https://mattalton.com mattalton Sat, 09 May 2026 14:58:45 +0000 https://mattalton.com en https://mattalton.com/Home Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:10:04 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Home Matt Alton <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be6da765f6621dbdb8c5a2a79d5feb1a408272ba62ac3d93789a724c22e66435/waystospeak-still4.png" data-mid="247364963" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be6da765f6621dbdb8c5a2a79d5feb1a408272ba62ac3d93789a724c22e66435/waystospeak-still4.png" /> I am a writer and performer based in Manchester, making work which explores the welfare system, chronic illness and the visibility of such conditions. I was recently commissioned by the Lowry to create a remote performance, The Disabled Son, which asked: What if the prodigal son from the Gospel of Luke were disabled? What if, returning to his father to ask for support, instead of being welcomed with grace, he was forced to complete humiliating tasks to prove his worth? Combining storytelling with shadow puppetry, the performance explored the paternalism experienced by disabled people in Britain. The performance was a collaboration with Lily Mae Kroese and supported by Lowry’s Artist Development Programme. I write prose which blends stories from my life with retellings of fairytales and religious stories, asking how things could be otherwise. The Blue Shoes, published by Disabled Tales, worked through how to use the fairytale form to tell a disabled story without relying on ableist tropes. I was chosen by Extra Teeth Magazine as their issue 11 non-fiction mentee, and I’m receiving feedback and guidance from my mentor Katie Goh. My poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies including Under the Radar, Gutter and Broken Sleep’s Masculinity: an anthology of modern voices. A film-poem, made with artist Chris Alton, jointly won the Exeter Contemporary Award, and another was commissioned by Apples and Snakes. https://mattalton.com/Poetry Mon, 04 May 2026 11:17:59 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Poetry One of Few Examples of My Capacity to Rage, View herePoetry is the New Skateboarding, View hereHoming, in Ink Sweat &amp; Tears Two poems in&nbsp;Flights A home to call your own, commissioned by Poems by PostThe River Speaks, in&nbsp;The Fight ContinuesMorning Stroll, in Lucent DreamingWays to Speak Absence, commissioned by Manchester IndependentsTwo poems in&nbsp;Masculinity: an anthology of modern voices (Broken Sleep Books) Brighton, unfinished, commissioned by Apples and SnakesDeconstructed Parmigiana, in&nbsp;Under the RadarTwo poems in&nbsp;the remote body Three poems in&nbsp;Knee Brace PressMy bedside table is an infinite space, in Full House LiteraryFive Ball Reverse Cascade, in Gutter https://mattalton.com/Essays Mon, 04 May 2026 11:18:08 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Essays <img width="2000" height="2000" width_o="2000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/951c8746abd48b5023ee4d5497c869f418c00668f87401f8952b49908fab9d5d/blueshoes1.jpg" data-mid="248112166" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/951c8746abd48b5023ee4d5497c869f418c00668f87401f8952b49908fab9d5d/blueshoes1.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="2000" width_o="2000" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d66caca82b5f2fb6b538107bb788c1054bd1f08ec78773eebf1ba36c573935f9/blueshoes2.jpg" data-mid="248112167" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d66caca82b5f2fb6b538107bb788c1054bd1f08ec78773eebf1ba36c573935f9/blueshoes2.jpg" /> Young Adults and the Future of Quakerism – Adding Voices to the Conversation, in The Friends Quarterly The Blue Shoes, in Disabled Tales Raw Materials, in Disability Arts Online The Haunting of Chronic Illness: the allegory for ill-health in BBC sitcom, Ghosts, in Disability Arts Online https://mattalton.com/Video Mon, 04 May 2026 11:18:06 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Video As part of Apples and Snakes' 40th birthday, they commissioned 40 emerging poets to produce a short film-poem about their local environment or city - 'a snapshot of our world as told by today's freshest talent'. Brighton, unfinished explores a less picture-perfect side of Brighton from the vantage point of my mobility scooter. Ways to Speak Absence is a short film, based on a poem by Matt Alton. It brings together spoken word, an original soundtrack, improvised movement, and a choral performance based on the chorus from Eminem’s Cleanin’ Out My Closet. The film’s primary themes are grief and bereavement; it speaks explicitly about the experience of losing a parent at a young age; addresses disfunctional coping mechanisms; and picks at the language available for voicing loss. The film was directed by Chris Alton and commissioned by Manchester Independents. Poetry is the New Skateboarding is film-poem made with Joe Parker of Full Tang Studio which finds surprising parallels between the two practices. Written and performed by Matt Alton; produced, directed, filmed and edited by Joe Parker; skateboarding footage filmed by Chris Alton. https://mattalton.com/Journalism Mon, 04 May 2026 11:20:08 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Journalism <img width="1000" height="1000" width_o="1000" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/70a8f01eec1d2d3c527b5bf58add10631a75314cdbdcc22ad1874c36f5407926/disabilityartsonline.png" data-mid="248112313" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/70a8f01eec1d2d3c527b5bf58add10631a75314cdbdcc22ad1874c36f5407926/disabilityartsonline.png" /> Facing the future, in The Friend Young Adults and the Future of Quakerism – Adding Voices to the Conversation, in The Friends Quarterly My most profound Quaker experiences weren’t in meeting for worship, in Quakers in Britain blog The Haunting of Chronic Illness: the allegory for ill-health in BBC sitcom, Ghosts, in Disability Arts Online https://mattalton.com/Research Mon, 04 May 2026 11:18:04 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Research <img width="674" height="991" width_o="674" height_o="991" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b17921995d63af7627e5bea10e43ae3572ef0dc251e3bbdc897cad19e85c464/The-Quaker-World.jpg" data-mid="248100307" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/674/i/9b17921995d63af7627e5bea10e43ae3572ef0dc251e3bbdc897cad19e85c464/The-Quaker-World.jpg" /> An Ethnographic Investigation of a British Quaker School: Belief, Values and Cohesion, in Quaker Studies (Liverpool University Press) Young Adults and the Future of Quakerism – Adding Voices to the Conversation, in The Friends QuarterlyYoung Adult Quakers and Epilogue: A Case Study of an ‘Alternative’ Worshipping Community, The Quaker World (Routledge) https://mattalton.com/Contact Mon, 04 May 2026 11:13:44 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Contact ︎ matthewalton@hotmail.co.uk︎ @mattaltonpoet https://mattalton.com/One-of-Few-Examples Sat, 09 May 2026 14:58:45 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/One-of-Few-Examples <img width="1594" height="1181" width_o="1594" height_o="1181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b15f0e3c52d3710b46e00dda8cd28b9233920d7a4cc19d3b7799e92126efc6a/I1.2.jpg" data-mid="248076883" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b15f0e3c52d3710b46e00dda8cd28b9233920d7a4cc19d3b7799e92126efc6a/I1.2.jpg" /> One of Few Examples of My Capacity to Rage (2020) is a pamphlet I self-published to mark a year of writing poetry, which includes poems about my relationship with the natural world, chronic pain, childhood, schools and my mum. Its two print runs of 100 copies each sold out. https://mattalton.com/A-home-to-call-your-own Sat, 09 May 2026 14:57:38 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/A-home-to-call-your-own <img width="3508" height="2480" width_o="3508" height_o="2480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/679bb9a79f0a7ac4049f163bfbd667c445a2aa82c72ab8bc5fbf38ee9c929b92/P2.1.jpg" data-mid="248076881" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/679bb9a79f0a7ac4049f163bfbd667c445a2aa82c72ab8bc5fbf38ee9c929b92/P2.1.jpg" /> A home to call your own (2021) was commissioned by Poems by Post, and posted out to their subscribers. Fay Troote was the illustrator. https://mattalton.com/Ways-to-Speak-Absence Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:01:46 +0000 mattalton https://mattalton.com/Ways-to-Speak-Absence <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d07f9793fa0e1f58f04583e396a5dd797609072224664cda63fe38102c4b2196/waystospeakabsence-still.png" data-mid="247364672" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d07f9793fa0e1f58f04583e396a5dd797609072224664cda63fe38102c4b2196/waystospeakabsence-still.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8b848df410f12982da80f45a39a52fda0a7434b69c00b7a8b9193fb86ca9ba8c/waystospeak-still4.png" data-mid="247364676" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8b848df410f12982da80f45a39a52fda0a7434b69c00b7a8b9193fb86ca9ba8c/waystospeak-still4.png" /> <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a41f236390c877ffb895ea83203b08bb0d6f4c16d19f7305232fa6b52da9b0a3/waystospeak-still3.png" data-mid="247364675" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a41f236390c877ffb895ea83203b08bb0d6f4c16d19f7305232fa6b52da9b0a3/waystospeak-still3.png" />