My partner and I spent a wonderful weekend enjoying the Festival’s hotel break at the City Inn. Located next to Piccadilly station it proved to be a perfect base for the various events we attended. Our first was in the Friends Meeting House to hear Howard Jacobson read from his novel Kalooki Nights. This he did with gusto, though not without first weighing up the sensitivity of his audience to some of his stronger images, tongue firmly in cheek. Then followed a discussion on contemporary orthodoxy in Judaism and other religions around Manchester. This gave us plenty to think about as we wandered back past the first shift of night clubbers and the colourful array of wigs and spangled gowns along Canal Street to our welcoming bedroom.
The following day we enjoyed readings from Gerard Woodward and Adam Thorpe in the peaceful setting of St Anne’s Church at odds with the bustling food stalls outside. Both readings contained perceptive accounts of men trying to gain understanding of themselves in unfamiliar or skewed surroundings. Question and answers brought up the topic of autobiographical details filtering into their fiction that both authors readily admitted to.
Next a short journey down to the Whitworth Gallery with some time to explore the exhibitions before the next speaker. This was the charmingly loquacious Roddy Doyle who took the audience on a brisk journey through a delightful montage of one family’s head on experience with the increasingly diverse ethnic mix of today’s Ireland.
A glass of wine and a chance to assimilate all the ideas and discussions we had heard so far as we waited for Maggie O’Farrell and Anne Enright. As the room filled with an expectant audience and the lights dimmed, all eyes were on these two ladies. After a long and inspiring day we sat back to savour their stories. Anne started with a domestic scene from The Gathering that combined pathos, anger and humour in equal measure, along with the frustration of family life that most of us regularly experience.
Maggie’s excerpts from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox gave us an atmospheric glimpse of colonial India from a child’s point of view, followed by her haunting frankness after lengthy incarceration in a mental institution. Both authors read beautifully, conjuring up a disturbing bedtime story heard in the comfort of one’s own bed. What a perfect way to end our stay.
- Claire Yates
Showing posts with label Reviews Competition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews Competition. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Review : Paul Abbott Face to Face with Kate Rowland
One of the North-West’s favourite writers made a welcome Manchester Litfest appearance, when Paul Abbott was the guest of the BBC Writers’ Room at the Cornerhouse on Tuesday. He was introduced to huge applause by a montage of TV clips, ranging from Coronation Street and Children’sWard in the Eighties, through Cracker and Clocking Off, to State of Play and Shameless.
Interviewed by Kate Rowland, Abbott spoke of his initial motivation for writing: “as the second youngest child in a large family, a subordinate family member, it gave me the opportunity to express myself without being contradicted.” He then discussed his development as a scriptwriter, the opportunities that had come his way and the choices, good and bad, that he had made. Answering broader questions about his writing philosophy, he offered advice that many of his audience may well have read in books or heard in lectures on writing craft: write, and then write ten times more; only by writing will you write better; sleep on it; a good story is not enough, you have to make it uniquely yours; create a community people will pine for; take the audience somewhere they didn’t even know they wanted to go.
What made the session special – and believe me, it was – was his approach. Abbott is firmly grounded, despite his well-documented and traumatic early years. “My family were more impressed that I’d been on Parky than by my writing credits”, he joked during the open question and answer session. He is not one of those ‘literary circuit’ writers, who having achieved success offers nothing more to their audience than their own celebrity.
Despite his disenchantment with current TV drama, in particular that top names from the Eighties still dominate today, he remains positive. He is passionate about bringing on new voices and new writing talent. His advice was constructive and encouraging. “Write something you’re proud of,” he concluded.
His sound bites suggest he could have written for the Just Do It advertising industry. It’s just as well for fans of TV drama that he chose to turn his creative talents towards the small screen.
- Angi Holden
Interviewed by Kate Rowland, Abbott spoke of his initial motivation for writing: “as the second youngest child in a large family, a subordinate family member, it gave me the opportunity to express myself without being contradicted.” He then discussed his development as a scriptwriter, the opportunities that had come his way and the choices, good and bad, that he had made. Answering broader questions about his writing philosophy, he offered advice that many of his audience may well have read in books or heard in lectures on writing craft: write, and then write ten times more; only by writing will you write better; sleep on it; a good story is not enough, you have to make it uniquely yours; create a community people will pine for; take the audience somewhere they didn’t even know they wanted to go.
What made the session special – and believe me, it was – was his approach. Abbott is firmly grounded, despite his well-documented and traumatic early years. “My family were more impressed that I’d been on Parky than by my writing credits”, he joked during the open question and answer session. He is not one of those ‘literary circuit’ writers, who having achieved success offers nothing more to their audience than their own celebrity.
Despite his disenchantment with current TV drama, in particular that top names from the Eighties still dominate today, he remains positive. He is passionate about bringing on new voices and new writing talent. His advice was constructive and encouraging. “Write something you’re proud of,” he concluded.
His sound bites suggest he could have written for the Just Do It advertising industry. It’s just as well for fans of TV drama that he chose to turn his creative talents towards the small screen.
- Angi Holden
Review: An Evening With Andrew Motion
I don’t know what I expected of a Poet Laureate, but as I sat under the vaulted roof of the John Rylands Library, silently studying Andrew Motion preparing to start his reading, I felt slightly cheated that he looked mortal: he carried a briefcase, could have been the lay member of an Ofsted team. But why was I surprised? The man is as human as his poetry.
Michael Schmidt introduced Andrew Motion as a man who ‘loved the art and not just the identity of being a poet’. Here is a poet who writes from experience, and is self effacing in sharing that experience with his audience. He talked of Sylvia Plath, describing Plath’s style of poetry as the yardstick of his formative years; but he had reacted against her style, had felt ‘bullied’ by it. He found his voice in something more personal. His personality, his humanity, is everywhere in his writing.
Asked how he made his choice of poetry to read, he chuckled and quoted his friend Philip Larkin: ‘Make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, bring on the dancing girls.’ Well, I laughed, I cried and I tripped the light fantastic all the way home! Whether in his very evocative account of a visit to Ann Frank’s house, or in describing a surprise encounter with a tortoise, the man is present in his poetry; you can picture him in the situation that stimulated the work. With the rest of the audience, I laughed as his mother netted an enormous salmon during a holiday to Scotland. An ex-teacher, I smiled at the ‘child’s idea of an island…a green tear welling in a turquoise eye’. The sting of tears was present in the ‘Wish List’ to his late father, which included ‘your last word, which, though I held my breath, I did not hear.’
But mostly I was inspired by the modesty of a man who is untainted by his greatness.
At the end of the evening, I bought a copy of Motion’s biography of Keats, and waited in line for the signing. His eyes twinkled as he took the book and he made a remark about a useful doorstop. ‘The hero dies at the end, you know,’ he joked. The thing is, sometimes even knowing the ending can’t spoil a good read.
- Rachel Davies
Michael Schmidt introduced Andrew Motion as a man who ‘loved the art and not just the identity of being a poet’. Here is a poet who writes from experience, and is self effacing in sharing that experience with his audience. He talked of Sylvia Plath, describing Plath’s style of poetry as the yardstick of his formative years; but he had reacted against her style, had felt ‘bullied’ by it. He found his voice in something more personal. His personality, his humanity, is everywhere in his writing.
Asked how he made his choice of poetry to read, he chuckled and quoted his friend Philip Larkin: ‘Make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, bring on the dancing girls.’ Well, I laughed, I cried and I tripped the light fantastic all the way home! Whether in his very evocative account of a visit to Ann Frank’s house, or in describing a surprise encounter with a tortoise, the man is present in his poetry; you can picture him in the situation that stimulated the work. With the rest of the audience, I laughed as his mother netted an enormous salmon during a holiday to Scotland. An ex-teacher, I smiled at the ‘child’s idea of an island…a green tear welling in a turquoise eye’. The sting of tears was present in the ‘Wish List’ to his late father, which included ‘your last word, which, though I held my breath, I did not hear.’
But mostly I was inspired by the modesty of a man who is untainted by his greatness.
At the end of the evening, I bought a copy of Motion’s biography of Keats, and waited in line for the signing. His eyes twinkled as he took the book and he made a remark about a useful doorstop. ‘The hero dies at the end, you know,’ he joked. The thing is, sometimes even knowing the ending can’t spoil a good read.
- Rachel Davies
Review: David Gaffney and Urban Myths retold
David Gaffney
David Gaffney presented a lunchtime reading performance of new work written in homage to the 1857 'Art Treasures in Manchester' exhibition, now recreated at Manchester City Art Gallery. My company published David repeatedly in the-phone-book.com, as well as commissioning him for The Burgess Project; his wit and talent shine through and it's always a real treat to see the world through his eyes.
The readings at MCAG ranged from a Victorian Child bought from a website, to Pete Doherty split in half and immersed in formaldehyde having left his remains to "Art". There was no geek in sight here, but David's stories are succinct in length and vast in imagination and his reading style is certainly a considered, rehearsed performance. They're posting all his stories on the gallery website soon, I'll add the link when they do. Oh, and go buy his book.
Urban Myths Retold
The premise: through an open submission process, ten short-short stories were chosen to form the basis for Interactive Arts retelling. The young students had just three weeks to read and respond to the stories, resulting in a one hour live art & installation performance through the often unknown nooks & crannies of the Urbis building.
I was impressed by the original stories (being an obvious fan of the short-short narrative format), but the diverse and innovative responses from each artist really blew me away. My favourite was most definitely the response to "The Clubber" by Hetty Malcolm-Smith, a realistic flash-back to heady rave culture days (or rather, nights). The narrative was delivered via a series of flyers handed out sequentially as you walked down the long, postered staircase. It could really have been The Academy, circa 1995.
One minor complaint I have was the use of the word 'interactive' in one piece, the re-telling of "Jenny Greenteeth" by Steve Jackson. I have a real issue with the way the word 'interactive' is used. Purely from my point of view, if you do not affect the work in a way that changes another participant's experience of that piece, it isn't interactive. Call it an installation and I'll be happy (and I loved the home-made lollipops so it certainly wasn't all bad).
Our narrator wore a back-pack throughout, which instantly made me wonder, why? You don't wear a backpack in a performance unless you need to carry something, so at the end I grabbed the young man, applauded his performance, and questioned it's purpose... "backpackcam" was revealed and I'm now looking forwards to seeing further remixes of re-tellings through the MMU.
Congratulations to all for a truly successful experiment. This type of project is exactly the right approach for MLF's "Freeplay" strand, where Literature, Technology and Media collide.I look forwards to more of the same from all concerned.
- Fee Plumley
(posted simultaneously at her blog, Geekinetics)
David Gaffney presented a lunchtime reading performance of new work written in homage to the 1857 'Art Treasures in Manchester' exhibition, now recreated at Manchester City Art Gallery. My company published David repeatedly in the-phone-book.com, as well as commissioning him for The Burgess Project; his wit and talent shine through and it's always a real treat to see the world through his eyes.
The readings at MCAG ranged from a Victorian Child bought from a website, to Pete Doherty split in half and immersed in formaldehyde having left his remains to "Art". There was no geek in sight here, but David's stories are succinct in length and vast in imagination and his reading style is certainly a considered, rehearsed performance. They're posting all his stories on the gallery website soon, I'll add the link when they do. Oh, and go buy his book.
Urban Myths Retold
The premise: through an open submission process, ten short-short stories were chosen to form the basis for Interactive Arts retelling. The young students had just three weeks to read and respond to the stories, resulting in a one hour live art & installation performance through the often unknown nooks & crannies of the Urbis building.
I was impressed by the original stories (being an obvious fan of the short-short narrative format), but the diverse and innovative responses from each artist really blew me away. My favourite was most definitely the response to "The Clubber" by Hetty Malcolm-Smith, a realistic flash-back to heady rave culture days (or rather, nights). The narrative was delivered via a series of flyers handed out sequentially as you walked down the long, postered staircase. It could really have been The Academy, circa 1995.
One minor complaint I have was the use of the word 'interactive' in one piece, the re-telling of "Jenny Greenteeth" by Steve Jackson. I have a real issue with the way the word 'interactive' is used. Purely from my point of view, if you do not affect the work in a way that changes another participant's experience of that piece, it isn't interactive. Call it an installation and I'll be happy (and I loved the home-made lollipops so it certainly wasn't all bad).
Our narrator wore a back-pack throughout, which instantly made me wonder, why? You don't wear a backpack in a performance unless you need to carry something, so at the end I grabbed the young man, applauded his performance, and questioned it's purpose... "backpackcam" was revealed and I'm now looking forwards to seeing further remixes of re-tellings through the MMU.
Congratulations to all for a truly successful experiment. This type of project is exactly the right approach for MLF's "Freeplay" strand, where Literature, Technology and Media collide.I look forwards to more of the same from all concerned.
- Fee Plumley
(posted simultaneously at her blog, Geekinetics)
Monday, October 8, 2007
Review: Independents Day
On Saturday I went to the Independents Day at The Lowry. A whole 8 hours of readings and talks and stalls from independent publishers. I didn't last out the whole 8 hours as my already cluttered brain could only take in so much. All this on offer: create your own publication in a DIY workshop; listen to readings from poets and prose writers in the Circle Bar; attend talks and seminars with editors of cutting edge magazines, publishers and writers; mingle with writers and readers; explore stalls promoting what's on offer in the world of independent literature; buy books; drink coffee.
My highlights were:
- having the chance to wander round the stalls - small presses and magazines ranged from Comma, Cultureword, Transmission, Route to Parameter, Ugly Tree, Banipal Books and Templar. They were there to sell and promote books, magazines, writers, events.
I picked up copies of Iota and Parameter, chatted to Graham and Jo, the brilliant minds behind Transmission and got the chance to see the new Pulp Fiction issue. I talked to Suzanne Batty, another Manchester poet, whose work I love, and picked up a copy of her new book The Barking Thing, published by Bloodaxe.
I bought Dean Gaffney's Sawn-off tales (a gorgeous hardback Salt book) which I've been wanting to read for ages. I decided to try out Mahmoud Shukair's Mordechai's Moustache and his Wife's cats - a collection of short fiction from a Palestinian writer I've never heard of... but hey, this was the day to discover new writing, browse, explore, shop and relish the great world of independent publishing.
There were talks and seminars. I went to Out of School: presentation and discussion with editors and contributors of Transmission, Matter and Textyle magazines. This was an interesting discussion of the publishing that comes out of University Presses and Creative Writing courses. It had a hopeful message: if you're passionate about writing, if you have time to invest, and no concerns about giving your time for free, then you can start your own magazine, and/or submit work to a ground breaking publications who are interested in writers just like you.
The Alternative Publishing Seminar chaired by Ra Page from Comma Press was a good debate on all the new modern ways to get writing out there... from print on demand services to blogging, community publishing, digital books. It was quite a lively debate with audience members chipping in, asking questions, and listening to the debate on the pros and cons of mainstream vs independent publishing, whether the internet dilutes the quality of literature or makes it more accessible, and the creative ways independent publishers get writing seen.
And readings in the bar... a range of readers representing different independent publishers. My favourute was Shamshad Khan. I've seen her perform before, and each time she has made an impact. Her poems are beautiful, assertive, sometimes quiet, sometimes urgent. She knows exactly how to get them across to an audience and her musical voice drew us in.
It was a great day, I had the chance to chat to meet up with poet friends and meet new writing friends, mingle, exhaust myself with ideas and come home to a cosy night in with a handful of new books, and a head full of inspiration. We need more events like this at festivals, as perhaps Independent Publishing is the real future of literature.
- Annie Clarkson
My highlights were:
- having the chance to wander round the stalls - small presses and magazines ranged from Comma, Cultureword, Transmission, Route to Parameter, Ugly Tree, Banipal Books and Templar. They were there to sell and promote books, magazines, writers, events.
I picked up copies of Iota and Parameter, chatted to Graham and Jo, the brilliant minds behind Transmission and got the chance to see the new Pulp Fiction issue. I talked to Suzanne Batty, another Manchester poet, whose work I love, and picked up a copy of her new book The Barking Thing, published by Bloodaxe.
I bought Dean Gaffney's Sawn-off tales (a gorgeous hardback Salt book) which I've been wanting to read for ages. I decided to try out Mahmoud Shukair's Mordechai's Moustache and his Wife's cats - a collection of short fiction from a Palestinian writer I've never heard of... but hey, this was the day to discover new writing, browse, explore, shop and relish the great world of independent publishing.
There were talks and seminars. I went to Out of School: presentation and discussion with editors and contributors of Transmission, Matter and Textyle magazines. This was an interesting discussion of the publishing that comes out of University Presses and Creative Writing courses. It had a hopeful message: if you're passionate about writing, if you have time to invest, and no concerns about giving your time for free, then you can start your own magazine, and/or submit work to a ground breaking publications who are interested in writers just like you.
The Alternative Publishing Seminar chaired by Ra Page from Comma Press was a good debate on all the new modern ways to get writing out there... from print on demand services to blogging, community publishing, digital books. It was quite a lively debate with audience members chipping in, asking questions, and listening to the debate on the pros and cons of mainstream vs independent publishing, whether the internet dilutes the quality of literature or makes it more accessible, and the creative ways independent publishers get writing seen.
And readings in the bar... a range of readers representing different independent publishers. My favourute was Shamshad Khan. I've seen her perform before, and each time she has made an impact. Her poems are beautiful, assertive, sometimes quiet, sometimes urgent. She knows exactly how to get them across to an audience and her musical voice drew us in.
It was a great day, I had the chance to chat to meet up with poet friends and meet new writing friends, mingle, exhaust myself with ideas and come home to a cosy night in with a handful of new books, and a head full of inspiration. We need more events like this at festivals, as perhaps Independent Publishing is the real future of literature.
- Annie Clarkson
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