Centre for New Writing Fellows 2026: Inua Ellams and Gurnaik Johal

Join Blackwell’s Manchester for an evening of readings and conversation with Centre for New Writing Fellows Inua Ellams and Gurnaik Johal, two distinctive voices in contemporary literature.

Inua Ellams is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans poetry, theatre, performance and visual art. Known for blending storytelling with live performance, his work explores identity, migration and belonging across a range of forms. His published poetry collections include Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars, The Wire-Headed Heathen and The Actual, while his acclaimed plays include Barber Shop Chronicles and The Half-God of Rainfall. His performances have toured internationally, bringing together audiences through powerful and often personal narratives.

Gurnaik Johal is a fiction writer whose work captures the complexity of modern life with clarity and precision. His award-winning short story collection We Move received widespread recognition, including the Somerset Maugham Award, while his debut novel Saraswati has established him as one of the most exciting emerging literary voices. His writing often explores themes of identity, place and cultural inheritance with nuance and originality.

Together, Ellams and Johal will share their work and reflect on their creative practices, offering insight into the ideas and experiences shaping their writing today.