Northwest Book Highlights – April 2015

Liverpool University Press’s new poetry series, Pavilion Poetry, bursts onto the Northwest’s literary scene this month with two events in the region’s biggest cities. Aiming to publish daring contemporary poetry with an international reach, Pavilion Poetry launches with readings from its three new titles, all broadly connected by the theme of the body. Mona Arshi will read from her debut collection, Small Hands, which centres on the grief that accompanies the loss of a sibling. Sarah Corbett’s verse novel And She Was experiments with multiple voices and poetic forms to tell one story of love and loss, while Liverpool-based Eleanor Rees explores landscapes of self and city in her third full-length collection, Blood Child. Experience it first at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester on 20 Apr, or catch it at Liverpool University’s School of the Arts library on 27 Apr.

Manchester’s newest non fiction reading night returns to Gullivers for its second live event on 22 Apr. Hosted by local writer Kate Feld and radio producer Nija Dalal, The Real Story will feature readings from a selection of non fiction writers, headlined by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Stuart Maconie. Maconie has written a number of bestselling titles, including the travel book Adventures on the High Teas and a tour of social history through pop music, The People’s Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records. It looks set to be another popular evening, so head down early if you want a seat.

Spoken word has been rising to prominence in the Northwest for a while, but if you still haven’t fallen for the hype, two regular events this month might just whet your appetite. Bad Language is among Manchester’s most well-known open mic literature nights and has played host to the likes of Roy Macfarlane, Jo Bell and Alison Moore in its five-year history. Find them this month at their usual haunt of The Castle Hotel on 29 Apr.

If you’re sad to see the end of Manchester’s annual feminist festival Wonder Women, you can head to the Three Minute Theatre for Stirred Poetry’s pro-women poetry night on 27 Apr. Guests, including performance poet Geneviève L. Walsh and punk poet Toria Garbutt, will be responding to the theme of the artist Tracey Emin. Expect any preconceptions about poetry and gender to be challenged.

Finally, fantasy, horror and science fiction publisher Tor brings two of its promising debut authors to Liverpool. A clinical classifications specialist doubling as fantasy author, Genevieve Cogman will be speaking about the first instalment of her new adventure series, The Invisible Library, which follows a professional spy through a mysterious world of secret societies, alternative realities and stolen books. Cogman will be joined by Lucy Hounsom, whose first novel, Starborn, is out this month – think ancient tradition, powerful magic and one girl’s fate caught in the balance. Both are in discussion with Glyn Morgan, editor of the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association, at Waterstones Liverpool One on 29 Apr.