Northwest Book Highlights – April 2016

Kate Tempest returns to the Northwest this month with her first novel in hand, while crime fiction, Shakespeare and uncertainty are also up for discussion

Preview by Abby Kearney | 01 Apr 2016

Events in Manchester

As a teenager, Alexei Sayle, alienated by the comedy stylings of the working men’s clubs he patronised, set out to be a stand-up comic. In his memoir, Thatcher Sold My Trousers, he recounts his journey from young Marxist art student through various jobs (DHHS worker, school dinner chef and a failed illustrator), some kidnappings and other tales and events that are ‘barely believable.’ See if it’s so on 10 April, when he speaks with Dave Haslam at HOME.

Also in conversation with Haslam at HOME this month is poet, rapper and author Kate Tempest. Tempest’s new novel, The Bricks That Built The Houses, begins with three disenfranchised young Londoners fleeing the city in a Ford Cortina, in possession of a suitcase full of cash. The rest of the novel backtracks, tracing the events that led them to that Ford Cortina with that suitcase of cash. Tempest will be discussing her new novel, her poetry and activism, as well as reading aloud on 17 April.

On 1 April, writers from numerous backgrounds in academia and research will take on the condition of uncertainty. Part of FutureEverything festival’s conference programme, Thriving in Uncertainty takes place at Manchester Town Hall and writers with work published in anthropology, financial systems, climate change and counter terrorism will argue for the positive reframing of the condition of ‘uncertainty,’ as a productive resource.

Elsewhere, in honour of the 400-year anniversary of William’s Shakespeare’s death, the John Rylands Library will be running demonstrations of its historic printing press on various dates in April. Words, Words, Words will allow participants to observe and learn about the process of printing, which first brought the words of the Bard to the people of Manchester many years ago.

Returning to The Castle Hotel on 18 April, First Draft, Manchester’s bi-monthly cabaret night, presents a feast of spoken word, stand-up and drama. This month, First Draft performers will be responding to pieces from the Greater Manchester Sound Archive: birdsong, church bells and the sound of traffic. Each performer has selected a clip and constructed a narrative around it to be performed live and then entered into the city’s Sound Archive.

Events in Liverpool

A day-long discussion on the enduring appeal of crime fiction, Crime Fiction, comes to The Bluecoat on 16 April. Various questions about suspense building and character formation will be mused over by those well acquainted with the genre. The event will include debate, talk of current trends and changes in crime writing, and, to conclude, a reading by award-winning crime writer John Connolly.

Finally, at the Playhouse on 22 April, comedian and satirist writer Mark Thomas presents Trespass, a show mixing spoken word, activism and journalism. Apparently, ‘no one knows where this show will end up,’ though it begins with Thomas considering what the ramblers of the 1930s would do to transform the contemporary, corporate city into a playground. Swings at the ready.


Alexei Sayle, HOME, Manchester, 10 Apr, 7.30pm, £10, homemcr.org
Kate Tempest, HOME, Manchester, 17 Apr, 6.30pm, returns only, homemcr.org
Thriving in Uncertainty, Manchester Town Hall, 1 Apr, 10am, futureeverything.org
Words, Words, Words, John Rylands Library, Manchester, 5, 8, 12 & 15 Apr, 11.30am & 2.30pm, free (no booking required), library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands
First Draft, The Castle Hotel, Manchester, 18 Apr, 7.30pm, free, firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com
Crime Fiction, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 16 Apr, 1pm, £7-£8, thebluecoat.org.uk
Trespass, Playhouse, Liverpool, 22 Apr, 8pm, £14-19, everymanplayhouse.com