Working alongside musicians, researchers, and publishers, you’ll develop new work that will be published in a bespoke pamphlet, combining text, images, and interactive digital elements to create a brand-new kind of storytelling experience. The work will be distributed on site to visitors of Erddig and there will also be an opportunity to showcase your work in Manchester in the autumn. A great opportunity to get your name and work out there!

About the Project: Hearing History

Erddig, located near Wrexham in North Wales, has the most extensive continuous record of domestic service anywhere in the country. A research team from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and the University of Southampton have spent the last five years recovering the sounds of the house across its history: its servants playing instruments together in the attic or servants’ hall; women of the household performing virtuosic music in the drawing room; and laundry maids harmonising over the rhythms of their work, accompanied by the percussive sounds of mangles and tongs. The team re-created and recorded these sounds in a large library, Sounding Erddig, that gives insights into the house’s sonic past. The next phase of the project invites two creative writers to produce new responses to the house and this extensive archive through poetry and prose, capturing the stories of the people who have lived and worked there.

Participants will take part in a funded research trip to Erddig and will be supported throughout by the research and publishing teams, with optional collaboration with RNCM composers to enhance the sonic dimension of your story. The fee for this commission is £300 per writer.

Project Partners: RNCM, National Trust, Immersive Publishing 

How to Apply

You should be a current MMU student with a strong interest in creative writing, storytelling, and/or working with sound, history, or multimedia formats. We particularly encourage student applications from groups under-represented in the creative industries. This includes, but is not limited to Black, Asian and ethnically diverse candidates, disabled people, those undergoing gender reassignment / transitioning and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

To apply, please complete the application form where you will:

• Upload a short statement (max 300 words) telling us why you’re interested and why you’d be a good fit for the project.
• Upload a sample of relevant creative work (up to 1,000 words – this could be poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, script, hybrid writing, etc.).

Deadline for submissions: Thursday 17 April 2025

Any queries email Sarah Cleave: s.cleave@mmu.ac.uk

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