// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
'Why we think Milton Keynes can be a City of Culture'
Maureen Onwunali, who grew up in Milton Keynes, said that writing a poem to help launch its UK City of Culture bid helped her learn more about the place
Milton Keynes has often been dismissed as somewhere not worth pulling off the M1 for, frequently by people who have no plans on visiting in the first place. But recently, that tide has turned. The BBC spoke to four people who have been part of the city's evolution and believe it has a chance of being crowned the UK City of Culture for 2029.
In 2025, the city was named one of the best places to live and work in the UK.
It is now in with a real chance of winning the £10m prize having been shortlisted as one of four places for the City of Culture contest.
The shorthand used to describe Milton Keynes often refers to concrete cows and its many roundabouts.
However, for Irish-born Nigerian creative Maureen Onwunali, who grew up and lives here, the city has so much more to offer.
While researching for her poem as part of the city's original bid, she said she found it "surprisingly so fascinating".
"I devoured all of these facts so now at any party, I have at least five Milton Keynes facts."
In "An ode to Milton Keynes", Onwunali refers to "the colossus, the world's first programmable computer" and "self-driving cars on Roman roads".
She told the BBC: "It's so funny because I tell people about Milton Keynes and culture and they look at me as if I'm being sarcastic, because Milton Keynes has this stereotype of being soulless.