Writing Home: Creative Writing Programme
Writing Home is a creative writing programme inspired by Tower of Now.
Sign up before 2 August 2025
We’re looking for people who have recently moved to Bradford to get involved in a series of workshops inspired by Tower of Now.
If you are interested in meeting other people who have moved to this vibrant and diverse city, and are up for talking and writing about your relationship with Bradford as a place you’ve begun to call home. We’d love for you to come on this creative journey with us!
All languages are welcome and participants can use translation tools within the sessions.
What do you mean by recently moved to Bradford?
We mean that you might have moved here from elsewhere in the UK, migrated for work or are seeking asylum or are a settled refugee. In any event, if you have come to the Bradford city district within the last five years, then this opportunity is for you.
About these creative writing workshops
- Dates: August 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 (these are all Saturdays).
- Times: 13.30 – 15.30
- Duration: 2 hours
- Location: Bradford Central Library. Get directions via Google Maps.
- Ages: 18+
- Access: Wheelchair user access, multi-lingual space
At the end of the programme, we will produce a multi-lingual anthology of our creative writing pieces that will be printed and put in locations around Bradford, free of charge, for the public to enjoy.
No previous writing experience or published work required, just a passion for sharing stories and an open mind to learn and work alongside people from different backgrounds to produce something creatively.
Tower of Now was created by artist Saad Qureshi and is installed at Hall Ings. The piece is inspired by memory and place, and how our sense of who we are can be shaped by the buildings we see around us. This 15-metre sculpture pays tribute to the rich variety of cultures present in Bradford’s city district, and our nation, in 2025.
In this writing programme we are invite participants to come on a journey exploring the themes of memory and belonging, place and home, led by Bradford artist Nabeela Ahmed.
About Nabeela Ahmed
Nabeela Ahmed is a writer, multilingual poet and spoken word artist. Her poetry manuscript will be launched in 2025 at Bradford Literature Festival via Yaffle Press. She hosts Bradford Writes, which platforms local published writers and is responsible for organising the first public Pahari Mushaira in Britain through Intercultured Festival. She has featured on Word of Mouth with Michael Rosen on Radio 4 and her project Pahari-Pothwari Literature Project has been selected for Bradford 2025 City of Culture.
She delivers readings and creative writing in schools, for First Story, the National Literacy Trust, online and various festivals including The Brontes and Jaag. She has compiled five anthologies from these sessions. Her poems have featured in collaboration with artwork and photography at galleries such as Salts Mills and Trapezium Arts. She published her novella, Despite our Differences, in 2018 and is slowly working on her novel and with a small group translating the epic, Saif ul-Malook into English.
Follow Nabeela Ahmed on social media:
What if I can’t make all the sessions?
If you can make two or more sessions, then please sign up!
It’s over the summer holidays, can I bring my children?
We will provide a small activity for children, but you must remain responsible for your child. We are also based in a public library with a fantastic children’s reading section, if the child is old enough for this service.
How many participants will there be?
We are aiming to sign up around 15 participants for this programme.
In the anthology, will everything I write go into it?
No, only one or two pieces from each participant will go into, and only things you are comfortable with sharing. We will not force anyone to share pieces of writing they are not comfortable with sharing, either in the sessions or in the anthology.