“Manchester is unaffordable for creative graduates” Poet James Young talks being priced out of your uni city

James Young, a recent Uni of Salford graduate, has been making ripples in the Manchester poetry scene since the release of his first collection Reduced to Clear. Following the release, exploring existentialism in postgrad life, we caught up with him to discuss finding your feet again

Poetry beginnings

Young began his poetry journey at an open mic in Stockport, reading out short pieces compiled on his notes app. As a journalism student, he says he was always more interested in creative features than hard news. Reduced to Clear was formed around the set he developed during the first of his support gigs, delving into his connection to Manchester. Whilst he was born in Wythenshawe, James grew up predominantly around Cardiff, returning to his roots for his degree.

“People from Manchester are like well you’ve spent most of your life in Wales, but people from Wales are like you were born in Manchester, so you’re not Welsh. I’ve grown in a bit of a limbo.”

He continues, “I used to jump the school gates around 2pm in Cardiff, and catch the supporters coach to see the Man United games. I’d tell my parents I was at a sleepover and come back in the early hours for school the next day.”

Football has played a huge part in his work, having regularly contributed to ‘United We Stand’, a Manchester United fanzine dedicated to the sport and city. He cites this, and the music scene, as one of the strongest connections he has with the city: “I always felt very similar to Mancunions, I went back to my roots when I moved here.”

Finding “home” while at university

Most Read

Influencer who refused to give crying child her plane seat reveals REAL reason she’s suing

Influencer who’s suing over a screaming toddler on her plane sparks debate about plane etiquette

Harry Potter actor resorts to starting unexpectedly niche OnlyFans account to ‘get out of debt’

Upon James’ move to Manchester, “the clocks just kinda switched and all of a sudden I found it really easy to make friends.” It was at the University of Salford that he developed a meaningful connection to the area, both of his self-published books feature imagery of the John Lester and Eddie Colman Courts accommodation.

This complicated relationship with a home place is explored a lot in his work, he explains that “I fully brought into the myth of Manchester, you know I was a sucker for 42’s and Affleck’s Palace. Then suddenly you realise it’s not just a theme park, it’s a really working class place for real people.”

Young was never in a rush to build a career immediately after graduation, knowing that a break from Manchester was needed. “It’s a very small place, and although it’s exciting it can happen a bit too fast.” he says, “I wanted to take a bit of time out and shake off the baggage that comes with being a student, there’s more to the world than Stretford and Salford.”

It was his return to the city from months of travelling South America that birthed his latest works: ‘In the Event of a Breakdown’.

Post-graduate life as a creative

However, after the formative experiences travelling, James found himself back in Manchester with no job, no money and nowhere to live. All he had was optimism that things can only go up from here, having been promised post-grad work that never transpired. He knew that Manchester was the only place he could see himself working.

Despite the setbacks, he persisted through the trials of seeking freelance work, “It’s so hard now as a creative because you basically need a full-time job to do it.”

He says there was no direct path from graduation to work, stressing that “there’s so many great creative people that studied here that should still be in Manchester, but they’ve all had to move back home. What’s the point in going to uni and having all these amazing experiences to just go back and do work experience that you could have done at 16? We’re being priced out of our uni cities.”

At the start of his studies, James’ rent was roughly £80 a week. By the time he left, the same room was £130. This increase is limiting opportunities for creatives on a tight budget. He says that anywhere within 4-5 miles of the city centre is rife with real estate and development, unaffordable for most students and recent grads.

Fostering creativity

Young emphasises the importance of third spaces, not home or work, so people can come together and create, “In inner-city areas there used to be a lot of creativity, and although there’s still such a huge scene in Manchester, it feels like we’re trying to look and sound how we did 20 years ago.”

“There’s so much diversity here, but certain arts like poetry have almost become too pretentious and we assume it can only be for the upper and middle classes.”

Raised on John Cooper Clarke, Alex Turner and Mike Garry, Young sees the importance of working class voices in poetry and storytelling. “The northern mentality is a bit different, we all want to help each other out more creatively. When you look at the poetry scene in London, people are paying to perform at open mics and putting barriers like agents at really small level shows.”

He continues to work with promoters such as Akoustic Anarkhy, supporting up-and-coming northern-based bands in independent venues. Though he splits his time between freelance and personal work, he says that “while you’re young you might as well have a go, even if you don’t make it big there’s too many bitter older people that end up criticising those who go for it because they never tried.”

James offers up some advice to creatives: “You can never predict what’s going to happen to you, it might be cliché but you have to make the most of it.

“At the end of the day, when you graduate you can’t just go out on a Tuesday and have eight pints, you’ll have to go to work.”

James Young will be performing at ‘A Sunday Thing’ in Heaton Moor on April 13th. To read his work, or see him live, go to his Instagram @jamesunderscoreyoung

Featured image courtesy of James Young.