MLF Chapter & Verse
The Manchester Literature Festival Blog
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Review : André Aciman
October 29, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter Aisha Sodawala learns about setting and sentimentality at André Aciman’s event. André Aciman, author of the critically acclaimed novel turned movie ‘Call Me By Your Name’, writes about desire, absence and longing in amazing prose. He never ceases to amaze me with his intricate descriptions of passions linking to innocence. In […]
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Review: Rommi Smith & Dave Evans: Bodies of Colour
October 25, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter Elizabeth Gibson finds Rommi Smith & Dave Evans’ response to the Bodies of Colour exhibition at The Whitworth unsettling and thought-provoking. A year ago, I took part in a performance workshop with Rommi Smith and, looking back, it was a defining moment for me as a spoken-word artist. She taught me […]
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Review: Terrance Hayes
October 25, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter Ruth Jones is magnetised by Terrance Hayes’ political poetry. Stepping out of the cold October evening air and into the bustling Manchester Central Library would make anyone excited to hear such an innovative poet’s new collection. The room was packed with people of all ages, buzzing with conversation and the anticipation […]
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Review: Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible
October 25, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter, Alice Richardson is inspired by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebiené, authors of Slay in Your Lane. With this year’s Manchester Literature festival paying homage to so many inspirational women, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebiené’s Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl’s Bible is certainly a must-read body of work. Rivetingly raw […]
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Review: Sasha Dugdale & Nick Laird
October 21, 2018
Young Digital Reporter Urussa Malik enjoys a quietly powerful poetry event. Co-director of the Centre for New Writing, John McAuliffe introduced two writers working closely with the idea of memory and history. Nick Laird has recently published a new collection of poetry, Feel Free, where the idea of being free and not free flew across his […]
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Review: A Celebration of Muriel Spark
October 19, 2018
Young Digital Reporter Zarina Akhtar spends an evening celebrating the contradictions of Muriel Spark. It is on an autumnal Tuesday evening that we find ourselves at the Martin Harris Centre seated for a discussion about Muriel Spark. The audience, holding well-read and loved copies of Spark’s novels, including the The Prime of Jean Brodie, eagerly […]
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Review: Michael Morpurgo: Castlefield Manchester Sermon
October 18, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter Elizabeth Gibson spends a remarkable and enchanting evening in the company of Michael Morpurgo. I am sure that I am far from the only young adult today whose early reading life was shaped by Michael Morpurgo. His books took me all over the world, and through time, to meet lions and […]
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Review: Carol Ann Duffy, Suzanne Batty & Clare Shaw
October 17, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter Ben Haynes experiences a range of emotions at an evening of poetry. Poetry has a reputation for being emotional, the Festival’s co-director Cathy Bolton warned the audience beforehand. Clare Shaw, Royal Literary fellow and Northern Writers’ Award recipient, did not disappoint. Her opening poem, with a dedication to Dr Blasey Ford, […]
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Review: 24 Stories
October 17, 2018
Our Young Digital Reporter, Siena Hallewell, learns how laughter and stories can bring hope and strength. Walking in to 24 Stories, my eyes arrived not on the eager audience but the intimate arrangement of four burnt-orange armchairs settled around a cluttered coffee table. Armchairs that would, minutes later, seat Kathy Burke, Mike Gayle, John Mitchinson, […]
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Review: In Search of Mary Shelley
October 14, 2018
Ben Haynes spends a fascinating evening listening to Fiona Sampson talk about Mary Shelley. Fiona Sampson is perhaps the person most qualified to talk about the mother of Gothic Horror and Science Fiction, Mary Shelley. Both share quite the talent with writing, with Fiona having written biographies which have been translated into 30 different languages. […]