My first venture into Cultureword was inspired by a spontaneous open mic. Propelled into this creative world, I was in awe of the poetry performed by individuals from their longest-running workshop, Identity. The poets talked about anything and everything ranging from their cultural backgrounds, love, grief, friendship, loss, and the current affairs of the world. The environment curated by the staff was so friendly that I too ended up performing my own poem on what it means to be in your 20s. Needless to say,  I was thrilled by the work Cultureword was doing and was excited to join the team as a volunteer afterwards.

As a volunteer I’ve played part in organising and cataloguing selections of poetry and prose for Cultureword’s project Hard Pressed: Mapping Manchester’s Small Radical Presses which aims to highlight Manchester’s rich literary heritage showcasing the work of writers from underrepresented backgrounds. I have meticulously sifted through numerous boxes consisting of hundreds of pieces of literature spanning all the way back to the 1970s. Afterwards, I carefully organised this literature into the relevant piles and catalogued these works into an archival database. Other members of the team have been digitising this data to construct an interactive map which will be open for the public to access and view the spectacular works of writers across Greater Manchester. Working on this project has showed me how important it is to archive and digitise work because with the rise of the digital age, these works risk being lost to the passage of time. The magnitude of such loss would mean the erasure of essential parts of Mancunian history.

I’ve also had the opportunity to work closely on existing poetry collections such as Rain Dog and Citizen 32. I’ve proofread many of the poems in these anthologies so they can be shared as part of this project. Working on such poems was really incredible as it allowed me to see how these anthologies have evolved over the years. The Citizen 32 magazines were particularly insightful to read due to the timeless nature of the political poems. I noted that the magazines didn’t have a date of publication which made it feel as if the poems were speaking about the current political state of the world.

My favourite day I’ve had as a volunteer so far would definitely be the KYP (Kashmir  Youth Project) showcase led by Mahboobeh. Prior to the workshop I had stumbled across a book called ‘Barbed Lines.’ I was instantly drawn to the unique layout of the book and was pleasantly surprised by the back cover which contained a black and white picture of several South Asian women. What struck me the most was that every single one of these women was smiling. Belonging to a Pakistani heritage myself, seeing a Black and white group picture of women, from the mid-80s, all collectively smiling was something which I had rarely seen, and this is a sentiment several women shared with me at the KYP workshop. Barbed Lines is a book containing poems and prose from numerous Bengali women sharing their experiences of arriving in the UK from the late 70s. Although these poems detailed the Bengali immigrant experience, the themes of belonging/unbelonging deeply resonated with me and I imagined would be relatable with members of the KYP workshop. I had the pleasure of conversing with the workshop members in and sharing one of the poems in a mixture of Urdu and English which the audience enjoyed hearing. It was truly a rewarding experience getting to express myself in this way because I don’t often get the opportunity to. Languages are so important and to be able to communicate in my mother tongue and that too to talk about my favourite thing of all time (poetry) is honestly an honour. Speaking Urdu is a fundamental part of my identity and to be able to express myself in it, and that too to a full capacity, fills me with joy.

I spent the rest of the workshop listening to the wonderful group poem the KYP workshop members had written and also spent my time capturing the beauty, laughter, and joy of the event on camera.

My time at Cultureword has been amazing and has allowed me to push myself out of my comfort zone, see an insight into the creative industry, and hep contribute to the phenomenal and ongoing work the staff at Cultureword are doing.

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