Northwest Book Highlights – March 2016

Taking a road trip is high up the literary to-do list this month, as poetry takes centre stage across the Northwest

Preview by Holly Rimmer-Tagoe | 02 Mar 2016

Manchester

The People’s History Museum and the folks over at Creative Tourist bring us Wonder Women festival (3-13 Mar) this month. The festival celebrates the creative success of women through a series of workshops, discussions and events, including everything from coding to the women of DH Lawrence. Popular Young Adult fiction writers Eve Ainsworth (Crush) and Holly Bourne (How Hard Can Love Be?) will be discussing female friendships in books at HOME on 6 Mar. Highlighting the female bonds that inspired them to write their own, Ainsworth and Bourne will talk about the importance of positive depictions of female friendships – beyond the catfight clichés – for young readers. You can also catch a post-discussion screening of Claudia Weill’s film Girlfriends (1978) later in the afternoon.

Over at The Portico, the library will be opening up some of its fascinating volumes about 19th-century women to visitors on 12 March. There will be written records from fearless explorers and biographies of interesting characters, and you can join in by tweeting @ThePortico and @WonderWomenMcr with your favourite quotes and book covers from the collection.

Meanwhile, FLIM NITE has been on our radar for a while and on 7 March at 3MT (3 Minute Theatre) the team will be deconstructing the subversive buddy movie Thelma and Louise. The group take a hammer to well-known films and smash them into something completely different – think a smorgasbord of musical interludes, a dab of poetry and an added bit of standup comedy. Trust us; it’s unlike any other night around!

After four years at the helm, Tales of Whatever remains an essential part of Manchester’s eclectic and ever-growing poetry scene. And as if by design, road tripping seems to be the flavour of the month, with ToW taking on the road trip theme for their night at Gullivers on 9 March, promising tales of ‘travel, wanderlust, escape and arrival.’ The subject isn’t prescriptive, though, so if you have a true story to share that stretches the theme to Plastic Man levels, why not give it a go?



Jack Nicholls at FILM NITE


Liverpool

Head over to the Everyman on 14 March for A Lovely Word, an evening of poetry and spoken word from veteran poets and people reading their work aloud for the first time. March’s special guest will be Dave Jarman (jarmanpoetry.com), a performer and playwright from York. Founded by Patrick Hughes of local band A Lovely War, A Lovely Word has latterly been attracting big crowds, so be sure to get down early and grab a seat. 

Writer and comedian Bridget Christie – winner of the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show 2013 and Best Radio at the Chortle Awards 2014 – will also be performing at the Everyman, on 21 March. After an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Festival, Christie brings her new show A Book for Her (based on her book of the same name) to Liverpool. Expect to hear anecdotes about Christie realising that the feminist section of the bookshop is the place that people go to secretly fart because it’s empty. There will be a post-show book signing and copies available to buy.

Further afield

Elsewhere, Huddersfield Literature Festival delivers a schedule packed with literary delights from 3-13 March. Polari Up North present an LGBT literary salon where a range of talented writers from the community will perform their work (5 Mar). Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat and The Gospel of Loki, brings a collection of unpublished stories, written live on Twitter as part of #storytime, and performs them to music (4 Mar). Also on offer, master of the vernacular novel, Irvine Welsh, kicks off his UK tour in conversation with Nick Ahad (3 Apr). Find out about his Welsh's latest novel The Blade Artist here (3 Apr) – and while we're on the subject, why not read our exclusive interview?


The Passion and Power of Female Friendship, HOME, Manchester, 6 Mar, 2pm, £3, homemcr.org
Women’s Literature at The Portico, The Portico Library, Manchester, 12 Mar, 12-2pm, free (drop in), theportico.org.uk
FLIM NITE presents Thelma and Louise, 3MT, Manchester, 7 Mar, 7.30pm, suggested donation £2, @flimnite
Tales of Whatever, Gullivers, Manchester, 9 Mar, 7pm, free, talesofwhatever.com
A Lovely Word, Everyman Bistro, Liverpool, 14 Mar, 7.30pm, free, @LovelyWordLpool
Bridget Christie: A Book for Her, Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, 21 Mar, 7.30pm, £16 (£14), everymanplayhouse.com
Huddersfield Literature Festival, 3 Mar-13 Mar, times and locations vary, litfest.org.uk