TWO MINUTE STORIES is a new literature podcast from the heart of Manchester, UNESCO City of Literature, co-hosted by Chris Neilan, Helen Mort & Mark Pajak.

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Showcasing some of the most exciting writing being produced in and around Manchester's thriving literary scene, the show brings together award-winning novelists, short fiction writers and poets with some of the region's most promising new writers.

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Chris Neilan is an award-winning author, screenwriter and filmmaker.  He won 2nd prize for Short Fiction in the 2017 Bridport Prize, was shortlisted for the 2020 Aurora Prize for short fiction, and has been nominated for the 2021 Pushcart Prize.  He was shortlisted for the 2016 Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the 2021 Sundance Development Track.  His films have played at festivals across 4 continents.

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Helen Mort is one the UK's most decorated young poets, with two acclaimed collections.  Her first prose work, Exire, was published by Wrecking Ball press in 2018, and her first novel Black Car Burning was published by Chatto & Windus in 2019 to widespread acclaim.  Both Helen and Chris teach creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Mark Pajak was a house poet at the Manchester Writing School, a winner of the 2016 Bridport Prize, and his pamphlet, Spitting Distance, was a Laureate's Choice publication for The Poetry Business.  His first collection is forthcoming.