Contact us
Meet your friendly Poetry Library team and find out how to get in touch with us.
Contact us
Our contact details
Manchester Poetry Library
Grosvenor Building
Cavendish Street
Manchester
M15 6BG
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Meet our team
If you’d like to get in touch with an individual member of staff please put FAO: Name in the subject line of your email.
Becky Swain, Director
Becky was inspired to join Manchester Poetry Library to work with the team and partners to create a public space that celebrates the power of poetry. She is an experienced youth worker, English and Drama teacher, coach and arts learning facilitator. She has led national programmes for artists and teachers with Creative Partnerships and Creativity and Culture and Education (CCE), and creative writing programmes at Arvon. A Clore Fellow (2009) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, she is currently a member of the Young Poets’ Stories poetry writing development research.
MARTIN KRATZ, PROGRAMME MANAGER
Martin is passionate about our collection of poetry in Manchester’s community languages and poetry in recording. After completing his MA Creative Writing and PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University, Martin worked on Manchester’s successful bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature. He was co-editor of Mount London (Penned in the Margins, 2014) and the author of a poetry pamphlet, A Skeleton’s Progress (Poetry Salzburg, 2018). His translations of the poetry of Nelly Sachs and Jusuf Naoum appeared in The Heart of a Stranger: An Anthology of Exile Literature (Pushkin Press, 2019).
KAYE TEW, EDUCATION MANAGER
As Director of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival (MCBF) since 2012, working alongside former Poet Laureate and Creative Director for the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Met, Professor Carol Ann Duffy, Kaye has long been a champion of children’s poetry. Kaye has been responsible for developing countless creative outreach projects, events and resources. She has extensive experience of working collaboratively with teachers, librarians and other colleagues across the cultural and educational sectors and has a passion for bringing the best poetry and literature to children, young people and families.
ROMA HAVERS, LEARNING MANAGER
Roma is particularly excited by the collaborative and creative possibilities of the learning programmes at Manchester Poetry Library. She is an experienced facilitator and poetry mentor, specialising in supporting early career writers, and developing and delivering educational resources with particular attention to providing for diverse communities. She is an Anti-Racism training facilitator, editor for Young Identity’s poetry press No Disclaimers, writes and performs, and sits on several youth forums and consultancy groups across Manchester. She has produced events and youth projects with Young Identity HOMEmcr, Manchester Histories, Amnesty International, MIF and many others.
RUTH AWOLOLA, LEARNING OFFICER
Ruth is a long time reader, writer and believer in the power of poetry and is excited to be working in a space that champions it. She is passionate about poetry having a practical positive impact in the community and has garnered many years experience performing and facilitating poetry workshops and events. Her poetry first featured in Rising Stars: New Young Voices in Poetry (Otter-Barry Press, 2017) and has gone on to feature in several anthologies.
