You Are Here
Five Stories About Parks in Levenshulme
You Are Here is a podcast series I have put together for Levenshulme Old Library. It features five brand new, specially commissioned short stories, each set in and inspired by one of the parks and green spaces in Levenshulme, South Manchester.
The Fallowfield Loop, Nutsford Vale, Chapel Street Park, Highfield Country Park, Cringle Park – if you visit these parks you’ll find some large signs around the spaces, inviting you to scan a QR code which will take you to studio recordings of these stories, available to stream wherever you get your podcasts.
I really enjoyed working on this project and was fortunate enough to do so with some of Manchester’s finest fiction writers - Marie Crook, Dipika Mummery, Valerie O’Riordan, Hette Phillips and Verity Platt. The thinking behind You Are Here was to create something which demonstrated that world class storytelling doesn’t need grand stages or metropolitan settings - you can find it in your neighbourhood. Not only that, it’s also about your neighbourhood.
The stories themselves are designed to act as fictional guides, leading you through the spaces via narrative - they’re also absolutely cracking standalone stories which don’t require any knowledge of the parks themselves, so you can experience them at home, on your commute or walking around a completely different park in your own hometown.
You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Stories
Litter by Valerie O’Riordan
The Fallowfield Loop
A darkly funny, sharply drawn portrait of loneliness and lives in motion.
Tripe by Verity Platt
Nutsford Vale
A visceral and lyrical story about motherhood and myth.
Lignum Vitae by Hette Phillips
Chapel Street Park
A story told from the point of view of the park itself – lyrical, uncanny, and full of quiet wonder.
Parakeet by Dipika Mummery
Highfield Country Park
A couple navigate the possibility of a move and experience the deep pull of place.
Jean, Darlene, Jacqueline by Marie Crook
Cringle Park
When Jean is mistaken for someone else in the park, she lets the misunderstanding play out. A quietly uncanny story about reinvention and the selves we slip into.
A Portrait of a Park
But wait! There’s more!
Each story is also accompanied by a Portrait of the Park episode – not quite a documentary, but a series of conversation of sorts. These short audio pieces feature reflections from the writers, volunteers, local residents and community organisers, offering personal perspectives, memories and moments from the parks themselves.
Field Notes
But wait! There’s even more!
You’ll also find Field Notes, five soundscape episodes, ambient pieces of audop design, each created using field recordings from the park, created by musician Oscilloscope.
Explore the Parks
You can listen to these stories anywhere, but they really come alive in the places that inspired them.
Each story in You Are Here is set in one of Levenshulme’s green spaces – the Fallowfield Loop, Nutsford Vale, Chapel Street Park, Highfield Country Park and Cringle Park. Look out for our QR code signs in each park, linking directly to the stories, soundscapes and portraits of the parks.
Whether you’re walking, running, sitting or just passing through – you are here.
About the Authors
Marie Crook is a writer based in Levenshulme. Her work has appeared in The Real Story, The Caterpillar and Confingo, among others.
Dipika Mummery has written short stories and flash fiction across genres including sci-fi, fantasy, realist fiction and horror. Her work has been published by Comma Press, Arachne Press, Fox & Windmill, Tasavvur, and Fly on the Wall Press. She has an MA in Creative Writing from The University of Manchester and is currently working on a novel.
Valerie O’Riordan is an Irish writer and critic based in Levenshulme. Her work has been published in a variety of international journals, and she has been the recipient of the Bristol Short Story Prize and an O. Henry Prize. She teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Greater Manchester.
Hette Phillips is a poet, fiction writer and artist based in Levenshulme. Her work has been published by Dostoyevsky Wannabe and For Books Sake.
Verity Platt is a writer of short-fiction, screenplays and poetry based in Manchester. Her writing seeks to interrogate our connection to the land and how we stay with and stray from the places and people who birthed us, exploring bodies, fertility and motherhood across all natures and forms.
You Are Here is produced by Levenshulme Old Library. The project was commissioned by The Space and made possible by Arts Council England