People

Creative Manchester Director

John McAuliffe is a Professor of Poetry and the Director of Creative Manchester. His research interests are in poetry, creative writing, contemporary and twentieth-century literature and Irish Studies.

Creative Manchester Manager

Anne-Marie has managed Creative Manchester, a research platform at The University of Manchester, since its launch in 2018. With undergraduate and master’s degrees in International Business, she has over 25 years' marketing and business experience working in roles across both the private and public sectors.

Anne-Marie became a Chartered Marketer in 2005. She has also served as a governor at Cheadle Catholic Infant School, Stockport, since 2015, and was appointed Chair of the Governing Body in 2022. Anne-Marie lives in Stockport with her husband and three children.

Creative Industries and Innovation Research Lead

Dr Claudia E Henninger is the research lead for Creative Industries and Innovation. She is a Lecturer in Fashion Marketing Management and has a research interest in sustainability, the circular economy, and collaborative consumption.

Communications and Engagement Coordinator

Nathalie supports the research theme of Creative Industries and Innovation, leading on research events and engagement activities surrounding the cultural industries, creative policies and economy and supports Creative Manchester’s work in CreaTech and AI. Outside of work she enjoys playing handball and cricket.

Civic and Creative Futures Research Lead

Dr Jenna C. Ashton is the research lead for Creative and Civic Futures. She is a Senior Lecturer in Heritage Studies, with a background in artmaking and writing, exhibition curation, creative producing, public engagement, and arts-education.

Communications and Engagement Coordinator

Hazel supports the research theme of Creative and Civic Futures, leading on research events and campaigns drawing on civic themes, and flagship partnership events such as International Mother Language Day and the Festival of Libraries. Outside of the University, Hazel is a published children’s author.

Creativity, Health and Wellbeing Research Lead

Dr Stephen Hicks is the research lead for Creativity, Health and Wellbeing. He is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work with a research interest in LGBTQ+ Older Adult Care, Community, atmosphere & belonging, LGBT parenting, and sexuality & social welfare.

Communications and Engagement Coordinator

Kate supports the research theme of Creativity, Health and Wellbeing. She leads on research engagement events and campaigns bringing together researchers, artists and creatives alongside practitioners in health and social care. She likes cold water swimming in her spare time.

Creative Producer

Research Associate

Dr Henry McPherson is Creative Manchester’s postdoctoral Research Associate and an artist-researcher, composer and improviser. His research focuses on improvisation and spontaneous creativity, mostly in relation to arts and health, environment, and social identity.

Innovation Fellow

Innovation Fellow

Creative Manchester Graduate Intern

Uxutvi supports the Creative Manchester team in managing events and communications for all events, as well as administration and financial tasks. Outside of work, she enjoys going to commercial and Bollywood dance classes.

Sir Peter Bazalgette joined The University of Manchester in autumn 2019 as an ambassador for Creative Manchester and Honorary Professor of Creative Industries, bringing his vast experience in broadcasting to students and the wider community. He is the mastermind of a number of successful television productions such as Ready, Steady Cook, Ground Force and Changing Rooms.

Sir Mark Elder CBE was appointed Honorary Professor at The University of Manchester’s Department of Music in 2016. An Olivier Award-winner, he is Music Director for the Hallé and was Music Director of the English National Opera from 1979-1993.

Artistic director of London’s Royal Court Theatre, University of Manchester alumna Vicky Featherstone’s career in the theatre has been defined by her involvement in new writing.

Honorary Professor of Performance and Society John McGrath is the artistic director of Creative Manchester partner organisation Manchester International Festival and was the founding artistic director of National Theatre Wales.

David Olusoga OBE is best known for presenting the BBC’s landmark series Civilisations. Nigerian-born, he moved to the UK with his mother as a young child, settling in a council estate in Gateshead. His appointment as Professor of Public History at The University of Manchester in 2019 will further engage the public with historical studies.

Maxine Peake was appointed Honorary Professor of Literature and Performance at The University of Manchester in 2018. RADA-trained, Maxine is well-known for her appearances on stage and screen in productions including Black Mirror, Shameless and The Theory of Everything.

Jon Savage, Professor of Popular Culture at The University of Manchester, is a celebrated cultural commentator and journalist. He is well-known for his books on The Sex Pistols, Joy Division, and Brian Epstein, as well as producing the feature film Teenage (2013).

Professor Michael Schmidt OBE FSRL is a poet, literary historian, translator and editor.

Kamila Shamsie is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing at The University of Manchester. Her most recent novel, Home Fire, was long-listed for a Man Booker Prize.

Ellah Wakatama OBE is editor-at-large for Canongate Books and was founding publisher director of The Indigo Press, while she has served on the judging panel for the Man Booker Prize and other literary awards. Her role as Creative Manchester Senior Fellow at Manchester facilitates knowledge exchange between the Centre for New Writing and HOME.

Acclaimed author Jeanette Winterson CBE is a Professor of New Writing at Manchester. Her writing career began when she published her first novel Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit aged 23.

Historian, broadcaster, and Professor of Public History at the University, Michael Wood is the author of several highly praised books on English history. He has also made well over one hundred documentary films, among them Art of the Western World, In Search of the Trojan War, and In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great - all of which were accompanied by bestselling books.