Congratulations to Professor Linda Anderson who has been awarded an OBE for services to Higher Education. She has changed the face of the literary landscape in the North through her outstanding contribution to the field of creative writing for nearly 40 years.
She was the first Director of Newcastle University’s Centre for Literary Arts (NCLA), which she launched in 2009 and was Head of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, for a decade.
Her role at the NCLA has earned the organisation an international reputation for its work promoting literature and creativity. Thousands of people have enjoyed its free programme of talks, readings and events.
Professor Anderson is a respected poet and her reputation has attracted word-class writers to work at Newcastle including TS. Eliot Poetry prize and Forward Poetry prize winners. She has also helped to shape the way creative writing is taught nationally and has championed work on employability in the cultural industries.
She was also responsible for Newcastle University acquiring literary archives from Bloodaxe Books and the writers including Sean O’Brien, Selima Hill, Jack Mapanje, Moniza Alvi and Selima Hill, greatly enhancing Newcastle’s importance as a centre for literary research.
She also devised grassroots projects where writers worked with NHS, prison service and Northumbria Police.
