More about Amanda
She’s a poet and playwright, tutor, theatre artist and consultant and a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund, Associate Artist at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre and a Visiting Teaching Fellow (Script and Poetry) at MMU’s Writing School.
Here’s a bit more about Amanda, also on her website HERE.
I have two poetry collections with Bloodaxe, How To Disappear and Stray, and a third on the way, and much of my playwriting also reflects my work as a poet. My poetry has won awards and prizes in major competitions including the National Poetry Competition and I’ve been selected as one of the UK’s top 20 “Next Generation Poets”.
My playwriting began in radio and I continue to write regularly for BBC Radio 3 and 4 – original writing includes a number of original dramas and adaptations, some of which reflect my particular interest in theatre made for (and often with) young people and communities, and in work which crosses art forms, often happening outside conventional theatre space.
For most of my career I’ve also worked in the worlds of Education and Creative Engagement. After thirteen years as an English and Drama teacher and Deputy Head in comprehensive schools in Leicestershire, I left the formal education sector to be a Centre Director for the Arvon Foundation before becoming a senior leader at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, working for 18 years in the field of creative learning. During this time I devised, developed and curated a portfolio of distinctive projects and partnerships bringing together exciting professional artists, non-arts organisations, arts industry colleagues and communities. Throughout this work I’ve continued to work as a freelance playwright and poet, and a ‘hands on’ facilitator, mentor and teacher, working for organisations including the Arvon Foundation, the BBC, GM schools, a range of community settings supporting vulnerable adults and young people, and with the Universities of Manchester, Bolton, Salford and MMU, teaching aspects of playwriting to undergraduates and postgraduate students and teachers.
In 2017 I left my full-time position at the Royal Exchange in order to explore a range of collaborative and solo writing projects and to develop my freelance career.
Read more HERE
