Elizabeth Gaskell’s House Writers in Residence

Manchester
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Elizabeth Gaskell’s House commissioned three Writing Squad as Writers in Residence. They spent time immersing themselves in Elizabeth’s world and responding creatively to her legacy. Guruleen Kahlo, Princess Arinola Adegbite and Georgia Affonso were fascinated by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) not only as the writer of North and South, Cranford and Mary Barton, but as a woman whose life was led by a sense of social justice.

The project, in collaboration with Manchester City of Literature, celebrated 10 years since the restoration of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, which once lay abandoned, but is now Manchester’s only literary house. The restoration of Elizabeth’s Grade II* listed Georgian villa was made possible by a community campaign that led to funding by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, who are now supporting this project.

What the writers had in common, apart from being members of The Writing Squad, was that Elizabeth Gaskell was not a writer they knew, so discovering her world immediately opened up exciting possibilities. The resulting work was made into an exhibition for Manchester Central Library as part of the Festival of Libraries, then on display in Elizabeth Gaskell House and is at Didbury Library until 13th January 2026. As part of the project the writers have also created educational resources and delivered workshops in schools in the vicinity of Elizabeth’s house.