We’re pleased to announce the appointment of our 2025 Writers In Residence.
This annual programme selects emerging underrepresented authors from past winners of the Creative Future Writers’ Award. It aims to engage new audiences, new writers and local people in non-traditional spaces and in new ways.
Since 2023, we have brought the residency to the writer, allowing them to explore their creative interests in their hometowns, communities and unique places. They also have full rein to decide the theme of their residency, what they will explore and how. Each writer has dedicated time to write, residencies in unusual/non-traditional spaces to interact with people and gain inspiration, and lead writing workshops for local people. They will also write a reflective blog and a new piece for the Writers’ Award anthology inspired by their residency.
Our 2025 Writers In Residence are:
Shazia Altaf
Shazia Altafis a writer from the North of England. She has worked in libraries, government, call centres, as a shop merchandiser, as well as other things. She won the 2021 Creative Future Writers’ Award Platinum Prize in fiction. She is currently editing her debut novel, which was shortlisted for the inaugural Primadonna Novel Prize in 2021, and her work was also listed for the 2021 Exeter Short Story Prize for ‘Lepidoptera’. Her short story ‘Selling Oil’ was published in the Bricklane New Writers Anthology 2022. Shazia has been awarded an Arts Council England Grant for her current work in progress, a historical fiction novel based on a Muslim woman of colour who worked undercover in France during WWII.
Shazia’s residency will take in place in Middlesbrough, a historically cold spot for arts and culture, and is one of the most diverse communities in the North East. It will be in collaboration with local and regional partners including Middlesbrough Central Library (a childhood personal haunt of Shazia’s which was a key part of the journey in making her a writer). She will also work with the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, which aims to connects art, people and to build and celebrate creativity and support change towards an open and inclusive future. A third key partner will be Borderlands, which uses creativity to amplify the voices of the local people and places which are rarely heard and often ignored.
Anita Goveas
Anita Goveas trained as a speech and language therapist before switching careers in 2015 and having the time to write. She was first published in the 2016 London Short Story Prize, and has been nominated for Best of the Net, Best Microfictions and a Pushcart Prize. She also has two stories in Best Microfictions 2019, made the BIFFY 50 2018-19 and 2019-20 lists and the 2021 Wigleaf Top 50 list. Her debut flash fiction collection Families and other natural disasters was published by Reflex Press. She has run writing workshops for a range of places including Dahlia Publishing’s ‘A Brief Pause‘ writer’s development programme, and for Retreat West, Writers HQ, the Crow Collective and Spread the Word’s CripTic salons.
Anita’s residency is in partnership and hosted by Bethlem Gallery. Established in 1997, the gallery provides a professional space for high-quality artwork and fosters a supportive artist-focused environment. Bethlem Gallery’s vision is an equitable society where art and mental health are a valued part of every day, and works with artists to lead change in health and society. She will run workshops focusing on creativity and well-being inspired by the Gallery and the Museum, incorporating sensory elements of sound, temperature, taste, touch and visuals.
Sallyanne Rock
Sallyanne Rock is a queer, neurodivergent poet and freelance writer from the Black Country. She writes about domestic abuse, queer identity and religious trauma. Her poetry has been published widely in various journals and anthologies, and she has appeared at spoken word events across the West Midlands. She works as a mentor, workshop facilitator and poet for hire, and has worked alongside organisations such as Writing West Midlands, Verve Poetry Festival and Creative Future. Sallyanne’s debut pamphlet, Salt & Metal, is published with Fawn Press.
Sallyanne’s residency will focus on Stourbridge’s rich history of arts and culture. It was home to world-renowned glass making for 400 years, a former prestigious school of art and had a thriving music scene in the 1960s & 70s. This creativity has lived on past the closure of the arts school and decline in live music, and the town still draws many artists and other creatives. This Black Country town also has a strong industrial history which informs the art that is produced here.
Sallyanne is interested in documenting the process of art using poetry and finding a new vocabulary to write with. The residency will engage with local artists and the local community, including poetry workshops exploring the language of art making. These will aim to take place at General Office Art Gallery, Stourbridge Glass Museum, and the local zero-waste shop.
We’re excited to see how these residencies unfold. Find out more about previous Writers In Residence.
