Joe Shute
Biography
I am a writer, journalist and postgraduate researcher at the Leverhulme Unit for the Design of Cities of the Future (LUDeC) at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have also worked as a tutor in the Department of English between 2023 and 2025. My interdisciplinary research combines creative writing, creative histories and community engagement, working with local communities to re-imagine Manchester’s River Irk and influence more equitable forms of waterside regeneration. I am also a national newspaper journalist and author of several published works of creative non-fiction. My books include Stowaway: the disreputable exploits of the rat (Bloomsbury, 2024), Forecast: a diary of the lost seasons (Bloomsbury, 2021) and A Shadow Above: the fall and rise of the raven (Bloomsbury, 2018)
Academic and Professional Wualifications
Associate Fellow (AFHEA) Post Graduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism, Cardiff University BA(Hons) History, Leeds University
Research Output
Shute, J. (2024) ‘Cultural Daylighting’: using stories of the past and present to re-imagine Manchester’s ‘lost’ River Irk. Folklore (135) https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.2024.2387983
Words from the Water: a pamphlet of poetry and prose. Co-edited by Joe Shute and Anita Slater and funded by LUDeC and the Centre for Place Writing. Published November 2024. https://www.manchestercityofliterature.com/event/pamphlet-launch-words-from-the-water/
Awarded third place in R.C. Sherriff Trust’s Elmbridge Literary Competition for poem ‘Caddisfly on the Irk’ (March 2025). https://www.rcsherrifftrust.org.uk/elmbridge-literary-competition
‘River Voices’ published in Issue no.14 of Hinterland (climate writing special) https://www.hinterlandnonfiction.com/shop/issue-14-climate
‘Tales of the Riverbank’: how stories are helping to bring new life to Manchester’s River Irk. Published in March 2024 edition of the Planner Magazine and Planner Live North 2024 https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2024/03/18/tales-riverbank-how-stories-are-helping-bring-new-life-manchesters-river-irk
Interviewed about my PhD research and work as a writer as part of the Leverhulme ‘Careers in Your Ears’ Podcast. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Lkn5ZeqfEdsawYnGCSgZR
Community Exhibition: Reimagining the River Irk. This co-produced exhibition featuring work produced during the workshops was on display at North City Library, Harpurhey, between March and May 2024. A launch event was attended by around 60 people, including senior representatives of Manchester City Council.
‘River Voices’. An experimental collaboration between myself and post-graduate researcher Jackie Morris, a textile artist working with community groups along the River Lugg. As part of the 2023 MSARC show at the old Cornerhouse in Manchester we put a call out for river poems via the Manchester Poetry Library and exhibited them alongside our own writing and textiles. Jackie also donated a series of woven boats for my River Irk workshops which each group used to display their ‘wishes for the Irk’ https://theluggembroideries.uk/2023/07/17/6-march-2023-poems-and-the-embroidered-riverbend-at-mortimers-cross-go-to-manchester/
Winner of MA/PhD Collaboration award for poster presentation entitled ‘A Tale of Two River Paths: Mapping Public Access to the Urban Waterfront’. (May 2023)
Have presented my research at conferences including: Leverhulme Centre for Water Cultures at Hull University, Making the City: Transformative Processes in (Post)Industrial Urban Spaces, Chemnitz, Germany, Open University Literature Matters, Association of the Study of Literature and the Environment (UK and Ireland) at Galway University.
LUDeC Connections
The key LUDeC principles of collaboration, playfulness, and using creative and interdisciplinary practices to encourage more equitable forms of urban planning and design are embedded in my research. I have collaborated with a range of external partners on my project including Manchester City Council, Groundwork Manchester and the Mersey Rivers Trust, but have also developed models of co-production with a broad range of community groups. I have endeavoured for my research outputs to be a shared enterprise wherever possible, collaborating with LUDeC colleagues and other researchers, but also workshop participants themselves through publications and exhibitions accessible outside of traditional academic forms. This collective reimagining of Manchester’s ‘lost’ River Irk reflects the LUDeC philosophy of envisaging the city as a site of collaboration, equity and social justice.
Contact Information