“It has been the most amazing year discovering the amount of literature this city has produced over the past century. The volume of emails received made us realise how important the making of texts has been, with many forgotten works brought back into attention. We have tried to reflect this rich literary history in the final list acknowledging the breadth of storytelling, genres, and just how important this city has been to the craft itself. To have a physical library of these books in the archive will hopefully inspire future generations to tell their own stories and come to belong to our Potteries Writerly Tree.” Dr Lisa Blower
Presenting The FINAL CANON 1925-2025 selected by the `100Books Team’
We now have the first ever record highlighting Stoke-on-Trent’s literary and publishing legacy. The final List is ready featuring works by Potteries-born authors published over the last 100 years, from poetry and novels, to memoirs, history, science, philosophy and non-fiction works.
We found 89 of the 100 in the year-long research period – 13.01.25-31.12.25 – yet discovered over 150 Potteries-born authors who have been publishing since 1925. Found novels and poetry collections we did not know about, lots more that we did and are so pleased to have given attention to, including many first editions in the British Library that remain the only preserved copy in the UK.
There were some gaps in the canon where works could not yet be found, which we attribute to the impact of the Second World War and its aftermath. Other later gaps we cannot account for just yet. Many of the titles included on the list feature works passed down through family generations, as well as many local literary texts which are held in the collection at Stoke Archives.
The project has also showcased how the region’s industrial heritage played a key role in the stories that were born there, with many local authors basing their stories in the city. It seems then that there was/is a clear appetite among the authors to preserve the city’s industrial heritage, highlighted by a large number of memoirs and historical works published, and the many novels that use the city as a subject or a backdrop.
Burslem had the highest percentage of published authors, followed closely by Newcastle, and although there were far more male authors than female (95 male in total compared to 55 female), the canon is bookended with publications from female authors. The list begins with Ida Mary Downing in 1925, with her poetry collection Words, Pictures and Other Poems (published by Munns & Allen), while the novel Heartache for the Tram Girls written by Lynn Johnson features 100 years later. We also found many of the works were also published locally by JH Brookes; Webberleys; Cassell & Co, and Etruscan publications, but many of the works were also self-published, particularly memoirs proving that it is not just a 21st century phenomena.
So, what happens now? Well, we are busy curating the list for the 100Bookshelf that will be on display in Stoke Archives from June. It is so important to us to have the physical books on display and accessible to browse and use to inspire future authorship. We did not wish for the list to disappear into the ether online and so will be hosting a series of events in June to celebrate and reference the work we have done and the literature that represents the city.
With sincere thanks to the following people without whom this project would not have succeeded: Arts Council England; Keele University; Stoke-on-Trent City Archives; Stoke-on-Trent Libraries; Higher Horizons, Staffordshire Libraries; The Stoke-on-Trent centenary team including Cllr Lyn Sharpe; The New Vic & New Vic Borderlines; Stoke Creates; Drop City Books; National Literacy Trust (Stoke Hub); Brampton Art Gallery & Museum; Prof. David Amigoni; Adam Blakemore; Catherine Burgass; Aidan Byrne; the team behind Byline Festival; Andy Cain; Amy Capewell; Stephanie Carty; Jonathan Davidson; Mark Deaville; Nick Degg; Michael Durrant; Alex Foulkes; Emily Galvin-Wilson; Gabriella Gay; Stuart George; Carol Gorton and the Arnold Bennett Society; Juliet Gyan; Terry Heath; Charlotte Higgins; Deb Hilditch; Liz Hulse; Robin Ince; Rebecca Jackson; Prof. Cynthia Johnson; Kerry Jones; Lorna Laidlaw; Prof. Clare Lees; Liz Lefroy; Natalie Linh Bolderston; Lou Minns; Emma Newman; Amanda Pover; Mel Sherratt; Susie Stapleton; Ant Sutcliffe; Jonathan Taylor; Laura Tonge; Debbi Voisey; Polly Wain; Scarlett Ward; Jerome Whittingham; Ikarah Woodvine and EVERYONE who sent an email, came to an event, suggested a book, took part in the Busk, attended a workshop, wrote for the anthology and supported the project. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Come along to hear more about the project and browse the 100Bookshelf that showcases all our findings:
