Join our Ambassador Programme

Jay Martin is a multi-award-winning filmmaker and cultural producer who has spent much of his life championing Mansfield and the wider region through storytelling, creativity and community-led work.

He is the founder and Festival Director of Mansfield Town Film Festival (MTFF), now one of the East Midlands leading film festivals and a growing platform for working-class, underrepresented and emerging voices in cinema.

Jay also serves as Chair of the Board for the charity that sits behind MTFF, helping to steer its long-term vision as it expands its cultural and community impact across the town and region.

Alongside his work with MTFF, Jay is a Writer, Director and Producer whose award-winning political documentary REDt’BLUE helped raise his profile locally and nationally. The film, rooted in lived experience and place, reflected many of the themes that continue to define his work today: class, identity, politics and the power of local stories to spark wider conversations.

Through film, festivals and partnerships, Jay’s work is driven by a belief that towns like Mansfield deserve ambitious cultural platforms of their own – not as an afterthought, but as places where creativity, talent and opportunity can thrive.

See more of Jay’s work:

• Mansfield Town Film Festival Website – Mansfield Town Film Festival

• LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/92960343

• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/mansfieldtownfilmfestival

• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mansfieldtownfilmfestival

• TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@mansfield.town.fi

Film Portfolio:

Poet | Author | Cultural Ambassador

With a BSc in Philosophy & Social Sciences and an MSc in Journalism, Richard C. Bower writes with the insight of a philosopher, the precision of a journalist, and the heart of a poet. An internationally recognised author from Ladybrook, Mansfield, his work has carried the voice of his hometown onto some of the world’s most respected literary stages.

Hailed as the “Bard of Britain” by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Richard is the UNESCO-endorsed Poet Laureate of Mansfield and a member of the historic Authors’ Club, whose former members include Oscar Wilde. His writing is studied internationally and is part of the UK school curriculum, where it is explored for its emotional intelligence, accessibility, and philosophical depth.

Through his collection Introspective Soliloquies, Richard became the first British contemporary author to be published by the highly esteemed Birutjatio, placing his work alongside Nobel Prize and Bollinger Prize winners — a landmark achievement both for his career and for British poetry. His work has been translated into Bengali and taught alongside that of Rabindranath Tagore, further establishing his role as a cultural bridge between literary traditions.

Rooted firmly in Mansfield, Richard’s work is increasingly viewed as part of Nottinghamshire’s living literary lineage — following in the tradition of Lord Byron, D. H. Lawrence, and Alan Sillitoe, but speaking unmistakably in a contemporary voice. Like those figures before him, his writing is shaped by place, conscience, and the inner life of ordinary people, reimagined for a modern audience.

Richard’s reach extends beyond literature alone. His work has been admired by artists across disciplines, including Damo Suzuki — the legendary frontman of Can, described by NME as one of the greatest rock and roll singers of all time — who named Richard among his favourite poets, recognising in his writing the same raw immediacy and truth found in great music.

Richard’s connection to community remains central to his practice. From intimate readings to performing in front of over 7,000 people on the pitch at Mansfield Town Football Club, he has consistently used language as a way of bringing people together. In 2023, he was invited to speak and perform at Visva-Bharati University in India, founded by Tagore himself, addressing students and scholars as both poet and cultural educator.

With four bestselling poetry collections — POSTMODERN, Sanctuary, Pleasures In The Pathless Woods, and An Expedition Around My Garden — Richard’s work explores inner life, responsibility, and human connection with clarity and compassion. He was honoured as part of the inaugural Nottinghamshire Day and is widely regarded as a cultural figure who bridges grassroots community and global literature.

Most recently, as the Voice Of Mansfield for the We Are Mansfield project, Richard’s words have become part of the town’s ongoing civic renewal — celebrating its past, affirming its identity, and helping to shape its future.

See more of Richard’s work: