Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
Pick up your copy on campus or read online
By Emily Oldfield
To start 2017, Manchester Literature Festival (MLF) is inviting a number of authors of worldwide acclaim to Manchester, with the chance for the public to watch them read and discuss their work.
Waterstones Deansgate will also welcome Man Booker Prize shortlisted author Mohsin Hamid on Monday 27th February. Starting at 7pm, Hamid will discuss his novels including How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the latter receiving the Booker Prize nomination and also being adapted into a film. The author will also discuss his upcoming novel Exit West with Co-director of the Centre for New Writing John McAuliffe. Due to be published in March, the novel follows a couple forced to flee their ravaged city – a hard-hitting exploration of migration and loss.
Hamid was born in Lahore, India where he has spent about half his life, going on to live in other cities including London, New York and California. Translated into thirty five languages to date, his work crosses borders and emphasizes the importance of striving for a better future.
Award-winning poet Simon Armitage will then pay a visit in March, with an evening session at a nearly sold-out Dancehouse on Monday 6th March from 7.30pm onwards. Armitage won’t be dancing, however… the event marks the launch of his new volume of poems The Unaccompanied. Set against a backdrop of economic recession and social tension, Armitage’s latest collection is expected to be especially powerful – and for £24 you can buy a ticket for the evening along with a copy of The Unaccompanied, or starting at £10 for standard entry.
With 11 collections of poetry, numerous works of non-fiction and two novels under his belt, Armitage is a prolific writer, born in West Yorkshire. He started out studying geography (one of his first pamphlets is called Human Geography) before becoming a postgraduate student at the University of Manchester and working as a probation officer in Greater Manchester until 1994. He has written a number of poems about the North, including a verse about Luddenden Foot, which gives some attention to an oddly-named Yorkshire town.
There’s no excuse for missing out on a literary start to 2017. The festival has been providing quality live literature across the city since 2006, and seems to get bigger and better every year. For more information, visit the Manchester Literature Festival website.
Featured image and gallery: Sam Holmes From Mirfield to Manchester, this Yorkshire-born four-piece bring their funk-interwoven indie rock to a sold-out Gorilla for their biggest headline show to date. Fresh off the back of their new single ‘Watch Life Burn’ and signing their first record deal with This Feeling/ LAB Records, there is already a…
Featured image and photography: Aaron Parsons / Press Haiden Henderson isn’t a name known to many in Manchester, but the Californian rockstar certainly made sure to leave a lasting impression. With sensual and sexy songs, Henderson really knows how to heat up a crowd in more ways than one. Unreleased track ‘Freak For You’ sets a…
Feature image: Press The Manchester Film Festival has wrapped its 12th edition, running over 11 days and showcasing a strong line-up of local and international talent from across the independent film industry. Festival director Neil Jeram-Croft reflected on this year’s programme, filled with a mix of features, shorts and documentaries spanning the cities’ cinema hotspots:…
Featured image: Press Toots and the Maytals return to Manchester for their ‘Reggae Got Soul’ 50th anniversary tour. Following their hugely successful 2025 tour, Toots and the Maytals return to Manchester to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their landmark album, Reggae Got Soul. Fronted for decades by Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert – named by Rolling Stone…
Leave a reply