To celebrate National Poetry Day, Alumno and GMI are pleased to announce Billie Meredith has been commissioned to write a bespoke poem especially for their new “Canvas Building” in Manchester. This is part of Alumno’s ongoing support for artists and poets local to their student accommodation schemes.
Billie Meredith is a poet, performer, producer and facilitator whose work explores interpersonal relationships and the profound mundanity of the human condition. She has performed music and poetry with Young Identity across the UK and Europe with Schaubühne Berlin, BBC, Brighter Sounds, the British Council, Southbank Centre, Hay Festival and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation.
Billie has been commissioned by Factory International, Manchester Literature Festival, Manchester Histories and Fio and internationally by Ordkraft, LiteratureXChange in Denmark and UNESCO Cities of Literature Estonia, where her work is published on city buses in Tartu city.
She is a BBC Words First winner, published in numerous anthologies with No Disclaimers Press, as well as the standalone collection ‘Cities Untold’, a Danish exchange collaboration exploring relationships to home and the origins of self. Alongside her poetry practice, Billie has worked as an actor and theatre-maker, devising work for HOME, Royal Exchange Theatre, Green Man Festival and Inkbrew Productions. She was also commissioned to write and perform alongside Good Chance’s internationally renowned performance art project ‘Little Amal’ as part of Manchester International Festival.
Billie currently works as a producer and facilitator across schools, libraries, community spaces and conferences in Manchester, centering on socially engaged workshops with young people, creating spaces for expression, reflection, growth and sentimentality.
Alumno, GMI and we`re sure everyone else involved in the project are looking forward to seeing what inspiration Billie takes from the scheme, it`s location, history and place in the community to bring to her poetry, which will be on permanent display in the completed building for all the residents and visitors to enjoy