Authors

Helen Nugent - Editor

Helen Nugent is the Founder and Editor of Northern Soul. A Northern lass, born and bred in Manchester, Helen has been back in her home town for 14 years after working in London for The Times and a number of other national newspapers. You can find articles by Helen in, among others, The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday, The Times, the i newspaper, The Observer, Big Issue North, and The Yorkshire Post. Previous roles include producing and presenting the business news at BBC Radio 5 Live and on BBC local radio across the UK, and freelancing for The Daily Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Times and the Financial Times. She also spent 18 months as Money Editor of The Spectator. During ten years at The Times, Helen won a series of awards including Journalist of the Year and had a number of jobs including News Reporter, News Editor, Lobby Correspondent in the House of Commons, Business Reporter, and Financial Writer. In addition, Helen co-founded the media training and website creation company, Gatto Nero Media.

Helen has appeared on Sky News, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC World Service, talkRadio, and GB News. An experienced chairperson and speaker, she regularly chairs conferences and events for, among others, literature festivals, award ceremonies, and tech shows. She was also a Guest Lecturer at Westminster University in the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, and a Guest Lecturer at City University and at MMU. She taught Music Journalism at Salford Universi ty for a number of years, and taught Political Reporting at Huddersfield University. In 2017, she was shortlisted for Person with Purpose at the Northern Power Women Awards. In 2019, Helen was a judge for the HWA Gold Crown Awards which recognise the best historical novels. She has also chaired the panel of judges at the Northern Soul Awards.

Feel free to drop her a line at nugenthelen@hotmail.com or via the contacts page. All correspondence is welcome, particularly if you would like to share a magical Northern experience.

987 POSTS

Alfred Searls

Alfred Searls was born, bred and buttered in the city of Manchester. After a grimly successful career in PR and marketing, which left him with a nagging suspicion he was becoming a character in a Kafka novel, he branched out into writing things he actually wanted to write. Consequently, he now writes for Northern Soul on a range of subjects. Elsewhere, his work has appeared in the Catholic Herald and his short stories have been published in Metonym Literary Journal, Cinder Quarterly Journal, Jupiter Magazine, Dash Literary Journal, The Antonym Magazine, and The Mallard.

68 Posts

Amy Stone

Amy Stone lives and works in Sheffield. Her first novel, The Raven Wheel, was longlisted for the Arnold Bennett Literary Award 2020. Her second novel, Strong Stuff, has raised more than £3,000 for Roundabout, a South Yorkshire homelessness charity. Amy has also been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in the short story category and her first piece of flash fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021 by Janus Literary. You can find Amy on Instagram and Twitter.

17 Posts

Andy Murray

Andy Murray is Northern Soul‘s Music & Film Editor. He has been an arts freelancer since 1999, initially for City Life magazine and more recently for Big Issue North, among others. He edited a story anthology for Comma Press, and currently teaches Film Journalism at the University of Salford. Originally from Timperley, Andy can’t recall ever seeing Frank Sidebottom down the local Spar. But he does have vivid childhood memories of being menaced by big boys when trying to cross the bridge onto the local field – boys who are now better known as key members of The Stone Roses. He is, needless to say, not the Scottish tennis guy. But he did once receive a publicity photograph of him to sign by mistake.

324 Posts

Cathy Crabb

Cathy Crabb is an award-winning scriptwriter, poet and lyricist. She is also a lecturer and dramaturg and runs classes in all forms of storytelling. She lives in Saddleworth. Cathy is currently working on the script Am I Still Young? with Monkeywood Theatre and her daughter Hazel Gibson, as well as Five Women; Rambling with Cherylee Houston.

73 Posts

Charlotte Oliver

Charlotte Oliver is a writer/poet who lives in Yorkshire. She regularly writes for a number of magazines including The Dalesman and Yorkshire Life. Charlotte is BBC Radio York’s Saturday Poet Laureate and her poems have been published widely, including with iambapoet, Dream Catcher, The Yorkshire Post, Green Teeth, Ice Floe, Black Bough, Cape, Spelt and Fevers of the Mind. How To Be A Dressing Gown is Charlotte‘s debut poetry collection (published by Dreich) and her latest project is a radio ballad called The Dark Store, written with composer Sarah Dew. Twitter: @charlotteolivr, IG: charlotteoliverpoet, website: www.charlotteoliver.com

8 Posts

Chris Holmes

A marketing manager during daylight hours, in his native habitat Chris Holmes can be found listening to obscure psych rock bands who look like that guy in the corner of every pub, an image which equally applies when Chris looks in the mirror.

23 Posts

Chris Wallis

Chris Wallis is Northern Soul‘s Theatre Editor. He’s been a radio drama producer for 25 years, a theatre director for 40 years, and a foodie fan for a lot longer than that. Born in Aberdeen and brought up in Hounslow, he went to Liverpool University in the late 60s in search of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Failing to find the first, he taught himself to cook from Mastering The Art Of French Cooking by Beck, Bertholle and Child – a manual he thinks is yet to be surpassed and is still in print. The second and third have provided him with stories ever after. Thanks to the BBC, he moved to Manchester in 1991 and has been there ever since, but he commutes to London and a lot of his restaurant experience is drawn from there. To see what Chris does for a living, go to www.watershedtheatre.com

153 Posts

Claire Fleetneedle

Claire Fleetneedle is a foraging enthusiast who has been writing about free food and herbalism for almost a decade. She has a particular fascination with using local wild plants as both edibles and remedies. As the cost-of-living crisis bites, and with free healthcare seemingly soon to be a thing of the past, she seeks to revive and share a largely forgotten herblore. In her day job she is a voice, elocution and dialect coach at www.clairefleetneedle.co.uk. She is also an audio and voiceover artist.

66 Posts

Damon Fairclough

Damon Fairclough is a freelance writer based in Liverpool (via a long-lost Sheffield of the soul). In a career spanning a shocking number of years, he claims to have written about ‘brutal grey music, ultra-brite passions and the dogged persistence of memory’. In practice, this means writing about mix-tapes, cities, theatres, haircuts, concrete, drizzle and bus stops – among other things. You might find his words in publications including Northern Soul, Louder Than War, Bido Lito and Stuplex, or you could well discover them over at his own writing archive, Noise Heat Power. You might also wish to know that he’s available for hire as a freelance copywriter and content creator. Find his portfolio at damonfairclough.com, stalk him on twitter by following @noiseheatpower or, failing that, simply whisper rumours about him when he’s out of the room.

100 Posts

Danny Moran

Danny Moran was born in Radcliffe. He’s been a bartender, a life model, a musician and a journalist, contributing to City Life, Dazed & Confused, Attitude, The Face, Manchester Confidential, Guardian Guide and The Express.

9 Posts

Desmond Bullen

Desmond Bullen is Northern Soul's Chief Arts Correspondent. A graduate of the MA Screenwriting course at Salford University and a mental health nurse, he has written for Roy Of The Rovers, Creative Tourist and Chapter & Verse.

193 Posts

Drew Tosh

In a career that can only be described as ‘all over the place’, Drew Tosh has had a crack at many things, from PR to puppetry, care homes to charity fundraising. After a 15-year career in theatre/arts marketing and PR in Scotland, Drew upped sticks for Manchester. As well as Northern Soul, Drew has written for several other titles and is a regular panellist on BBC Radio Manchester. Two of his plays have been performed (Peg & Bessie and Physical) and a host of other writing projects are on the boil when his procrastination allows. His proudest NS moment to date is talking pelvic floor exercises with Lulu. He is the 2020 BBC Radio 2 PopMaster Champion of Champions, so all those formative years playing pop records weren’t wasted after all. www.drewtosh.co.uk

114 Posts

Eileen Jones

Eileen Jones is a journalist and writer who runs Cumbria PR in the Lake District. She's a member of the Gritstone Publishing Co-operative and author of two books about parkrun, and a biography of Neil Kinnock. She's currently working on a book about Loughrigg Fell. A former course leader for the Journalism degree at Huddersfield University, she has worked for a range of publications, from The Yorkshire Post to Holland Herald. She has been a theatre reviewer for many years, leading a team of writers blogging as Stagey Lady.

5 Posts

Emma Yates-Badley

Emma Yates-Badley was born and raised in Warwickshire but has lived in Manchester, on and off, for the past decade. Emma was Northern Soul‘s Deputy Editor and Literary Editor. A keen writer, she has an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University and is currently working on a non-fiction book. A social media addict, Emma can be seen tweeting nonsense @emmayatesbadley.

231 Posts

Fran Yeoman

Fran Yeoman is head of journalism at Liverpool John Moores University where she loves putting the next generation of journalists in the North through their paces. Before returning to her native Liverpool to take up the academic life, she spent more than a decade working on national newspapers in London including a stint as Assistant Editor of i, where she oversaw the paper’s news output. She previously worked for The Independent and The Times, and has co-authored a Rough Guide to South America. She reviews arts and culture for Northern Soul, and when she isn't doing that or lecturing, enjoys long country walks, pints after long country walks, and spending time with her husband and two daughters.

84 Posts

Henry Liston

Henry Liston is a reporter, presenter and writer based in Preston and Southport. With an itching wanderlust and a constant rumble in his tummy, Henry has plans to travel the world on a simple mission - to try and taste every food this planet has to offer. He has freelanced in BBC Local Radio for several years working in the Midlands, on Merseyside and in Manchester covering major events including the Commonwealth Games and Eurovision. With an appetite to learn more, Henry is enrolled to study journalism at the University of Central Lancashire in 2023, hoping to hone the skills required to become a real life version of Tin Tin.

10 Posts

Henry Normal

Henry Normal is a writer, poet, TV and film producer and founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Manchester Literature Festival). In June 2017, he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to television. Henry co-wrote and script-edited every episode of the multi-award-winning Mrs Merton Show and the spin-off series Mrs Merton and Malcolm. He also co-created and co-wrote the first series of The Royle Family. With Steve Coogan, he co-wrote the BAFTA-winning Paul and Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan’s Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible, and all three of Coogan’s live tours and the film The Parole Officer. Setting up Baby Cow Productions Ltd in 1999, Henry executive produced all, and script-edited many of the shows of its 17-and-a-half-year output during his tenure as MD. Highlights of the Baby Cow output during this time include Philomena, I believe in Miracles, Gavin and Stacey, Moone Boy, Uncle, Marion and Geoff, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf, Hunderby, Camping and Alan Partridge. Since retiring in April 2016, Henry has written and performed two BBC Radio 4 shows, A Normal Family and A Normal Life, about bringing up his autistic son. He is currently writing a book on autism for Two Roads publishers, A Normal Family, drawing on his family experience. Henry has published a number of poetry books.

20 Posts

Jack Stocker

A freelance copywriter, Jack Stocker was born and raised in a small town in Surrey. He moved up North to study journalism at Salford University, and after that there was no going back (the train ticket was a single). Since then, he has begun writing and producing short films and radio dramas. Jack has been writing creatively since the age of 13 – most of his fiction is of the fantasy and horror variety, much like the books that fill his shelves at home. You can read some of it on his personal website. Jack’s other hobbies include reviewing video games, fruitlessly learning to play the guitar, and trying to remember why he came upstairs.

13 Posts

James Richardson

James Richardson is Northern Soul‘s Marketing Consultant. The creator of HMNJ (human marketing no jargon), James has been in marketing for more than a decade having originally studied marketing at the University of Derby while working in telecoms. Over the years, he has held various roles at large blue chip companies in marketing, account management and sales. His work has included product launches, product promotion, and media expansion in both a design and talent role. His focus is: where is your business now, where do you want your business to go, and how will your business get there. He regards his job as removing the stress out of promoting your business, and he’ll use different methods to do this including print, major media campaigns, and a full service digital suite. You can email James at james@humanmarketingnojargon.co.uk, check out his website at www.humanmarketingnojargon.co.uk or find him on Instagram here: @socialjamesmanchester

5 Posts

Kevin Bourke

Kevin Bourke is a writer and broadcaster. He can be seen pontificating about theatre, film, and almost any vaguely artistic topic on the BBC Breakfast sofa, or heard on local and national BBC Radio. He’s a regular contributor to Big Issue North, Songlines, the roots music magazines R2 and No Depression and many other magazines and websites here and in the US. For many years he wrote about film and theatre for the Manchester Evening News, sneaking in esoteric folk, blues and Americana music whenever he could. He was an early champion of the likes of Peter Kay and Danny Boyle, but he’s equally proud that Lou Reed slammed the phone down on him and that Robbie Williams once tore up one of his articles in front of thousands of angry fans. Visiting some dubious Manchester dives with the late Leonard Cohen and, more recently, dodging polar bears with a bunch of blues musicians are just a couple more of his adventures in arts land.

213 Posts

Laura Davis

Laura Davis is a Liverpool-based freelance journalist and audience development specialist. As a journalist, she predominantly writes about arts and heritage subjects for a range of publishers including The Lead, the BBC, Art in Liverpool and her own North West arts and culture newsletter Stored Honey. Her consultancy work involves helping organisations better understand and connect with their audiences through sustainable, data-based strategies including newsletters, subscriptions and social media. Laura has been writing about the arts for more than 20 years. She was previously Arts Editor of both the Liverpool Daily Post and the Liverpool Echo, covering visual and performing arts across Merseyside. She was Reach Plc’s Senior Editor (Customer) North West, overseeing audience development on the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, Lancashire Live and North Wales Live. Laura also produced and co-presented the podcast Beatles City. She is a board member of Wirral Arts and Culture Community Land Trust, which owns the 'outsider art' environment Ron’s Place in Oxton and is planning to create affordable housing and studio space for local artists. www.lauracdavis.com. Twitter: @lcdavis

2 Posts

Lisa Wood

More than two decades ago, Lisa Wood left the sleepy town of Leek for the bright lights of Manchester and has never looked back. After fuelling her inner creative at Salford University, Lisa forged a varied career in the world of PR and marketing and had a ball spending eight years building the global brand for MediaCityUK, where she fought off the national tabloids on a daily basis with their ‘North bashing’ and organised high-profile events including the official opening with The Queen. Lisa lives in Altrincham and works part-time looking after the PR and marketing for a global tech company.

12 Posts

Lucy McNamara

Lucy McNamara was the producer and presenter of The Northern Soul Podcast. A freelance radio presenter, podcaster and voiceover artist, Lucy was the Weekend Breakfast presenter at 2BR, Lancashire’s local commercial station. Lucy started out as a journalist more than a decade ago and has worked for BBC Radio Leicester, Norfolk, Cambridge and Stoke, presenting, news reading and reporting. Prior to 2BR she was BBC 6 Music’s regular cover for the music news on Radcliffe & Maconie. During her time at 6 Music she presented the music news on the Shaun Keaveny breakfast show and has assistant-produced for Guy Garvey and Marc Riley.

47 Posts

Megan Bond

Megan Bond is a freelance journalist and radio producer based in Manchester. A winner of an Amplify Award for her role with student radio Shock Radio during her time at Salford University, Megan has completed her degree in Broadcast Journalism. She has since worked closely with Bauer Media and the BBC. During her time at Northern Soul, Megan has attended three red carpets, two festivals, many local business launches, and has helped to expand Northern Soul's presence on YouTube Shorts and TikTok. Megan has been documenting her professional journey on her Instagram page: MeganL.Bond

12 Posts

Nancy Collantine

Nan Collantine is an artist, freelance writer and director of Mura Ma, an artist-led independent art space in Marple, Stockport. She is an alumna of the Turps Banana School of Painting (20-22), the Islington Mill Peer-led Art Academy (18-19) and recipient of the 2022 Castlefield Gallery Award. Find her on Instagam @nancollantine and @murama_artspace

17 Posts

Paul Hunter

Paul Hunter is Northern Soul’s North Yorkshire Photographer. A freelance landscape photographer based in North Yorkshire with a background in engineering, film, photography and video, he moved into landscape work some years ago and has been busy building a portfolio of local and national landscape imagery ever since. His love of the landscape began as a child with family holidays to Scotland where the dramatic landscapes of Glen Coe and Ben Nevis were imprinted in his mind.

26 Posts

Rachel Pennington

Rachel Pennington is an English Literature student at the University of Manchester. Born and raised in Middlesbrough, she is passionate about Northern English and Irish folklore, researching Northern dialects and poetic lyricists who are unafraid to voice their 'Northernness' (Sam Fender, we're looking at you). She currently works within the university’s multimedia group having spent three months curating an investigative piece on the Student Union’s closure of Nightline. Recently, Rachel chaired the Women in Media Conference, and intends to publish a zine with the group to spotlight women’s voices in Manchester.

1 Posts

Robert Hamilton

Robert Hamilton is Northern Soul‘s Opera Correspondent and our man about town, Hamiltonic. He was born in Belfast and has lived and worked in Manchester for many years. Prior to retirement, Robert lectured in World Cinema at Manchester Metropolitan University. He studied fine art but, on being told that he was not the world’s worst painter but “bloody close”, he decided to follow more profitable pursuits. He wrote for the late and lamented City Life as well as Artscribe, Aspects and Cut Magazine. He also wrote an award-winning blog, Around the World in 80 Dinners, and is a founding member of the Chinese Film Forum, UK.

153 Posts

Robert Martin

Rob Martin is a freelance writer, author and marketing consultant. He’s worked for Time Out, Manchester International Festival and a variety of arts organisations, used to teach film at MMU, and also works with several community interest companies concerned with social justice. During lockdown he published a children’s book about an autistic boy and his carer dog saving the work from aliens by teaching them what fun, kindness and love are, only then to be diagnosed as autistic himself. Rob is now convinced that art imitates life more than ever. He shares his home with two dogs and a cat, three Ukranian refugees and a husband. Pop in. It’s fun.

19 Posts

Sara Riccardi

Sara is one of Northern Soul’s visual arts contributors. A passionate art historian from Rome, she has found her second home in the heart of Manchester. A keen communicator, Sara is deeply committed to sharing art, culture and history with as wide a public as possible. Founder of Art Across, she promotes visual arts from the past and present in interactive and unexpected ways. Currently pursuing her passion through PhD research at MMU, Manchester has meant more for her than she ever imagined. Follow Sara on Instagram @sara_artacross and check out her website at artacross.co.uk

8 Posts

Steve Slack

Steve Slack writes about museums, galleries and days out – anything with a tea room or a gift shop. He works as a writer and consultant in built and cultural heritage. He grew up in Manchester and now lives in the city centre. Steve blogs about cultural stuff at steveslack.co.uk. He tweets as @steveslack and instagrams museum nonsense at @museumofsteve.

32 Posts

Susan Ferguson

Susan Ferguson has lived in Birmingham, Manchester, Barcelona and London. She has picked strawberries in Norway, olives in Spain, vegetables in Bolivia and fights in bars. She has worked in nightclubs, schools, galleries, offices, archaeological digs, shops and marquees. She cut her journalistic teeth on Debris magazine and after a 30-year hiatus is back. When she is not travelling, Susan divides her time between Salford and Manchester. She is a minor player in her own life story. Follow her on Instagram @sferg100

21 Posts

Wendy Pratt

Wendy Pratt lives near Filey, North Yorkshire. She worked a microbiologist at the local NHS hospital for some years, completing a BA in English Literature in 2014. Wendy began trying to fashion a career out of her writing in 2008 and has since had her poetry published widely including The Interpreter’s House, Pennine Platform, Prole, Envoi, Other Poetry, Acumen, The Frogmore Papers and The English Chicago Review. Wendy’s first poetry pamphlet, Nan Hardwicke Turns into a Hare, was published by Prolebooks in 2011 and was well received, being reviewed favourably in the Times Literary Supplement. You can find out more about Wendy on her website: https://wendyprattpoetry.com/

40 Posts

Authors

Helen Nugent - Editor

Alfred Searls

Amy Stone

Andy Murray

Cathy Crabb

Charlotte Oliver

Chris Holmes

Chris Wallis

Claire Fleetneedle

Damon Fairclough

Danny Moran

Desmond Bullen

Drew Tosh

Eileen Jones

Emma Yates-Badley

Fran Yeoman

Henry Liston

Henry Normal

Jack Stocker

James Richardson

Kevin Bourke

Laura Davis

Lisa Wood

Lucy McNamara

Megan Bond

Nancy Collantine

Paul Hunter

Rachel Pennington

Robert Hamilton

Robert Martin

Sara Riccardi

Steve Slack

Susan Ferguson

Wendy Pratt

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