By Dr Lisa Blower, Lecturer in Creative Writing at Keele University. This article first appeared as a Personally Speaking column in the Stoke Sentinel in January 2025.

It was December 2023. I'd not long been in post at Keele University and, like any writer worth their salt, I was browsing in the local literature section of the library looking for my books and whose spines they were nuzzling. Arnold Bennett of course – I’d forgotten how prolific he was; how much space he took up – followed by volumes of Arthur Berry'ss poetry. Then something of a gap before my books appeared alongside those by Charlotte Higgins, Jonathan Taylor and Mel Sherratt. A rather large gap actually, in time rather than in shelf-space. I measured it in my mind. Then with my hands. Something like half a century, possibly more.

I mentioned this to my colleague, Professor David Amigoni. Asked him where all the other works were. He mentioned a couple of other names to me – John Wain (yes, he was there). Charles Tomlinson (saw him too). I asked for the women. Where were they on the shelves? And then we got talking about the 2025 city centenary and because I'm a writer from Baddeley Green it just slipped out – "We should look for 100 books from the past 100 years. Fill in the gaps."'

'100 Books in a 100 Years' is now an Arts Council England funded project with a beautiful logo designed by Keele Media student Juliet Gyan. It’s supported by the centenary team, Stoke Creates, Stoke Archives, The New Vic, Drop City Books, and those wonder-folk at Stoke-on-Trent libraries – places I had loved growing up and continue to use for my own writing (I was given an adult library card at Hanley Library because I borrowed so many books). And there are legacy projects too because that felt really important: to not just recover past works, but to inspire the next 100 years of local authorship so that literature could maybe, just maybe, come to be as significant as the city's ceramics.

However, to do that would mean encouraging new voices so I asked Higher Horizons and The Literacy Trust to come on board. 'The Places that Make Us' will feature 14 writing workshops for 11 to 16 year olds in schools and libraries fronted by Potteries-born authors Alex Foulkes, Lou Cliffe-Minns and Stephanie Carty. The aim: to inspire young voices to pen their 100 word stories for the purpose of an anthology which will be the first publication of 2026 to kickstart the next 100 years of our canon. There will 6 micro-residencies in the summer – established local authors offering workshops, readings and writing advice alongside contributing to our 'Don’t Lose your Place' bookmark stories – yes, we'd love you to give that a go too - and which our authors will gift to the libraries that meant most to them as a child. There are plans for the 100 Book Club and 6 Book Reading Challenge once the canon is in place, and here’s a thought: could we eventually create a Potteries Writerly Tree that we could all belong to? Maybe put it on a tea-towel. A literary map….

And now we're seeking your help. What do you know of forgotten books or neglected local authors that should be on the shelves? What works should we be celebrating as part of our literary heritage? We are seeking a different traditional literary publication by a different Potteries-born author (ST1-ST12 postcodes) for every year between 1925-2025. Categories include novels, short fiction, poetry, non-fiction, memoir and plays. By December 2025, we hope to present the city with its first literary canon, offering new writers something to contribute to and, most importantly, continue into the next century.   

You can follow my search on www.lisablower.co.uk where I am keeping the blog 'Mr Bennett & Dr Blower', and which also features a monthly creative prompt in 'Get Stoked about Writing'. Please do get in touch: 100potteriesbooks@gmail.com