Geelong Regional Libraries is excited to be part of Melbourne City of Literature's Virtual Writer in Residence program this month, which welcomes ten writers from  across the UNESCO City of Literature network to work with various Victorian literary organisations. The writers will deliver a variety of work for each organisation ranging from writing commissions to social media takeovers to digital workshops.

We're very excited that our Virtual Writer in Residence is poet and emerging author Louis Glazzard, who joins us from fellow City of Literature Manchester, United Kingdom.

Louis Glazzard was born and raised working class in Yorkshire, England. Louis' writing has been published by Untitled: Voices, Polari Press, Queerlings and more. In 2021, Louis was the recipient of an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant which saw him running poetry workshops with various organisations including the NHS and the LGBT Foundation.

At the end of 2021 his debut poetry collection, Human Men was self-published. In 2022 his commissioned audio piece, Five Stages (as part of the BBC New Creatives scheme) was published on BBC Radio 6 and BBC Sounds. Louis will be engaging with our community, staging a social media takeover, writing a piece of poetry or prose, and delivering a workshop for emerging writers during his (virtual) time with us.

“At the moment I'm hoping to increase my knowledge of different communities as I grow as an artist. I mentioned before about developing a network of working class writers. I would hope that through the residency I could be supported in this development because especially during this time - it's important that communities stick together and champion each others work."

“As a writer this will be my first residency but I think a really important step in developing the skills I already possess but refining them. For example I have viral posts about being a writer form a working class community - but I have yet to learn how to apply this in an organisational setting."

“I've loved teaching writers and facilitating creativity in the past. Being from a working class background and as part of the LGBTQ+ community I know how radical it can sometimes seem to keep pushing towards a creative world. As a writer that's had the opportunity to develop my skills, I want to keep sharing them with the communities that need them and keep sharing words with the world. This residency would completely change the eco system of my career and inspire me in beautiful ways,” said Louis.