Join us for a celebration of creative writing at the University of Strathclyde, featuring performances, free workshops and zine fair.

Interested in creative writing? Join us for the StrathWrites Gala day, a free afternoon of readings, workshops, a zine fair and celebration of creative community on campus. As part of the University of Strathclyde's Welcome & Development week, we will be launching our new MFA Creative Writing programme alongside our inaugural StrathWrites anthology - featuring work by staff members across the University.

Tickets cover the whole afternoon and you are welcome to drop in and out of different sessions.

The Gala will include:

• Information about our new MFA Creative Writing
• Readings from Strathclyde students, staff and alumni
• Zine fair showcasing student work
• Reflections on the StrathWrites project and chance to grab a copy of our anthology
• Free workshop taster sessions led by expert faculty and a PhD student
• Headline reading by acclaimed poet Michael Mullen

Event schedule:

1-2.15pm: StrathWrites Taster Sessions / Zine Fair

Sessions from Maria Sledmere, Steven Veerapen, Ameek Gilhotra

2.30-3.15pm: StrathWrites Anthology Launch

Readings from contributing writers

3.30-4.15pm: MFA Launch / MLitt Readings

Jade Mitchell, Tayfun Zaidi, Andrew Pettigrew &

projections from Harshil Gupta

4.30-5.00pm: Headliner Reading

Michael Mullen

About StrathWrites

StrathWrites is a platform for engaging the wider Strathclyde community in creative writing.

Founded as a cross-faculty endeavour by Maria Sledmere (Humanities) and Jenny Carey (Education) in 2024 to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of Strathclyde’s Royal Charter, more recently it has taken on life as a Wellcome Trust-funded initiative led by Liam Bell and Churnjeet Mahn, as part of Strathclyde’s Cultures of Collaboration in a Socially Progressive Technological University (‘Collaborative Cultures’) Programme.

StrathWrites have so far hosted writing workshops and author talks with the likes of Graeme Armstrong and Debi Gliori. In 2025, a series of workshops led by different members of the Creative Writing faculty gave space for staff to reflect on their experience of work through creative practice. At the Gala Day we will release our first anthology of writing by Strathclyde staff from all job categories.

Accessibility

Full accessibility info can be found here.