About MIR

MIR Online is the digital version of The Mechanics’ Institute Review, an annual literary anthology published by Birkbeck, University of London, as part of its MA Creative Writing course. The MIR Project Director is Julia Bell.

The publication owes its name to the institution that publishes the title, Birkbeck, University of London. The first Mechanics’ Institute in London was founded on the 2nd December 1823 by George Birkbeck, .when 2,000 people flocked to the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the Strand to witness Dr Birkbeck and his supporters launch London’s first ever Mechanics’ Institution dedicated to the education of working people. The Creative Writing MA at Birkbeck has developed a reputation for producing published writers of the highest artistic standard. MIR echoes our ethos of inclusion.”Mechanics” then meant “skilled artisans”, and the purpose of the institute was to instruct them in the principles behind their craft.

The first MIR was published in 2004. Originally limited to MA students’ short stories and novel extracts, MIR has also included work by notable published authors, from Issue 3 onwards. These include Ali Smith, Toby Litt, Rose Tremain, Joyce Carol Oates, T. C. Boyle, Dubravka Ugrešić, Courttia Newland, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Peter Ho Davies, Jean McNeil and David Foster Wallace.