Fiction Prize Finalists (L-R): Adam Wilmington, James Hopkin, Alison White, Richard Knight and Carys Davies. Not pictured: Joe Dunthorne Manchester Writing Competition Gala Award Ceremony – Baronial Hall, Cheetham School of Music. Words by Kevin Danson Where else would I have been on Friday, 18th October, at 7:30pm, but at the Manchester Writing Competition’s gala…

Relaxing in the MCBF Story Reading Corner Words and photographs by Neil Harrison As part of The Manchester Literature Festival, a host of children’s authors and performers, including much-loved Cbeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell, gathered at Manchester’s Town Hall on Sunday to enchant local children with wild and wonderful stories at a Family Reading Day. Author…

The Writers & Illustrators of The Timelines Anthology Words by Lisa Burns The John Rylands Library played host to a plethora of MMU’s finest writing talent last weekend, with the launch of MMU’s Timelines Anthology. Part of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival, the anthology is a collection of short stories for children and teenagers, written…

MMU’s Dr. Xavier Aldana Reyes with the Gothic TV panel:Dr. Linnie Blake, Dr. Catherine Spooner and Dr. Stacey Abbott Words by Neil Harrison  If, as Alfred Hitchcock once claimed, ‘T.V. has brought murder back into the home where it belongs’, then over the years our appetite for the dark side of the small screen has…

 Words by Sophie Bannister As a child, I read a lot of Malorie Blackman books, so I was unbelievably excited to find she was holding an event as part of the Manchester Literature Festival. In preparation, I got out my (rather old) copy of Noughts and Crosses to take along with the hopes of getting…