Have-a-go heroes are key to city's creativity

A few years ago, no-one had heard of Marina Lewycka. They certainly wouldn't have guessed a book called A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian would make it to the top of the bestsellers list.

Stories and writing had always been part of Lewycka's life, but so, sadly, had rejection slips. Born in a German refugee camp, she moved to England with her Ukrainian parents and settled in South Yorkshire, and while her studies took her to Keele and London, the pull of the North eventually drew her back.

Her ambition to become a published author also never left and, when she was nearing retirement from her job as a media studies lecturer at Sheffied Hallam, she was offered a place on the university's renowned creative writing course. It was there, under the guidance of tutor Jane Rodgers, that she refined her style and in 2005 A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian finally made it onto the bookshelves.

Its success wasn't the first coup for the course, which boasts Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel as a visiting professor, and Lewycka, who has since written two more novels.

"Sheffield is such a nurturing and stimulating environment for me as a writer," she says. "I have written all my novels here and more or less taken the city for granted. But Sheffield is a place that has a strong sense of itself and a traditional culture of education, pulling itself up by its bootstraps, moral integrity and bloody-mindedness. It's a city of great ethnic diversity which doesn't sit on its bum and pat itself on the back, but gets on with the daily business of accommodating incomers, nosing about their business and generally making them welcome.

"I had a go at writing novels, Arctic Monkeys had a go at forming a band; we are just part of a huge vibrant culture of people who meet in front rooms, church halls or at evening classes to

play with words, sounds, colours, ideas and generally have a go."

In fact, while Sheffield may still be known to the outside world as Steel City, those who live and work inside its boundaries know there is much more to the place than its long and proud tradition of manufacturing. In recent years, the city's creative hubs have emerged from the shadows and, thanks to the likes of Lewycka, its undeniable talent has been given national and international recognition.

In October each year, Sheffield's literary talent gets a chance to shine in the Off the Shelf Festival of Reading and Writing. The event is now in its 19th year and over the last two decades it has established itself as one of the major festivals in the north of England. This year, the likes of Margaret Drabble, Sarah Dunant and Jacob Polley have already been confirmed.

"Sheffield has always been a hotbed of authentic independent voices and the city has a long tradition of radical thinking," says Amy Carter, head of arts at Sheffield City Council.

"Off the Shelf has always tried to give a platform to those voices and our aim is always to involve as many people as possible.

"Working on the City of Culture bid has been a great focus for so many people and it's also made us realise that we do have a lot to shout about."

In Sheffield, literature has always been more than just about high-profile authors. Brendan Stone, a lecturer in the school of English at Sheffield University, had a long-held dream to throw open the doors of academia to the wider public.

The result was the launch, last year, of Storying Sheffield, a brand new course which sees the university's undergraduates working alongside ordinary Sheffield residents to tell the story of the city through the eyes of the people who live there. It's a project close to Stone's heart.

"I left school at 16 with few qualifications and spent the next 20 or so years working as a manual labourer before returning to education as a mature student," he says. "I went on to study for a degree at Sheffield University, completed my PhD there and to be honest I've never really left.

"The idea of Storying Sheffield was to somehow bridge the gap between what went on inside the university and the city outside."

No other course like Storying Sheffield exists in the UK and when the first crop of students presented their final work it was proof enough to Stone that it had to be a permanent part of the university's curriculum.

"We had undergraduates working with people in their 70s who had lived in Sheffield all their lives and we could have probably filled the course three times over.

"The idea was that by the end of the year, everyone would produce their own story of Sheffield, whether through writing, art or film."

Should Sheffield be successful in winning its bid to become the UK's first City of Culture, those very same stories will, hopefully, get the wider audience they clearly deserve.

MICHAEL ROSEN

"Over the last few years I've had occasion to visit Sheffield for the purpose of taking part in Sheffield's unique programme of literary events.

"I have been stunned by the level of activity, participation and excitement that these events have generated, in particular the city-wide children's book prize.

"Off the back of this, I've been really interested to see ways in which teachers, librarians and anyone interested in books have generated policies and practices that reach every child.

"To my mind, there is no doubt that the city should become the UK City of Culture for 2013."

Michael Rosen is a broadcaster, former Children's Laureate and poet and the author of 140 books.