Northern identities

We engage deeply with northern identities. We are world specialists in the Lake District Romantic poets, have a close relationship with the Wordsworth Centre at Grasmere and founded the Wordsworth Centre for the Study of Poetry at Lancaster.

‘Walking for Wellbeing’ extends this inheritance in its exploration of landscape, movement and the mind.

Our work has brought participatory audio drama to the streets and shorelines of Morecambe, reimagined the sacred and the everyday along the Lancaster Canal, speculated on northern futures through folk horror and climate drama, and excavated Black British life.

Together, we redefine how the north imagines itself. ​

Wordsworth Centre for the Study of Poetry, the Environment and the North West​

The Wordsworth Centre was established by Professor Keith Hanley in 2000 and is currently co-directed by Professors Simon Bainbridge and Sally Bushell. We work closely with Wordsworth Grasmere and partners across the Lakes and beyond to promote interest in William Wordsworth and the Lake District.

As Romantic literature experts we seek to share the power of nature, expressed through literature and language in ways that are accessible for everyone. We run events for undergraduates and postgraduates as well as schools, libraries and the general public, drawing on poetry to inspire us in the present and future. ​

Morecambe Ebbs and Flows​

In the summer of 2025 and with the support of the Joy Welch Postdoctoral Fund, we interviewed Morecambe locals about the town's past and future. The resulting script explored the different ways a place can be known and highlighted recurring themes in the participant interviews; the sense of light in Morecambe, the sweep of the Bay, and the challenges and joy of living on the edge. The resulting audioplay can be listened to ​at Ebbs and Flows.