureate designations, and the appointees will be commissioned to both produce and translate new writing, as well as contribute to the development of poetry in education and community settings through an engagement project of their choice.  

Commissioned work will respond to themes relevant to the poets via key dates and projects in the 2027 calendar year (e.g. past poems include Nóra Blascsók’s ‘Guernica Children’ for Manchester Literature Festival and ‘Let Wildflowers Bloom’ a collaborative poem written with Catalan poet Esteve Plantada, displayed at HOME Arches.) The poets will also translate each other’s writing into their mother tongue. Subject to funding, the post holder will also work on a collaborative project with Kahramanmaraş City of Literature in summer 2027.

Manchester has a rich literary tradition, as home to some exceptional and high-profile poets, a thriving poetry and spoken word scene, awarding-winning publishers and writing development agencies and libraries which place writing and community outreach at the heart of their work. This heritage is represented in Manchester’s designation as an UNESCO City of Literature in 2017.

The newly appointed City Poet will occupy the role for a period of one year (alongside Jeremy Pak Nelson). The City Poets will each be paid a total fee of £3,250 for a number of key deliverables that make up each City Poet position.

Full details, including eligibility criteria and how to apply, are outlined in the information back below.

Deadline for applications: Midnight, Sunday 29th November 2026.

Shortlisted applicants will be notified before the Christmas break, with interviews taking place in the New Year.

Should you have any questions, please direct them to hawwa.alam@manchestercityofliterature.com in the first instance.