tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157077362024-03-13T17:06:29.653+00:00The Manchizzle"The pick of Manchester culture and hub of blogging goodness" - The GuardianKate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.comBlogger498125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-3502077034180115102018-06-09T10:44:00.001+00:002021-02-18T15:34:02.097+00:00ETIHAD by Kate Feld<i><br /></i>
<i>The following is the text of a speech I delivered at Manchester Histories Festival on June 7-8 2018, about the situation of Ahmed Mansoor and its relevance to the people of Manchester. I have hauled this long-defunct blog about life in the city out of retirement for the occasion; given the subject of the speech, it seemed appropriate to post it here. </i><br />
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<i>If you'd like to find out more about Ahmed Mansoor and the Manchester street naming campaign, go here:<a href="http://freeahmed.net/"> freeahmed.net</a></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A year or two after I moved to Manchester in 2003, I started a blog about
life in the city. As I got to know the place better, my posts became more
critical. I began to question certain ways we have of doing things here. My
website became a place for comment and debate. And I shared my opinions freely
on social media.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The people in power wanted to silence me, and all
the others too. There were warnings. I heard them, but I kept publishing. And
then they came to my house early one morning. Twelve plainclothes security
officers broke down the door of the home where my wife and I slept, along with
our four young sons. That was March 20, 2017. Since that day I
have been held at an unknown location. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s not true, is it? At some point there I
stopped telling my story and started telling someone else’s. I’m not in prison.
I stand here in front of you, a free woman in a free society. Free to voice my
opinions. Free to ask questions. The man in state custody is called Ahmed
Mansoor. I am here to speak for him.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ahmed Mansoor</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ahmed Mansoor is a pro-democracy campaigner, blogger,
engineer and poet who lived in Sharjah, outside Dubai, in the United Arab
Emirates. The recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
in 2015, he’s called the million dollar dissident, because of the incredible
lengths his government went to to<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mg7pjy/ahmed-mansoor-million-dollar-dissident-government-spyware"> bug his iPhone</a>. But a better name for him is
the last dissident. The last person who was telling us what was really
happening to people in the Emirates. There’s no one else. Nothing follows but
silence.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The United Arab Emirates is an autocratic police
state which has used the full power of its authority to repress dissent, and
quash reform. In 2011, a small group of Emiratis signed a petition asking for
elected representation. They were rounded up and detained. Ahmed was arrested
then, and released after 8 months. They’d been on hunger strike. When he got
home, he picked up his young son for the first time, and the boy started
screaming. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjY_902AYH8">He did not recognise his own father. </a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But Ahmed would not be silenced. Last month he was tried – apparently, without a lawyer – and <a href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/ten-years-tweet-shameful-imprisonment-ahmed-mansoor-503140141">sentenced to ten years in prison</a>
for<span style="color: black;"> “publish[ing] false information, rumours and lies
about the UAE” which “would damage the UAE's social harmony and unity.”</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We don’t know where he is now, but there is every
reason to believe he is being tortured. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You might have heard his name on the news. Seen a headline
flash up on your phone. Or not. Things that happen far away often seem kind of
fuzzy, like they don’t occupy the same reality. We all have so much to worry
about closer to home.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Looking to Ancoats from Piccadilly Basin Manchester, Kate Feld 2018</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some Manchester trams now show the name ‘Etihad’ as
their destination. In Arabic, Etihad is a noun that means union or
alliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 2014, our city entered an alliance with Abu
Dhabi, richest and most powerful of the seven emirates. Abu Dhabi United Group,
owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nayhan, the country’s deputy prime
minister and a member of the royal family, <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/manchester-city-etihad-stadium-adug-7313788">signed a £1 billion housing deal</a>
with Manchester City Council. This was six years after it bought Manchester
City Football Club and renamed Eastlands stadium Etihad, after the royal-owned
airline, which became the club’s official sponsor. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We don’t know the details of the housing deal,
because Manchester City Council has kept them secret. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/09/uk-secret-group-of-top-officials-enable-uae-investment-united-arab-emirates">A freedom of information request was denied</a> citing ‘the risk of prejudice to commercial interests.’ But
over the next decade it will create 6,000 homes in East Manchester.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The name of this new entity is the Manchester Life
Development Company: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">since 2014 we have
been carefully planning, place making and developing across Ancoats and New
Islington,’</i> it says in the <a href="http://mcrlife.co.uk/murrays-mills/">brochure</a> for their first property<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>Murray’s Mills.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>You could make a great erasure poem out of that property brochure,
which would be appropriate, since it is a document of erasure:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
head-turning façade.</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Historic features. </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Desirable communities. </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sympathetically
revitalising </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">this irreplaceable</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">heritage. Maximising the city’s growth potential.</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Shared values of </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">placemaking. </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For us, it’s all about </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">staying
true to Manchester’s irreverent, characterful roots. </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Satin anodised
ironmongery. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Secure gated access. CCTV around complex. Fully fitted Mackintosh
designer kitchen. </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Right now the next chapter of Ancoats’ history is being
written. 24/7 concierge.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The last photo in the brochure is a detail from the
model flat. On a shelf sits a turntable, with The Verve’s Urban Hymns album
sleeve carefully positioned below. Close by, a piece of graphic art reads:
‘This is The Place. We ❤ Manchester.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I like that phrase: place making. What is there
before place making happens? In school I was taught that in 1492, Christopher
Columbus discovered America. Is that what they mean by place making? Great
Britain has a fine tradition of place making all over the world. All those
lines drawn on the map, making places. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pay attention. Place making is happening here, right
now. Our city’s being sold out from under our feet and its streets are filling
with the bodies of people who have no place. Do you see them?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">L.S. Lowry wrote this about his art of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">original modern</i> city: ‘An industrial
landscape without people is an empty shell. A street is not a street without
people… it is dead as a mutton.’ <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Abraham Lincon statue, George Grey Barnard, Lincoln Square Manchester</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 1862 Mancunians knew just how easily complacency
can become complicity. The American Civil War and the Union cotton blockade
starved our industry of raw material. Of course, Lancashire had imported three
quarters of the cotton slaves picked down in Dixie. The mills fell silent; families
went hungry. There was rioting, and calls for the Royal Navy to break the
blockade. Confederate flags were flying in Liverpool. But after a debate at the
Free Trade Hall, Manchester mill workers voted to uphold the embargo. They formalised
it in a letter of support to President Abraham Lincoln, with a lightly edited
quote from the Declaration of Independence: ‘all men are created<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> free</b> and equal.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a letter back to ‘the working men of Manchester,
England’ Lincoln praised their act, at the height of the cotton famine, as “an instance
of sublime Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any
country.” That’s why there’s a statue of Lincoln not far from here, in Lincoln
Square – his name is part of the fabric of our city. Like the word Etihad. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of us are campaigning for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/16/manchester-residents-lobby-to-name-street-after-emirati-activist-ahmed-mansoor">Manchester to name astreet after Ahmed Mansoor</a>, to honour <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">his</b>
heroism. To show the world this is still a city which believes all men are free
and equal. <a href="https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/open-letter-manchester-mayor-andy-burnham-support-ahmed-mansoor">A letter</a> to the council and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham bearing
the signature of 34 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International
and English PEN, argued that Ahmed Mansoor Street would be ‘<span style="background: white; color: #333333;">“a fitting honour to bestow upon an
individual who embodies so many of the qualities that the city… celebrates as a
key part of its history.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s been no response from Mayor Burnham.
Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese stated that it was city policy
‘not to name streets after anybody still living or with no connection to the
city.’ <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In April 2017, Manchester City FC named a street
outside Etihad Stadium Sir Howard Bernstein Way in recognition of the former
MCC Chief Executive’s work ‘facilitating’ the UAE’s investment in Manchester. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In November 2017, Sir Howard Bernstein was appointed
‘strategic development advisor’ with City Football Group. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think history is more than historic features. It’s
who we are. And I wonder: what will they write about our Manchester? Will they
say we stayed true to our ‘irreverent, characterful roots’?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It seems to me we prefer our irreverence in the
rearview mirror. Visit Manchester has proclaimed this the year of Radical
Manchester. Book a radical history tour; tea and biscuits will be served. Learn
what it feels like to have a feeding tube forced down your neck while your
wasted body bucks and retches! Live the experience of telling your starving
children again that no cotton means no work, and no work means no food.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But that’s what radicalism demands. Acting against
your own interests to make change. Refusing to be silent, even when your own
life is at risk. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ahmed Mansoor knew what happened to
people at the state security facilities, but rejected offers to get him out of the
Emirates. According to someone who worked closely with him, Ahmed felt it was
his job to document what was happening in his country: ‘”If they come for me,
they come for me,” was his standard line, and it was always delivered with a
shrug and a soft, resigned chuckle.’ </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They came for him, and now there is only silence.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll end with one of Ahmed’s poems, translated by
Tony Calderbank. This is called Final Choice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I have no other means now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">but a tight-lipped silence in the square and through corridors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since I have tried everything –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">screams, chants, signboards,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">obstructing roads,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and lying on the ground in front of the queues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cutting through the procession with eggs, tomatoes, and blazing tires.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hurling burning bottles and stones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stripped naked in front of the public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Carving statements in the flesh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Walking masked in front of cameras.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dressed in shackles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tied and chained to garden fences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Swallowing rusty razor blades and splintered glass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hacking off fingers with a machete<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and hanging myself from the lampposts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dousing the body with kerosene<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and setting it aflame <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I have tried all this, but you didn't even turn to look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This time, I swear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I won't utter a word, or move.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I will stay the way I am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">until you turn to look<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">or until I am petrified.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tLnd4YQMyHA/Wxukqx5VYkI/AAAAAAAABWg/pQwX78gueso-qr2hrt9QgA5f7ECSyU6pwCLcBGAs/s1600/kate%2Bfeld%2Bat%2BMHF%2Blaunch%2Bahmed%2Bhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1600" height="356" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tLnd4YQMyHA/Wxukqx5VYkI/AAAAAAAABWg/pQwX78gueso-qr2hrt9QgA5f7ECSyU6pwCLcBGAs/s640/kate%2Bfeld%2Bat%2BMHF%2Blaunch%2Bahmed%2Bhood.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Still from performance at Manchester Art Gallery 7 June 2018, courtesy Peggy Manning</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b>This speech was performed at the launch of Manchester Histories Festival on June 7, 2018 in the Lowry and Valette Gallery at Manchester Art Gallery, and on June 8, 2018 in All Saints Park, Manchester.</b></span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
work of many journalists, researchers, activists and translators contributed to
this piece. In particular I’d like to thank Frances Perraudin and Helen Pidd of
The Guardian and Jennifer Williams of the Manchester Evening News; Nicholas
McGeehan, Manu Luksch, Peggy Manning, Susan Ferguson, Benjamin Feld and Manchester
Amnesty International; and Tony Calderbank, translator of Ahmed Mansoor’s
poetry. Thank you also to Manchester Art Gallery and the
Manchester Histories Festival for their help and support. </span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (c) Kate Feld 2018</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <a href="http://katefeld.com/">katefeld.com</a> </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></i></div>
<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-55807720285363877592016-08-23T13:40:00.000+00:002016-08-23T13:42:31.105+00:00Manchester Live Literature: Autumn 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WvpUz-MFp-Y/V7xQ4vLFj2I/AAAAAAAABOk/Yl_DpXGbQ6M4QWuEFOfwn6X3bVRtpvu5QCLcB/s1600/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WvpUz-MFp-Y/V7xQ4vLFj2I/AAAAAAAABOk/Yl_DpXGbQ6M4QWuEFOfwn6X3bVRtpvu5QCLcB/s640/books.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As usual there are more literature events then we actually want or need around here, getting in the way and making a nuisance of themselves all autumn long. Everyone you know has written a book and needs to launch it pronto. You wanna to go to a poetry reading? We've got slam, feminist, experimental and Petrarchan sonnet nights. There's probably a short story slam happening in your pocket right now. Go on, have a look. Wait. Don't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take this Thursday. Just a simple Thursday evening in August, when we're all supposed to still be on holiday, right? New publisher <b>Dodo Ink </b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1732760370330518/">launches </a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.76px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1732760370330518/">Seraphina Madsen’s Dodge and Burn</a> </span>with support readings from Jenn Ashworth, Lara Williams and Anthony Trevelyan at Blackwells' at 6:30. Up in the NQ at exactly the same time it's <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-bash-manchester-tickets-27070258873"><b>Book Bash</b></a> at Kosmonaut, a new 'book social' from publishing guy Mike Murphy,</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">AND across town </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1357636844249771/" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Other Room</b> </a><span style="font-family: inherit;">gives us experimental poetry from </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.76px;">Joey Frances, David Kennedy, Wanda O'Connor and James Wilkes in The Castle Hotel from 7:30pm. Disgusting, isn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.76px;">Next week! Wednesday August 31 <b>Bad Language</b>'s monthly open mic is headlined by <a href="https://badlanguagemcr.com/2016/08/17/bad-language-august-2016/">Anna Chilvers</a>, author of Tainted Love. Oh, and next month <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1747860092169053/">BL co-host an event with <b>Edge Hill University Press</b></a><b> </b>celebrating the publication of a new anthology, Head Land, featuring stories from the first decade of the prestigious Edge Hill Prize; Jon McGregor, </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.76px;">Rachel Trezise and Zoe Lambert perform at The Portico at 7pm on Thursday September 29 (£7, <a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/jon-mcgregor-rachel-trezise-zoe-lambert/the-portico-library/1009804">book</a>.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On Friday September 2 <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.76px;"><b>great weather for MEDIA</b></span> present <a href="http://greatweatherformedia.com/the-careless-embrace-of-the-boneshaker/">The Careless Embrace of The Boneshaker</a>- the second Mcr event from this NYC based indy press, featuring performances from Rosie Garland, Harry Jelley, Rebecca Audra Smith, Amy McCauley, Chris Stewart, Nadine West and Emma Wooton alongside editor Jane Ormerod. 7pm at 3MT, £5 (<a href="http://www.threeminutetheatre.co.uk/#!product/prd2/4539952641/the-careless-embrace-of-the-boneshaker-spoken-word">book)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then Saturday 3 September is the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/342786246108986/?active_tab=highlights"><b>Anti Slam</b></a>, a new event hosted by Paula Varjack and <a href="http://www.evidentlysalford.net/">Evidently's</a> Kieran King which somewhat alarmingly promises us that the poet with the lowest score wins. It's judged by Lenni Sanders, Rebecca Audra Smith and Fat Roland. Potential for good bad poetry high. 7:30pm at 3MT</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Thursday Sept 8</span> at the Burgess Foundation it's the launch of <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/university-of-manchester-new-writing-anthology-launch-2016-tickets-25669190239">a new anthology from MA students at the <b>Centre for New Writing</b></a> (6:30pm) with readings from contributors. Saturday September 10 at Central Library is the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/945123678933500/">launch of Elevator Fiction-</a> a new anthology of flash fiction and micro narratives from BAME writers published by <b>Commonword</b> (2pm, free.) That evening sees <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/243250639402087/"><b>Nous </b>magazine celebrate the launch of its 'work' issue</a> with readings and music at Fuel Cafe in Withington from 7pm (free). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tuesday September 13 Blackwells celebrates my birthday with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/787831001354108/"><b>Blackwells Book Quiz 3</b>: What We Quiz About When We Quiz About Quizzing</a>.... Okay, so the folks at Blackwells haven't mentioned that 'my birthday' part yet. (I like books and also book tokens. And yessir I've got a bit of a soft spot for book-themed novelties.) The following night l</span>ive storytelling champions <a href="http://talesofwhatever.com/"><b>Tales of Whatever </b>tackle the internet </a>on September 14 at Gullivers (free, 7:30pm). Let's hope no one gets seriously injured this time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.76px;"><b>Max Porter</b>, author of the much-praised Grief is the Thing with Feathers is in conversation with poet Andrew McMillan at Waterstones Deansgate on Wednesday Sept 21 at 6:30pm (£5, <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-max-porter/manchester-deansgate">book here</a>) - this should be a great event. Also on</span> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1653109571683731/">Wednesday Sept 21 <b>Pen:Chant</b> </a>moves to Gorilla and welcomes a pretty varied and interesting lineup, including strange comedy trio Gein's Family Giftshop, beatboxer Bellatrix and <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.76px;">MOBO-winning/ Mercury-nominated alto-saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch plus open mic. And on Monday 26th September Fallowfield's finest open mic <b><a href="https://verbosemcr.wordpress.com/dates-and-details/">Verbose</a> </b>returns from holidays with a Bare Fiction magazine special featurng headliners Michael Conley, Rosie Garland and Rachel Mann (7:30pm at Fallow Cafe, free).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">And then? And then? Well in October (7-23 October to be precise) it's <b>Manchester Literature Festival </b>so you should probably go to that. <b><a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events">All of that.</a> </b></span><span style="background-color: white;">Incidentally my own outfit <b>The Real Story</b> is running a special MLF edition of our live nonfiction night on October 22 at the Burgess Foundation headlined by the great Horatio Clare, and we could use a couple more essayists to read at it. If you're interested, check out our submission guidelines <a href="http://therealstory.org/about/">here.</a> You can also buy tickets (£6/4) <a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/the-real-story-37243">here.</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I have gotten wind of a special event<a href="https://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/" style="background-color: transparent;"><b> First Draft </b></a>are doing on 31 October at Chetham's Library (this is in addition to their regularly scheduled October night on Monday 17th at 7:30pm at <a href="https://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/in-praise-of-the-castle-hotel/">The Castle Hotel</a>, with performers responding to the theme 'crush.') Save the date for some spooky stories... Look, I'm not even going to talk about the rest of October. I mean, I'm tired of writing this post and you're not actually still reading this, are you? Wait... you are? Don't you have that Petrarchan sonnet to write? </span></div>
Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-91746743851967937952016-03-07T15:47:00.002+00:002016-03-07T21:02:10.643+00:00Manchester writing and live literature: Spring 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another day, another slightly desperate call for female performers at a literary event hits my inbox, and I'm reminded of that old saying: "women: can't live with 'em, can't convince them to get up on a stage and perform their writing."<br />
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So we know that the majority of writers are not men. Writing happens to everyone (worse luck). But when it comes to putting the writing out there, either by <a href="http://robertcutforth.com/?p=21831">performing</a> or <a href="http://www.vidaweb.org/2014-vida-count/">publishing it</a>, lots of the women get lost. Why? Is it because we live in a patriarchy that rewards men for being confident and outspoken, and punishes women for being confident and outspoken? Is it because women with children and/or careers are less likely than our male counterparts to have the time and energy to devote to writing and performing? Is it something about this or that particular event/publication that makes women feel unwelcome, or is it a more systemic problem? And what do we do about it?<br />
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These are the questions that keep right-minded writing people awake at night. I am not going to answer them here, just ask them in mildly annoying rhetorical fashion. But some of these questions <i>will</i> be addressed at<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/945266162249067/"> <b>Regarding Women</b></a>: a performance in the portraits gallery at Whitworth Art Gallery that's part of the <b>Wonder Women</b>-themed Thursday Lates event this Thursday March 10. Rosie Garland, Lara Williams and my good self will perform work on the male gaze and female identity. In newly-commissioned poetry, lyric essay and fiction we'll explore what it means to speak, write and act as a woman. It starts at 6:30pm and is followed by a whole FREE evening of entertainment including DJing from Violent Femmes, comedy from Gag Reflex and an art pub quiz.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyqVryB3uNM/Vt2iYcwOjrI/AAAAAAAABMw/ifF8g5egs2w/s1600/treats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyqVryB3uNM/Vt2iYcwOjrI/AAAAAAAABMw/ifF8g5egs2w/s200/treats.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
Later this month we're back at the Whitworth as <b>Lara Williams</b>' debut short story collection, <i>Treats</i> (Freight) launches at a standalone <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/753622624767626/">Thursday Late event 24 March</a> featuring an army of writerly support bands. Plus actual support bands. Should be a fun night.<br />
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Elsewhere there's plenty on this spring. Headlining this month's <b><a href="http://badlanguagemcr.com/">Bad Language</a></b> is Nikesh Shukla<b> </b>on March 30 and the aforementioned Lara Williams headlines April 27. They've also got a couple of special events later this spring: poets <a href="http://badlanguagemcr.com/2016/02/08/hollie-mcnish-jo-bell/"><b>Hollie McNish and Jo Bell</b> r</a>ead and converse in an enticing double bill at the Burgess Foundation (tickets going fast.) And on 12 May it's '<b><a href="http://badlanguagemcr.com/2016/02/28/voices-of-the-city/">Voices of the City' </a></b>- a host of local writers perform new work inspired by archival film footage of Manchester at the Jewish Museum for Museums at Night.<br />
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On Monday 14 March poets Carolyn Teague and Daisy Thurston-Gent headline poetry performance monthly <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/893358897458540/"><b>Evidently Salford</b></a> at The Eagle Inn. Storytelling night <b>Tales of Whatever</b> presents tales about <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/760256067441248/">Road Trips</a> this Wednesday 9 March downstairs at Gullivers, and have posted a list of upcoming themes for their monthly nights <a href="http://talesofwhatever.com/">on their website</a> - get in touch if you want to tell a story and work with the organisers to develop your performance. On Monday 28 March <a href="https://verbosemcr.wordpress.com/dates-and-details/"><b>Verbose</b></a> at The Fallow Cafe in Fallowfield features the Manchester New Left Writers plus their typically eclectic open mic. Ever-inspiring performance night <b>First Draft</b> collaborates with Manchester Sound Archive for <b>Voices</b>, a sound response themed event <a href="https://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/voices-bringing-sound-archives-to-life/">Monday April 18</a> - and an intriguing event called <b><a href="https://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/next-events/">Perspectives</a></b> on 18 May at People's History Museum.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gve3cuEJPXo/Vt2f-r2s4sI/AAAAAAAABMY/cspQvrpZofw/s1600/Welsh%252C%2BIrvine%2B%2Bbw%2Bc%2BRankin%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gve3cuEJPXo/Vt2f-r2s4sI/AAAAAAAABMY/cspQvrpZofw/s200/Welsh%252C%2BIrvine%2B%2Bbw%2Bc%2BRankin%2B2.jpg" width="160" /></a><b>Manchester Literature Festival</b> presents Trainspotting author <a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/irvine-welsh-37089">Irvine Welsh</a> in conversation with author Kevin Sampson on Sunday April 3. He'll be talking about new book <i>The Blade Artist,</i> writing, music, film adaptations and the legacy of Trainspotting in the 20th anniversary year of the film's release. At <a href="http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/centrefornewwriting/events/">The Centre for New Writing</a> events series, Howard Jacobson reads from new Shakespeare reworking <i>Shylock is my Name</i> at the Martin Harris Centre on 11 April, while on Monday April 18, writers <b>V<a href="http://www.anthonyburgess.org/visiting-us/whats-on?Month=4&Year=2016">ona Groarke and Adam Thorpe</a></b> read at the Burgess Foundation. And <b><a href="http://poetsandplayers.co/">Poets and Player</a>s</b> is bringing Carrie Etter and William Letford to Manchester on 19 March and Andrew McMillan and Ira Lightman on 29 April.<br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HfVdUy_NIo/Vt2gZY0YoMI/AAAAAAAABMg/_lsVdApgL8c/s1600/large_Outrun_cover_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HfVdUy_NIo/Vt2gZY0YoMI/AAAAAAAABMg/_lsVdApgL8c/s200/large_Outrun_cover_300.jpg" width="125" /></a><br />
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Looking ahead to June, our live nonfiction night <b><a href="http://therealstory.org/">The Real Story</a></b> has just confirmed a really exciting headliner: <b>Amy Liptrot</b>, whose stunning memoir <i>The Outrun</i> has been garnering rave reviews all over the place. Describing it as 'a future classic,' <i><a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2016/03/why-struggles-white-working-class-children-matter-and-what-can-be-done">The New Statesman</a></i> said 'Liptrot is an Orcadian warrior with the breeze in her blood and poetry in her fingers." We're really looking forward to hosting her first Manchester event. Save the date! It happens on Thursday 23 June at Gullivers, at 7:30pm.<br />
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And remember <a href="http://www.manchizzle.com/2015/02/two-new-independent-bookshops-in.html">Aspidistra Books, which we blogged about way back when?</a> Well, their business model has changed and they're now setting up shop as an online bookseller with a sideline in literary events. They're keen to hear from any Manchester literary types who are interested in working together on events, particularly LGBT folks. Email Joseph Parkinson on hibsjoe07 at gmail.<br />
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<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-48368183734666227982015-10-06T20:03:00.001+00:002015-10-07T08:23:31.027+00:00Manchester Writing and Live Lit: Autumn 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
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These days the writerly activity in Manchester has saturated the city centre and is spreading out to The Suburbs. Do not be alarmed! It's okay. Nice people live there. If you're a nice person living in Stretford, for example, you're lucky because the great <a href="http://www.davidhartleywriter.com/#!A-Mancunian-Decade/c1q8z/560995f10cf25fa7fe1b7cca">Dave Hartley</a>, himself a legendary lynchpin of the live lit landscape, has made a new open mic night at the Sip Club. It's called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/959523150773118/">Speak Easy</a>, and I'll be tramming it out there tomorrow evening October 8 (7:30, free) to read along with a bunch of fine writers. I've only been to Stretford once, for the purpose of loitering around an abandoned cinema...<br />
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...which, weirdly, I'll be reading a story about in another southern suburb later this month. If you're near Fallowfield, you probably already know about open mic night <a href="https://verbosemcr.wordpress.com/dates-and-details/">Verbose</a> at the Fallow Cafe. I'm at the next one on Monday 26 October with Sarah Butler and David Gaffney in a reprise of the Re/Place project, a series of stories about South Manchester landmarks commissioned for Chorlton Arts Festival (7:30, free). And both of these relatively new nights are open to all flavours of spoken word performer, from fiction to nonfiction, from rhyming verse to weird experimental poetry.<br />
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As always the city centre is crazily busy with readings and events all Autumn: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1622653914681598/">Evidently </a>have American performance poet Adele Hampton and Joe Cooper Monday 12 October and Pen:Chant bring <a href="http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Manchester/-Islington-Mill-James-Street-Salford-M3/PenChant-Presents-Jess-Greens-Burning-Books/12521701/">Jess Green</a> to Islington Mill on the 14th. There's a pretty stellar lineup at <a href="https://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/">First Draft</a> on Monday 19 October, an intriguing <a href="http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/whatson/talesofbadlanguage">Bad Language/Tales of Whatever/Manchester Science Fest </a>mashup on Sunday 25 October at Gullivers, and way too many enticing things at the <a href="http://www.anthonyburgess.org/visiting-us/whats-on/">Burgess Foundation</a> and <a href="http://www.chapteronebooks.co.uk/blogs/whats-on-at-chapter-one">Chapter One Books</a>. But wait, am I leaving something out? Oh yeah, Manchester Literature Festival is happening 12-25 October <span style="background-color: yellow; color: red;">(<a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/">****INSERT SUBTLE LINK HERE****</a>) </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;"> </span>It may be true that I </span>work on it and am contractually obliged to say how great it is but I'm pretty darn excited about this year's<a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/categories/rising-stars-2015-36525"> Rising Stars events</a>, which offer the chance to see some incredible rarely-seen-here writers for little more than the price of a NQ pint. So there.<br />
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There are plenty of non-performy opportunities for developing and publishing work in the city: Are you wild about site specific writing? Postmodern urban landscapes? Islands? You’re in luck. New writing project <a href="http://www.mypomona.co.uk/">My Pomona</a> wants your words. Pomona is a (sort of) island on the outskirts of the city. It’s been in the news a bit lately as Peel Holdings have announced some <a href="http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/news/pomona-island-is-this-peel-development-good-enough">controversial new plans to develop it</a>. Also, <a href="https://twitter.com/tapesandtales">Tapes n’ Tales </a>are a new podcast featuring writers reading their own stories, made right here in Manchester. They’re open to audio submissions of short stories between 2-7ish minutes.<br />
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Comma Press has launched <a href="http://commapress.co.uk/digital/macguffin/">MacGuffin</a>, a new platform for short fiction in both app and internet form. They publish new writing in audio and text format, and they've already amassed a really impressive range of work including some live performances from city open mic nights; go have a wander. Comma and Creative Industries Trafford are running a short fiction writing <a href="https://thecommapressblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/nouvelle-espionage-short-fiction-course/">course</a> with Sarah Schofield at Sale Waterside next month, where the <a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/northern-lights-writers-conference-2015-36877">Northern Lights Writers' Conference</a> takes place on 14 November.<br />
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The mighty For Books' Sake are running their women-only <a href="http://forbookssake.net/write-like-a-grrrl/write-like-a-grrrl-manchester/">Write Like a Grrrl</a> course again starting in November. Poet Joy France has taken up a<a href="https://www.facebook.com/affleckscreatives"> new artist in residence post</a> at Manc alternative cultural insitution Afflecks, so look out for some workshops and events there soon. <a href="http://www.sleepyhousepress.com/workshop/">Sleepy House Press</a> are now doing regular writing workshops, too. On 13 October at Central Library there's a <a href="http://www.librarylive.co.uk/event/the-different-voices-of-nina-simone-workshop-a-black-history-month-event/">free poetry workshop with Shirley May </a>based on the music of Nina Simone. And poets might also be interested in a<a href="http://poetrysociety.org.uk/event/october-poetry-surgery-with-jo-bell-manchester-1-hour/"> one-on-one critique session </a>with the wonderful Jo Bell. I think that's enough to be getting on with.</div>
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Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-68721822787331741162015-09-16T17:20:00.000+00:002015-09-16T17:20:36.042+00:00Ramsbottom Festival 2015 PreviewSummer's well and truly over, and we know this because it has stopped raining. We also know this because <b>Ramsbottom Festival</b> is happening this weekend 18-20 September (and wonder of wonders, the forecast is for partly sunny weather Saturday and Sunday! Friday looks, well... considerably less dry.) As usual, you can expect <a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/artists/arts/">arty sideshows</a>, <a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/artists/itinerary/">family events</a> and way too much good beer. You can peruse the<a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/"> full musical lineup here</a> but here's the headlines: Friday headliner: The Wonder Stuff. Saturday Headliner: Idlewild. Sunday headliner: The Proclaimers. But who else can you see? These guys, for starters... <br />
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Jesca Hoop<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7bxpLcNod80" width="560"></iframe>
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The Magic Numbers<br />
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Black Rivers<br />
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Slow Readers Club<br />
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The Go! Team<br />
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Blue Rose Code<br />
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Walk<br />
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<i>Adult Day tickets from £24, for booking and full information visit the <a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/">Ramsbottom Festival </a>website.</i>Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-8183504835442957322015-09-10T15:03:00.000+00:002015-09-10T15:07:55.233+00:00What we talk about when we talk about doughnuts: Breakfast at Common<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.aplacecalledcommon.co.uk/">Common</a> is dead, long live Common. The old Common is no more. Yeah, it was a little beat up around the edges, but what gives? I<i> liked </i>the fact that the walls looked like a bizarro comic book. I <i>liked</i> the booths. I <i>liked</i> the day-to-night menu of casual eats and, sometimes, root beer. The whole thing was as comfortable as an old pair of jeans, dammit.<br />
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But earlier this year Common decided it wanted more out of life. Common looked around and realised it was time to grow up. Why? I have my theories. <a href="http://www.timeout.com/manchester/blog/scranchester-the-edge-street-edition">There's money to be made on Edge Street now</a>. Whatever's at
street level and isn't being turned into a speciality tequila bar or a
cafe hawking £5 goji-guava detox shots is (or will soon be) a restaurant,
because this is where people want to part with their leisure money. Say you found yourself in
possession of a bar and restaurant unit smack bang in the middle of this. Wouldn't you raise your game and go for the kind of customers
who aren't going to spend 3 hours hogging a table with their laptop and a couple of Americanos? I would.<br />
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Anyhoo, when the newspapers came off the windows there was a more foodily ambitious menu. There was table service, FFS. And <i>decorating</i>. Out with the loungetastic booths, in with wooden stools. Common now has the intentional blankness of interiors in a Saturday magazine supplement (<i>architect duo Isaac and Caroline converted the former Balham Brush Works on a shoestring at just £2.3m)</i> The crockery is covetable, the light fittings unique. It looks great. If it was a new restaurant, I'd probably eat there and
like it. It's just, well... why'd they have to do it in Common? <br />
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Yet look under the surface and there's still some rough in this diamond. The astonishingly strong craft beer roster is still there. The trusty burgers
are still there, and it's still a good place to hang out once you get used to it, though the clientele has definitely changed. And, with vastly expanded sub-noon offerings, it's now a solid choice for breakfast and brunch, my favourite two meals of the day.<br />
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Where to eat is a crucial decision if you're feeling way delicate following a long night; the wrong choice here could bruise your soul. You need somewhere comfortable where they are going to smile and play okay music and feed you nice things and you can pretend you're not in public while reanimating yourself with gallons of coffee beverage. If this is how it is with you, I prescribe Common's cured salmon, asparagus and poached egg bathed in hollandaise on a slice of Trove sourdough; like a cooler Eggs Benedict. One particularly fragile Saturday it sorted me right out. My brunch buddy went for small plates from the lunch/dinner menu which I guess is something people do, but he spent the meal looking longingly at my eggs.<br />
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Another weekend, in slightly sounder fettle, I tried the shak shuka, a skillet of eggs<i><b> </b></i>baked in a sweetly piquant mixture of spiced tomatoes and peppers, accompanied by more of that heroic sourdough, and was glad I did. My companion's Full English received cautious approval. Yes, the portions weren't as big as you get elsewhere, and no black pudding, but the impeccable quality of each individual component got it a thumbs up. We ate in the front bit not the dining room and we both appreciated eating in a space light and airy enough to nudge us into the idea of daytime. They had the papers in, too.<br />
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Oh. Wait. We need to talk about doughnuts. Common has unexpectedly started cranking out the most incredible doughnuts right there in their basement kitchens. They fill them with all sorts of stuff like banana custard or vanilla and plum jam or (gasp) ice cream down there. Those who want to try them should get there early as they regularly sell out. If you're the kind of person who likes that sort of thing, you may flip out and want to bulk buy them and you can do this easily because they sell them by the dozen and half dozen, pre-order only. They are really freaking fantastic doughnuts and you will pay £18 for a dozen. Yes, £18. That's only £1.50 a doughnut, which, well... I dunno, I suppose it's all about your priorities. Some people in those Saturday magazines pay <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/sep/06/perfect-red-lipstick">£60 for a single lipstick</a> (!!!!) Is it wrong? Is it right? I donut know.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.aplacecalledcommon.co.uk/food/food-menu/"><b>Common</b></a>, 39-41 Edge St. Northern 1/4, Manchester M4 1HW. Breakfast menu served 10am-2pm daily.<b> Full disclosure:</b> Common asked me to come in and have a meal on them and write a review. For this post I went once on their dime and once on my own. And they're not giving me free doughnuts. Though, you know, I wouldn't say no to one. </i><br />
<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-53722775418916627222015-08-31T11:44:00.001+00:002015-08-31T19:12:22.207+00:00Review: High Tea in Wonderland, Manchester International Festival<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2BKX1chonEY/VeLwWV-7o1I/AAAAAAAABJw/XSl-cDolYgY/s1600/bite%2Bme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2BKX1chonEY/VeLwWV-7o1I/AAAAAAAABJw/XSl-cDolYgY/s320/bite%2Bme.jpg" width="320" /></a>Performances that involve food make me nervous. One of the reasons I became a food writer was a predilection for the theatre of the restaurant, the entrances and exits in the stage set of the dining room, the sensory drama running counterpoint to the little dramas unfolding at every table and behind the kitchen doors. In my experience, adding actual theatre to proceedings can make for cringey times.<br />
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But ex-Aumbry chef Mary-Ellen McTague's name in connection with <a href="http://www.mif.co.uk/event/high-tea-in-wonderland">High Tea in Wonderland</a> is enough to make me risk a food/theatre mashup. The chef who built a national reputation in two-knocked together terraces in Prestwich has always seemed like the kind of person who is rightly careful about the projects she will attach her name to. And I don't mind telling you I am excited like a giddy little girl about the opening of <a href="http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/food-drink/manchester/aumbry-at-roadhouse-mary-ellen-mctague-on-why-it-works/">her new restaurant in the Roadhouse site this Autumn</a>. Even if the theatre was shocking, I knew we'd eat well.<br />
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Threatening to upstage the food <i>and</i> the acting was the setting, the upper chambers of the neo-Gothic Manchester Museum, where its botanical collections are stored. We were granted rare access to the garrety attic bits of the spectacular building: curved ceilings, secret tower rooms, wallsfull of ancient wood storage drawers and baize green catalogue boxes with the odd taxidermied animal grinning from an unlikely corner. At last, I have found my dream office suite! <br />
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We were led around by a very dapper white rabbit, pelting up the stairs after him into a series of rooms where we encountered the characters from Carroll's story in proper sequence. My favourite was the turbaned Catepillar, an actor I recognised from something but can't place. Her languid take on the hookah-puffing master of psychedelia was spot on, her barbed exchanges with the audience keeping us all delightfully wrongfooted. It well judged; no ghastly dinner theatre here but just enough of a taste of performance to keep us engaged.<br />
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And of course, there was the food. We started off with a tea party, sweet little cakes and teapots arranged on a long work table amid flowers and botanical samples in a display that would give Cath Kidston multiple orgasms. Then in each new stop on the tour, there was something tasty to eat or drink with a clever link back to Carroll. In the catepillar's lair we got a winning combination of mushroom consomme and a delicate pink macaroon decorated with the indelicate words BITE ME. You expected it to be sweet, but it turned out to be beetroot flavoured and filled with chicken livers.<br />
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The servers broke character to tell us about the butter content in the astonishingly rich meat pies (don't ask) and to tell us how the image of Mary-Ellen on a playing card got onto our dessert with the Queen of Hearts... Okay, look, I'm not going to go into detail about every single thing we ate, and why should I? You can't go into a restaurant and order it. All that's left are fond memories and a single teaspoon in my drawer with the words STEAL ME etched on its surface. Just following instructions.<br />
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<i>Image courtesy Mary-Ellen McTague </i><br />
<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-68772701592740389762015-08-23T18:17:00.000+00:002015-08-23T19:43:01.325+00:00Review: Invisible Dot Cabaret, Manchester International Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can't really remember there ever being much good comedy at MIF before. This year it's like someone there woke up and remembered that it existed. And thank god they did. The Festival's onslaught of serious heavyweight highbrow culture (Three words: Hans Ulrich Obrist) needs a bit of leavening now and then. And of course there's a good audience for comedy in Manchester, so this was a shrewd move, though it's unclear how this fits in to the festival's all-new-work ethos, which has come to seem a bit like something that applies for big ticket items but not the gigs and performances booked around the edges. Yeah, okay, they've just got successful comedy night<a href="https://www.mif.co.uk/event/the-invisible-dot-cabaret"> Invisible Dot Cabaret </a>up from London to curate a run, but when they're putting on stuff this good, what do we really care? And with Edinburgh not long after MIF, it's likely that at least some of it was relatively new material as pretty much everyone we saw there was heading up north to do a show.<br />
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By all accounts we were lucky with the changing lineup the night we went; a friend who saw them another night earlier in the run said it wasn't that great. But we got James Acaster hosting the whole thing and starting off with a brilliant set that showed off his mordant wit and intensely likeable stage persona. He stitched the evening together beautifully and proved a very generous compere to the last. Following Acaster was a winning set from the excellent Gein's Family Giftshop, a hometown comedy trio that's clearly well on its way to a national profile. Things get pretty dark in their little world, and it's a twisted, uncomfortable universe that I'll certainly be looking to revisit at the earliest opportunity.<br />
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My favourite act of the night was the deeply weird BEARD (Rosa Robson and Matilda Wnek) who started off with a surreal, near-silent physical gag, and then moved into an astonishingly smart and nervy set that had the audience rapt. There's a lot of white space in their material; they use silence and tension in fascinating ways. Following them was Tom Basden, writer of The Crocodile which was also showing as part of the festival, Basden came onstage with a guitar and sang very silly songs and gently mocked Mancunians, all of which went over extremely well, bringing the audience back down to earth and sending us out into the night with a smile.<br />
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<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-70851033123431720572015-07-28T14:30:00.000+00:002015-07-28T14:37:02.996+00:00Review: Neck of the Woods, Manchester International Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A woman stands at the edge of the forest. No, a girl.
There’s a wolf lurking about and all that the presence of a predator in the
dark suggests. We’ve all heard this one before. Neck of the Woods, a strangely
uncategorisable theatre performance falling somewhere between live art, one woman
show, concert and reading, wasn't entirely successful, though I didn’t hate it
as much as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/19/neck-of-the-woods-review-toothless-retelling-red-riding-hood">some</a>. Overall, I was glad I saw it, though my
attention started to wander at points. But there are many things about the
production, directed by Turner Prize-winning artist Douglas Gordon, that troubled me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The performance began in a pitch darkness that stretched on
for so long the audience started to get anxious, with the sound of a woodcutter…
sloooowly… felling a tree crashing in our eardrums. It was a bold and effective start; ending
the same way felt lazy. No question, the ingredients here are top of the line: The presence of Charlotte Rampling is enough
to get me anywhere, along with roughly 75 percent of the audience. Pianist <span style="background: white; line-height: 103%;">Hélène
Grimaud</span> played solo piano music riffing on famous works and
overlapping in the way you imagine the text was meant to. And Sacred Sounds
Choir, a Manchester-based outfit formed as part of a previous MIF, didn’t sing
but provided the soundtrack, producing all of the sounds of the forest: distant
wolves howling, spooked birds and wind in the trees, while their white-gloved
hands writhed in the dark. Lovely. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But there was no cohesion to the story. A large portion of
the script (written by <span style="background: white; line-height: 103%;">Veronica Gonzalez
Peña</span>) was simply Rampling reading a retelling of Red Riding Hood.
While being told a bedtime story by our Auntie Charlotte is a delicious
proposition, we <i>know</i> that story. Us knowing that story should have freed the
writer up to expand on it, take off from it, make some art to do with it, like
Angela Carter’s short story <a href="http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/harris/StudentProjects/Student_FairyTales/WebProject/Fairy%20Tales/Company%20of%20Wolves.htm"> In the Company of Wolves</a>, wonderfully adapted
for television by Neil Jordan, or even Catherine Storr's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/18/clever-polly-and-the-stupid-wolf-feminist-little-red-riding-hood-catherine-storr">Clever Polly and The Stupid Wolf</a> –
but this never happened. The other fractured narratives presented alongside Little
Red Riding Hood were weak, feeble things that alluded to themes of child abuse
but were too oblique to really connect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And when you’re in a situation where the dramatic action
consists of a woman telling stories alone on stage, those stories better work.
If they don’t, it doesn’t matter if the music is amazing and the sound is
incredible and your actress is a Legend of the British Theatre and there is
ultra-high-quality staging and lighting and costuming – even if all of those things
are unquestionably brilliant, your audience will leave the forest feeling a
little flat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure, you can’t always hit it out of the park, and a
festival consisting <i>mostly</i> of new commissions can always defend itself by
citing the edgy, still-evolving nature of its work. In response, we’re expected to preen
over the city’s identity as artistic lab for the world, as refined versions of
MIF productions move on to New York or Paris. This would be easier to swallow if
we weren’t being charged finished-article prices. A Neck of the Woods ticket cost £35. I went
with a friend, who paid full price because MIF’s imprint meant quality. In
this case, it didn't. (In an even more dispiriting corner of the programme, Bjork
tickets were £45, which seems bewilderingly expensive for what is essentially a
standard album tour gig.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the end, it comes down to respect; respect for the
audience, and respect for the artists, performers and venues involved in making
the works. Many crimes are committed in the name of art, but why should we
indulge them? If the incredibly experienced actor in a one-woman show doesn’t
get the script in time to learn her lines, there’s a problem with the artistic process. If the artist responsible for it reacts to bad reviews by walking through a theatre with an axe down his trousers
and <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/douglas-gordon-axe-home-manchester-9653214">going on a rampage</a> that damages the building and himself, it can’t be waved away as ‘artistic
temperament’. No doubt all
at MIF are relieved to be hightailing it out of this neck of the woods. No wolves here after all, just one very big turkey,</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-3581708934796409112015-07-24T15:54:00.002+00:002015-07-24T15:54:41.000+00:00Live Literature in Manchester: Summer 2015 (or what's left of it)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6nDQV9NdaI/VbJVs_Z_WMI/AAAAAAAABIw/C6J9fnRNksw/s1600/notmytype.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6nDQV9NdaI/VbJVs_Z_WMI/AAAAAAAABIw/C6J9fnRNksw/s640/notmytype.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<i>Our new independent bookstore/cafe <a href="https://twitter.com/chapter1uk">Chapter One Books</a> is open Tues-Sat 8am-7pm, on the corner of Dale and Lever Streets in the Northern Quarter.</i></div>
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You know how things slow down in the summer? Not here. Nope,
Manchester’s literary scene <i>never </i>goes on vacation. The big news is that we’re
getting a new performance night. Crack literary magazine <a href="http://www.barefictionmagazine.co.uk/">BareFiction</a> are launching a regular night in the next month or so. Editor Robert
Harper says they’ll be inviting poets, fictioneers and theatre people to get
involved. Follow them on<a href="https://twitter.com/barefiction"> Twitter </a>or<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BareFiction"> Facebook </a>to stay in the loop. I’ve heard
other rumblings about new literary events launching in the city, but cannot
divulge them yet. </div>
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It’s Edinburgh preview season, so warm-up shows are go: First, Fat Roland’s made
a show called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/399638120240827/">Kraftwerk Badger Spaceship</a> (using his patented
Fat Roland brand random word generator) and he's previewing it at Gullivers on Sunday July 26. Then writing
duo Jasmine Chatfield and Lenni Sanders aka Dead Lads preview their poetry play <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/862172713838589/">Nuclear Roomates </a>at 3MT on Tues July 28. Also,
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/931558046915050/">Sarah Jasmon launches</a> her debut novel The Summer of Secrets at the
aforementioned Chapter One Books on Sat 14 August with support readings from Jo Bell and Tania
Hershman and Benjamin Judge and Graeme Shimmin followed by an 1980s themed disco. All of these events are FREE and will be FUN.</div>
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Bad Language have announced a show with comedy duo
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1472748923018734/">Molly Naylor and John Osborne Sept 28</a>, a set at
Kendal Calling, a 45 date stadium tour and plans to invade Belgium and install
a puppet government. <a href="http://badlanguagemcr.com/2015/07/10/bad-language-july/">Their regular night’s on Weds 29 July with Kirstin Innes</a>, too. Sheesh.</div>
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First Draft have welcomed Harry Jelley to the Captain’s
Table and introduced a new format – inviting contributions written to a prompt
– with the next evening on the theme of 'All Shoved Together' <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/509300185888386/">August 17 at The Castle</a>. Rad live storytelling night <a href="http://talesofwhatever.com/">Tales of Whatever</a> is
down to hold its next event 12 August at time of writing, but check on <a href="https://twitter.com/talesofwhatever">Twitter</a> to confirm closer to the date.</div>
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And then there’s our live nonfiction night, The Real Story. (See how I waited to mention my night last? I wasn't raised in a barn, you know.)<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/473382076159027/"> The next one is Weds 19 August</a> at Gulliver’s with headliner Michael Symmons
Roberts, the Forward and Whitbread Prize winning poet who also happens to be a
pretty wonderful essayist; he'll be reading from essay collection Edgelands. Rounding out the bill are a diverse group of writers including novelist Marli
Roode, Nick Thompson, Adam Farrer and me & my co-pilot Nija Dalal. </div>
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If you’re curious about The Real Story, creative nonfiction
and the writing/live lit scene in Manchester, Nija and I are going to be
talking about all of that on Ella Gainsborough and Kieren King’s
radio show on <span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".2t.1:$id=11879565852268743.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2t.1:$id=11879565852268743.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">August 13 from 8-9pm</span></span>. Kieren and Ella run the ace Salford spoken word night <a href="https://twitter.com/EvidentlyHQ">Evidently</a>,
and they’re just launching this weekly dose of spoken words on <a href="http://www.fabradiointernational.com/">Fab Radio International. </a>Check it out.</div>
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And finally, look out for the announcement of the full<a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/"> Manchester Literature Festival</a> programme going out <a href="https://twitter.com/McrLitFest">here </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manchester-Literature-Festival/110696047157">here </a>and <a href="http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/">here</a> around the
second week in August. The Festival is happening 12-25 October and it
celebrates its tenth birthday this year. It’s going to be extra
good.</div>
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Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-40918890947712817152015-06-18T22:36:00.000+00:002015-06-18T22:39:37.235+00:00Send in the clowns: Carnivals, funfairs and Coney Island<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aLuI9x7V14M/VYNHiVeFDjI/AAAAAAAABIE/wx1ZBEulpY8/s1600/IMGP1931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aLuI9x7V14M/VYNHiVeFDjI/AAAAAAAABIE/wx1ZBEulpY8/s320/IMGP1931.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<b><a href="http://www.thelostcarnival.org.uk/">The Lost Carnival</a> </b>rolled into town amid much fanfare, teasing us
with tales of golden feathers and phoenixes and mythical circuses cursed to roam the earth –
but we could save them! As you’d expect from Wild Rumpus, which runs the excellent <a href="http://www.justsofestival.org.uk/">Just So Festival</a> every summer, it was a fantastic event
perfectly pitched at its target audience of adventurous families and wide-eyed
primary age kids. Mine were terrified by the stage shows but transfixed by the dancers and strolling clowns, while
enough installations that might be described as “weird arty shit” (a tree full
of writhing nymphs, etc) were scattered about to keep them interested. And
they spent so long in the mermaids’ hut playing with sand and listening to sea
stories that they practically grew fins. Good and reasonably-priced food and
drink meant the adults didn’t mind so much about spending hours in a
damp field in Bury. We hear it might be back next year. We'll be there.<br />
<br /></div>
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Every funfair has its dark side, the shadow that throws all
that bright levity into sharper relief. Just think about clowns: all jokey one
minute, creepy as shit the next. And that dark side was thoroughly explored in <b><a href="http://homemcr.org/production/the-funfair/">The Funfair</a></b>, HOME’s much anticipated first production in its new…
oh, don’t mind if I do!… home. I’m no sucker for happy endings and escapism, but this was so unremittingly black that it could be used as a medical-grade depressant. It was like being coshed.<br />
<br />
The plot lost
its way before the end of the first act, and then chaos reigned. True, it was cleverly staged, but no matter how cool the thing looks or what a twisted Brecht-meets-Hairspray vibe it evokes, you
don’t want to spend time in the company of this company if the story isn't good. This was, I think, a failure of writing. Who knows what they were trying to do? Scriptwriter Simon Stephens (adapting an obscure German expressionist play from 1932) assembled a gang of clichéd
character tropes – gold-digging glamour girl, unprincipled lowborn high roller,
cruel aristocrat, ne’er do well crook. But then he never got around to subverting them. The only two characters with a bit of
dimension to them - Cash and Esther - had a moving scene at the end, but what
small bit of redemption that provided felt like it came at too dear a cost.<br />
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If you need cheering up, Coney Island is a good place to go. Set partly there, <b><a href="http://www.criterion.com/films/28212-lonesome">Lonesome</a></b> is a
fascinating piece of cinema history. Made in 1928 at precisely the moment when
silent films were poised to give way to talkies, it’s mainly silent with a few
sections of speech. I hadn’t been expecting these, at a <a href="http://homemcr.org/event/lonesome-live-score/">special screening of the film at HOME</a>, and they came as an
unwelcome shock, so immersed do you get in the language of music, overemphasised facial expressions and a
few elliptical stitches of text. The film is a sweetly naïve New York love
story, very of its time. The specially commissioned live score, by Robin Richards of <a href="http://dutchuncles.co.uk/">Dutch Uncles</a>, was
beautifully performed live by the composer and a small company of RNCM students who were also involved in composition. A rarely-seen classic film
combined with a new artistic commission, made right here in Manchester; it's exactly
what we’d hoped to find at our new multi-form arts venue, and an undertaking
beyond the scope of our dearly departed Cornerhouse.<br />
<br />
I do miss it, though. Okay, I said it. So sue me.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<i>Photo credit Brett Harkness</i></div>
Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-32368497856072767472015-03-30T17:11:00.002+00:002015-03-30T19:41:30.327+00:00Review: Anna Karenina, The Royal Exchange<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I can understand why someone might try to adapt Anna
Karenina for the stage, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to do it. You’ve got
to cut a lot or the play would be 27 hours long. Sadly, the cuts they’ve made in
this Royal Exchange/West Yorkshire Playhouse production are mortal
wounds. Gone is the deep texture and grand scale that make Tolstoy’s book one
of the greatest ever written – the complex motivations and insights into
characters’ inner lives, the engrossing philosophical asides, the whole beautiful
maddening mess of human society. We’re left instead with the predictable tale
of a bored society wife, an ambitious young soldier and a series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>bad decisions. </div>
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The first scene, in which Anna manages to make peace between
her philandering brother Stiva and his long-suffering wife, Dolly, is absolutely
crucial. It establishes Anna as a kind and wise woman, someone of character –
which makes the tragedy of her downfall really hit home. But Ony Uhiara’s Anna seemed
only fit for making a scene, all shrill hysterics and jerky, nervous energy. I
just didn’t buy her reassuring the excellent Dolly about anything. </div>
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It was the same throughout the whole play: I couldn’t get
past the disservice Jo Clifford’s adaptation does its title character. Anna’s
agonizing over the decision to abandon her young son Seriozha for her lover is
a major plot point, probably one of the main reasons she decides to off herself,
and yet here her son is barely mentioned. In the book, she also becomes
pregnant with Vronsky’s child early in their affair, which has bearing on how
and when she decides to leave her husband and on the lovers’ ensuing
relationship – here it simply doesn’t happen. We aren’t encouraged to
understand Anna or identify with her, so we can only pity her. The audience is
left on the outside, with little to do for the next couple of hours but admire the (admittedly superb) coats the cast are wearing.</div>
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John Cummins’ bumbling Levin, who provided most of the
evening’s few laughs<i>,</i> stood out in the small ensemble, directed by Ellen
McDougall. While the design gets points for imagination – metal rails, rolling
cars and plastic panels are used in inventive, occasionally gimmicky ways – it just
didn’t work for me. And having characters linger onstage in the background when
their scenes are over might be an attempt to disrupt the theatrical space, but
it just confused things. It was a worthy endeavour with some memorable moments,
but for me, the only level on which this succeeded is as a reminder of how bad
it sucked to be a woman in Tolstoy’s Russia. That, at least, is something we can all agree on.</div>
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<i><a href="http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/anna-karenina">Anna Karenina </a>is on at The Royal Exchange through 2 May, and
transfers to West Yorkshire Playhouse 9 May- 13 June. Tickets from £10. </i></div>
Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-65220192855373370582015-02-23T21:24:00.002+00:002015-02-24T08:19:33.519+00:00Two new independent bookshops in ManchesterGood news for the city's readers: if all goes according to plan, we'll get two independent bookstores in Manchester this spring. Weird, huh? We haven't had one since forever, and now, suddenly, we're getting two. It's kind of like those <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/battle-breakfasts-rivals-race-become-8680976">two new cereal cafes </a>we're getting, but without the business concept that makes you want to stab yourself in the eye repeatedly with a spoon.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Chapter One Books</b><br />
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<br />
The first of the two is already being installed in the Northern Quarter. Sister-owners Christine Cafun (above) and Lyndsy Kirkman come to the book trade from the beauty industry and the NHS respectively. They've taken that long-vacant storefront on the corner of Dale and Lever Street, fronted by a pocket park with a few benches, and are completely overhauling the place. Cafun says they're lobbying the city to let them keep the large trees currently throwing shade there, which are due to be chopped down (guess they decided the Northern Quarter was leafy enough with all those mature trees around. Mmmhmm.)<br />
<br />
Inside, there'll be nearly 5,000 feet of bookstore for people of all ages, including a cafe and a 50-capacity event space that the owners hope will be used for book launches and readings as well as more offbeat live lit shenangigans. Also, maybe some typewriters. I'm kinda excited about the typewriters. They're aiming to be open around April 1. You can follow them on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/chapter1uk">@chapter1</a>, and if you have a good idea for the shop or several boxes of unused typewriter ribbon to donate to the cause email them on somethingnew @ chapteronebooks.co.uk.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Aspidistra Books</b><br />
<br />
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<b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eBfEDAPn1a0/VONLwuGUp9I/AAAAAAAABEQ/I4NfwL2M3Nw/s1600/orwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eBfEDAPn1a0/VONLwuGUp9I/AAAAAAAABEQ/I4NfwL2M3Nw/s1600/orwell.jpg" /></a></b></div>
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Aspiwhatnow? As-pi-di-stra. It's a plant. The name comes from the Orwell novel <i>Keep the Aspidistra Flying</i>, which was partly inspired by working in a bookshop. It's also a book about throwing off the shackles of the nine-to-five, which is exactly what proprietor Joseph Parkinson is doing: after years in the charity sector, he's following his bookstore-owning dream.<br />
<br />
As the Orwell connection suggests this will be a shop with a political and literary bent, and according to Parkinson, a strong interest in LGBT literature. Parkinson also likes the idea of hosting readings alongside casual literary-themed events like 'speed dating with Hemingway' {insert joke about Hemingway's love life here.} He's currently looking for a premises, probably in the Northern Quarter or the Village, and hopes to be open by May. Parkinson wants us to tell him what we want in a bookshop. Get in touch via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/aspidistrabooks07">Facebook</a> or Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%40aspidistra%20books&src=typd">@AspidstraBooks</a>), or help by <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HPJ2KMF">filling in this survey</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Independent bookstores are great, aren't they? We definitely want some around. You know how we get to keep these, and maybe get some more? By actually <i>buying books</i> from them. That's how. Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-30372887878093815122015-02-09T18:13:00.001+00:002015-02-09T20:27:46.019+00:00A cockroach, a cat and Tom O'Bedlam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<a href="http://www.donmarquis.org/">Don Marquis </a>was a journalist in New York, apparently minding his own business, when a cockroach and cat invaded his column in the Evening Sun. The pair had been friends in their former lives - archy the cockroach had been a free verse poet and continued to write in his reincarnated state by jumping on a typewriter, which accounts for the lack of capitals and punctuation. Bohemian alley cat mehitabel reflected on her many misadventures, remaining "always a lady in spite of h dash double l." Marquis featured the characters in a hugely popular <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Annotated-Archy-Mehitabel-Penguin-Classics/dp/014303975X/ref=la_B000AQ7566_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423505455&sr=1-1">series of comics and writings</a> beginning in 1916, eventually illustrated by Krazy Kat creator George Herriman. They continued on through the 20s and 30s, staking out a strange territory between comic verse, serious poetry, commentary and cartoon. <br />
<br />
I was looking around for archy and mehitabel on the internet the other day and I found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRKwFdsTSXeERjxe8wHfbig">SpokenVerse</a>, a YouTube channel dating back a few years ago. All of the 400+ videos feature a man's voice reading poetry under the name Tom O'Bedlam. The poems are well chosen, the voice extraordinary. But no one has any idea who did it, or why he did it, or why he stopped.<br />
<br />
Tom O'Bedlam liked Don Marquis though. He recorded three of his poems: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pb__Tm31qU">mehitabel dances with boreas</a>, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/KL4cCuBQDqY%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E">the lesson of the moth</a> and archy's autobiography (below). If you're a writer who just had to pay their tax bill, you'll probably relate.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KL4cCuBQDqY" width="560"></iframe>Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-38373748860351757542015-02-02T15:18:00.000+00:002015-02-02T17:36:25.628+00:00Manchester live music preview: Spring 2015I like gigs. More accurately, I like making plans to go to gigs. I get to roughly 25 percent of the gigs I fully intend to go to. Because, you know, my life is complicated. Also, sometimes I find out that my new favourite band was in Manchester last week, <i>oh no, you weren't there? Best gig ever! Ah, too bad they're not coming back for another year... or four</i><i>.</i> This makes me sad. So I sat myself down and made a formal plan to get more live music in 2015, and this post is the manifestation of it. If you see me at any of these, I'll probably be looking very happy. If you don't see me, I'll be at home, resenting the hell out of you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>February</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/matthew-halsall-gogo-penguin-mammal-hands/">Matthew Halsall with The Gondwana Orchestra, GoGo Penguin, and Mammal Hands at RNCM, 7 February</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I've been known to bitch about the fact that the jazz scene in Manchester is kind of lame, and then a concert like this comes along and makes me realise how completely full of shit I am. Three jazz acts, each Manchester-based, each good enough in their own right to warrant a trip down to the venue with the best acoustics in the city. But together - trumpeter; composer Matthew Halsall's new outfit the Gondwana Orchestra (with vocals from special guest Josephine Oniyama), Mercury Prize-nominated GoGo Penguin and the slick Mammal Hands - they make for an unmissable lineup.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AoL_LUdKTxo" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/ex-hex/soup-kitchen/2015-02-12-19-30"><b>Ex Hex at Soup Kitchen, 12 February</b></a><br />
<br />
I'm not so into February. You know what's good in February? An all-woman power pop band fronted by fount of musical awesomeness Mary Timony. I<b> </b>want Ex Hex hanging on my wall in a box with a little sign that says: IN CASE OF FEBRUARY, BREAK GLASS. Their Rips was one of my favourite records of 2014: a storming succession of short and punchy riffed-up songs that will make you slam dance around your kitchen. Or Soup Kitchen.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QSXZe1C6kw8" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/d-angelo/o2-apollo/831807"><b>D'Angelo at The O2 Apollo, 18 February</b></a><br />
<br />
Sneakily dropped on us like a stealth soul bomb in December, the long-awaited Black Messiah is an intensely textured and timely album, and features the work of the exquisitely-named bass genius Pino Palladino. Pino, Pino, Pino...<br />
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<a href="http://www.seetickets.com/artist/father-john-misty/627089"><b>Father John Misty at Gorilla, 24 February</b></a><br />
<br />
He was the drummer in the Fleet Foxes and recorded a bunch of moany songs as J. Tillman before re-inventing himself as the glorious Father John Misty after some psychedelic vision in a tree. His new album I Love You Honeybear, produced by Laurel Canyon music god Jonathan
Wilson, is out on 9 February and to say I'm looking forward to hearing
it is kind of an understatement. I actually don't even know where to start with this guy. Maybe just <a href="http://www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk/whats-on/father-john-misty/">read this. </a>And listen to this: <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ga0ksTIagsg" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b><a href="http://tickets.rncm.ac.uk/single/selectSeating.aspx?p=9674">Olafur Arnalds at RNCM 26 February</a></b><br />
<br />
Appearing as part of <a href="http://futureeverything.org/">FutureEverything</a> (25-28 Feb), Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds has recently become better known here on account of his excellent film and TV scores, most recently for Broadchurch. It's good stuff for long winter evenings: spare, minimalist electronically-inflected classical music that exudes warmth and emotional resonance. Should be mesmerising live.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4cOr7JmcOas" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/ariel-pink-live/">Ariel Pink at RNCM 28 February</a></b><br />
<br />
Another gig that's part of the FutureEverything programme, Ariel Pink. With the Haunted Graffiti he made some good lo-fi psych pop, with appealing melodies and growly singing. On his newest release, pom pom, he's performing as a solo artist. Oh, and he likes to say<a href="http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/533-who-said-it-ariel-pink-and-glenn-beck-face-off-out-of-context/"> daft things</a>. He's a kind of professional weirdo at this point. Honestly worth going down just to see what he does. And wears.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TYoQ6WLuMq4" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />
MARCH<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/all-we-are/the-deaf-institute/834839">All We Are at the Deaf Institute, 9 March </a></b><br />
<br />
All We Are are from Liverpool and I've been listening to their eponymous new album for a couple of days now but I still don't know how to describe it. Hmm. Can't really better their own description: "The Bee Gees on diazepam". No? Oh, okay, it's kind of stripped down electronic post-rock, with a dreamy, shoegazey wash of guitars and boy-girl vocals but sunnier and poppier than, say, the xx.<b> </b>Good tip from the clued-up folk at our friendly local record store, <a href="http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/counter/index.php">Piccadilly Records</a>.<b><br /></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/the-handsome-family/the-martin-harris-centre/834201"><b>Handsome Family Band at the Martin Harris Centre, 21 March </b></a><br />
<br />
The husband and wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks make a cinematic kind of alt-country that reminds me a little bit of Nick Cave and, actually, Calexcio (see April). They've been performing together for 20 years, which makes their gigs feel like real family affairs.<br />
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<a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/dutch-uncles/the-ritz/821580"><b>Dutch Uncles at The Ritz, 27 March</b></a><br />
<br />
The Manchester heroes of angular, thoughtful-math pop launch their long-awaited new album with a hometown gig and a tighter, more polished sound.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TjZi_KksUvM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>APRIL</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/courtney-barnett/gorilla/850640"><b>Courtney Barnett at Gorilla, 3 April </b></a><br />
<br />
Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett's debut album is yet to come out, but her double EP A Sea of Split Peas is full of songs that are raw and messy and delivered in a deadpan shout. If you're as tired of twee, safe, overly-produced lady singer-songwriters as I am, you might like her. Her lyrics are always excellent, as in the cuttingly Dylanesque Out of The Woodwork. But her just-released single is faster and even edgier. She clearly hasn't calmed down any. Good.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o-nr1nNC3ds" width="560"></iframe>
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<a href="http://www.seetickets.com/event/calexico/albert-hall/829071"><b>Calexico at The Albert Hall, 30 April</b></a><br />
<br />
Ah Calexico, you stayed away for too long, hiding out in some Mexicali boxcar making music full of tumbleweeds and long nights and mysterious strangers with itchy trigger fingers. But we'll forgive you because you're coming back to us, and in the fantastic surroundings of the Albert Hall, too, with solid support from The Barr Brothers.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FKQtFRA8fiM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-69983829365277608582014-09-28T16:25:00.001+00:002014-09-29T09:51:20.269+00:00Restaurant review: 4244 Edge Street<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5sLka-uPbmQ/VCg5WBdXk6I/AAAAAAAABCk/8az9HikY55k/s1600/mctague.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5sLka-uPbmQ/VCg5WBdXk6I/AAAAAAAABCk/8az9HikY55k/s1600/mctague.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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</xml><![endif]-->Halfway through our meal at <a href="http://www.4244.co.uk/">4244 Edge Street</a>, I’m reminded of that Woody Allen quote: “Is sex dirty? Only if it’s done right.” If you can come to the end of a plate in this restaurant without running your finger along its surface to capture the last drops of sauce, you’re doing it wrong. If you can finish your bread and then <i>not</i> go on to scoop up the last bit of the nut brown butter neat, you’re doing it wrong. This is food that demands The Full Nigella. Granted, I may have taken things a bit too far when I finished off a little dish of beef dripping and pan juices by pouring it directly into my mouth. To her credit, our server smiled and pronounced me her favourite customer of the night. “It’s so deliciously wicked, isn’t it?” she said. “Would you like some more?”<br />
<br />
And to think this sort of thing is happening in the back of Teacup. When I heard <a href="http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/food-drink/manchester/aumbry-pops-up-in-northern-quarter-we-speak-to-mary-ellen-mctague-about-why/">the sainted Mary Ellen McTague was opening a pop up here </a>while her Prestwich restaurant, Aumbry, was being renovated, I wasn’t sure how it would work. The answer is: fine. It doesn’t feel much like the back of Teacup, though you can see people in the cafe. The lighting from the open kitchen shines out like floodlights – but some German botanical prints and an antique dresser have been employed to good effect. As at Aumbry, the china and silver are old fashioned and mismatched, and the big, nubbly linen napkins look like the sort of thing a Victorian housewife might have done the washing up with. They probably cost about £45 each, but they’re intensely covetable.<br />
<br />
4244 is serving a single menu, four courses for £50 with wine on top (pairings at £36). Eccentricities abound: The wine list is all Croatian as they genuinely love the wines and want to showcase small producers from the country. I’m on board with that as long as they’re all as good as the big, powerful Cattunar Teran, which knocked us sideways like a fist swathed in silk. They make their own bread from biodynamic flour – yep, grown according to the phases of the moon – no idea if this makes any difference, but it’s the chewy, rustic stuff I love. And there’s that butter (made in Bolton). And the dripping. Ah, the dripping.<br />
<br />
The food is exactly what you'd get at Aumbry, but no need to do anything new as this is a different audience. A frankly ridiculous number of good amuses was followed by wild mushrooms with curds, hay ash and birch powder. The textures were punched up with crispy, soft rounds of homemade malt loaf – but the taste balance was edgy. McTague likes bold, at times downright peculiar taste combinations and I love eating food like this, but it’s dangerous cooking. With this many powerful flavours shouting at once the result is not always completely harmonious. I don't mind that, though. It's the opposite of comfort food, and I mean that as a compliment.<br />
<br />
Hare consommé reminded me a lot of a dish I’d had at <a href="http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/food-drink/manchester/manchester-food-simon-rogans-the-french-comes-to-the-midland/">The French</a>, which I’d argue is the only place in town serving better food than this right now: cubes of barely cooked turnip, daringly rare rabbit and a rich, tepid broth poured from a wee teapot. But the star of the night was a slow cooked partridge pie of unsurpassing loveliness. Again, the textures were so beautifully balanced, and here the taste combinations were spot on, with the mellow shards of savoy cabbage, flaky homemade pastry, cooked-to-meltingness meat and the sweet pan reduction mingling with the celeriac cream.<br />
<br />
Ratafia pudding is one of those 18th Century dishes of the sort that McTague likes to ferret out of her vintage cookbooks. Given the choice, I’d never order it. Thankfully, I didn’t have a choice. A cube of Cox’s Pippin, clear red and baked until buttery perched on a slab of sweet pastry, like a deconstructed Tarte Tatin with a dash of intensely cidery sauce. My Cattunar Muskat Ruza was pleasantly dry and green for a dessert wine, though I wished I’d gone back and ordered another glass of that glorious red instead. Next time. For I’m going to be saving up to get back there again before 4244’s six week run is over. Greedy? Maybe. But when it comes to this woman’s cooking I have very little self control.Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-57207284299389793262014-09-21T14:01:00.003+00:002014-09-21T14:01:40.834+00:00Review: Romeo and Juliet, HOME at Victoria Baths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-45-B5wPlXW4/VB7Z3-IsNWI/AAAAAAAABCU/g8N7IiPfTpg/s1600/Romeo%2B%26%2BJuliet%2B-%2Bpress%2Bpic%2B02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-45-B5wPlXW4/VB7Z3-IsNWI/AAAAAAAABCU/g8N7IiPfTpg/s1600/Romeo%2B%26%2BJuliet%2B-%2Bpress%2Bpic%2B02.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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I’m not gonna to lie to you: I walked into Victoria Baths ready
to be disappointed by <a href="http://homemcr.org/production/romeo-and-juliet/">HOME’s production of Romeo and Juliet</a>. I loved their
debut outing with ANU, <a href="http://homemcr.org/article/angel-meadow-ready-anything/">Angel Meadow</a>, so much there seemed little chance the second instalment
in their site-specific season could top it. And then there was the venue. People
always want to use <a href="http://www.victoriabaths.org.uk/">Victoria Baths</a> for events and performances and, while it is
a truly spectacular building, it’s still a big, echoey swimming baths; sound
problems are inevitable. They’re still here, but with mics you can just about
understand everything. It’s a reasonable compromise to see these spaces used so
inventively – designer Ti Green has delivered with a staging that fully
inhabits the baths, in three dimensions. </div>
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<br /></div>
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And this is by and large a bold,
assured production that delivers more than enough on pure vision to make good
theatre, even if it falls short of truly connecting with the heart of the play.
From the very first moment, when an Eastern European folksong came at us out of
nowhere, and then the Montagues and the Capulets emerged singing from the
striped changing cubicles arrayed around the pool, you knew we were in safe
hands. </div>
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With such a stripped-down set much rests on costume and
music and these are strong: all tight Eurotrash spangles and the rackety gypsy barminess
of an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxSaTGCIk0w">Emir Kusturica film</a> (<a href="http://homemcr.org/article/taste-whats-come/">in an interview this spring</a>, HOME Artistic Director Walter Meierjohann mentioned
the Serbian director’s work as an example of the feeling suggested by the baths’
grand decay, and they’ve nailed it.) Props are employed with great efficiency: a
little smoke machine and a wooden bench are brought on and then we’re in the Turkish
baths having a shvitz with Capulet, splendidly arrayed in black towels and gold
chains, as he barks out orders for his party. </div>
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The cast is good overall, with an ensemble that slightly
overshadows the lovers, who always felt a little aloof. Griffin Stevens as bumbling
Capulet flunky Peter and Rachel Atkins’ as Juliet’s nurse stole every scene
they were in. And Ncuti Gatwa as Mercutio moved so beautifully I could
have watched him dance all night. There were a few missteps – Romeo breaking into Love Me Do and Crazy in Love
during the balcony scene can be excused as a well-intentioned bid to shake up the lines we can all basically
recite, and there’s more than a whiff of ham about the penultimate scene, where
Romeo writhes on a platform covered with a picture of Juliet’s face. </div>
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But when
the windows opened to the third location and light and music streamed into the
dark, it was a powerful moment. We were led into the final pool which has been
filled with 86,000 gallons of water, and what we saw there – well, that would
be a spoiler too far. It’s a difficult thing to breathe magic back into a scene
where everyone knows what’s going to happen, but HOME have done just that. </div>
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<i><b>Romeo and Juliet,</b> through Saturday October 4, Victoria Baths. (Sadly it's sold out, and the waiting list is closed.)</i></div>
Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-48627832711639008782014-09-09T13:41:00.000+00:002014-09-09T13:45:06.450+00:00Ramsbottom Festival 2014 previewSummer has gone from the Pennine Hills. Stepping out of the door in the morning, you can see your breath. The blackberries have just gone past ripe and the woods are rich with the smell of dying leaves. All are sure signs that <a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/">Ramsbottom Festival </a>must be just around the corner, and here it comes right on schedule, the weekend of September 19-21 at Ramsbottom Cricket Club. It's always a friendly festival and a very good time, and luckily for me it's within stumbling distance of my house. <br />
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The big news this year is that they've added another stage, so we can all get more music in. What's on the lineup then? Topping the bill on Friday it's <b>The Levellers</b>, veterans of many a festival. Bet they've got some stories.<br />
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Saturday's headliner is epic indie outfit <b>British Sea Power</b>, one of those bands whose name perfectly fits their music, and always conjures up images of Sellafield under stormy skies. Hopefully the heavens will open and give us some driving rain during their set for added effect (I'm only kidding. Oh god, watch it rain now and everyone blame me.)<br />
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Sunday's traditionally the big day for folk, so it's a bit of a surprise that closing out the festival action is 1980s/90s R&B superstars <b>Soul II Soul.</b><br />
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Lower down on Friday's billing you'll find<b> Jimi Goodwin</b>, frontman of Manc indie outfit Doves. His first solo album is out on Heavenly:<br />
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Also on Friday, Colne husband-and-wife band <b>Bird to Beast </b>do retro-inflected folky poppy stuff. <br />
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Scottish folk pop band <b>Admiral Fallow</b> are back again, on Saturday:<br />
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Sunday things get seriously folky with Irish singer <b>Cara Dillon</b>:<br />
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Also on Sunday: ultralocal (think they live in Ramsbottom?) band <b>A Harp and a Monkey</b>:<br />
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But of course that's just the music. With kids' day tickets from just £6, there's plenty in the way of <a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/artists/arts/">arty amusement </a>for small members of your party, with performers including Artful Playground, Pif-Paf theatre company and a folklore-inspired shadowplay installation from events wizards Walk The Plank. This is a festival that always takes its beer very seriously, and this year
it's going to be provided by Silver Street Brewing Company and Bury's
Own Outstanding Beers, with the usual array of good street food. And if we're really lucky, we'll see that guy in the stripey jumper with the stripey-painted face dancing barefoot through the puddles. I love that guy. See you there.<br />
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<i>Day tickets from £24, weekend tickets £66. They're laying on buses from Manchester and Chorlton, or take the East Lancs Railway steam train. Full info and tickets on the<a href="http://ramsbottomfestival.com/"> Ramsbottom Festival website.</a></i><br />
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<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-74219778044784623792014-06-29T15:16:00.001+00:002014-06-29T15:34:39.884+00:00Wild swim at Gaddings Dam, Todmorden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On the <a href="http://www.gaddingsdam.org.uk/id10.html">website of the Gaddings Dam Group</a> they describe the path to Gaddings Dam as “a steep, poorly defined footpath.” This doesn’t really get across the effort involved here or give you any indication of exactly how long it will take someone to hike up to the dam while toting an overstretched old carrier bag full of buckets and spades and jollying understandably hesitant three and six-year-old girls up what is definitely the biggest hill they’ve ever climbed. The answer: approximately 30 minutes. At the top be sure to point out your car which is now a tiny speck, parked outside the Shepherd’s Rest pub (not great, nice play area.) Pack a picnic and whatever else you think you’ll need because there's nothing but water and rocks and bleakness up there.<br />
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Gaddings Dam is billed as the highest beach in England. This is kind of a joke, but there’s enough sand to amuse a bunch of children and provide a soft place to sit in what would otherwise be a rocky, inhospitable moorland setting. The dam is a stone bowl of cold, clear, black water at the top of the moors. An industrial reservoir built in the early 19th Century, it was purchased in 2001 by a collective who preserve it to be enjoyed by the people of Todmorden and the surrounding towns. When you dive in the water actually smells like ozone, like the sidewalk after a summer thunderstorm, and it brings home the fact that you’re swimming in rainwater that’s probably closer to its original source than anywhere you’ve ever swum before.<br />
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On a hot sunny day in June the water was plenty warm enough to go without a wetsuit, but I pretty much always think that and am aware that other people have different ideas about what is and isn’t too cold. The reservoir is a very quiet place – all you can hear is the occasional bleat from a lamb somewhere on the fells and the soft lap of water against the stone. There are cows actually standing in the water at the far end, but at 4 square acres it’s a pretty big body of water, so don’t let that faze you. After you’ve swum, be sure to allow some time for lying in the long grass in the adjacent meadow and gazing in awe at the incredible views dropping down across the Calder Valley – cloud shadows and green hills and pastures disappearing into the haze. Weirdly, dam base camp is accessible by public transport, though with one bus an hour heading up Lumbutts Road it’d require crack timing. Highly recommended.<br />
<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-67261059370120716042014-06-09T11:05:00.002+00:002014-06-09T11:05:56.652+00:00First Draft and Next Draft <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/next-events/">First Draft</a> is good. It's a Manchester-based cabaret event, with people performing music, poetry, stories, comic monologues and short plays on the same stage. Great idea that. One format nights are all very well, but for those audience members with shorter attention spans (hand going up) changing up the kind of work being performed can really help keep things engaging. Your brain does sometimes start to wander a bit after the fifth flash fictioneer takes the stage, or the seventh slam poet, no matter how fantastic they might individually be, and that's only natural.<br />
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The idea is that this really is the first place to perform stuff that's still very fresh, so there's an off-the-cuff, low-risk feeling about it that can be quite freeing. The organisers (including the lovely Abi Hynes, above) work very hard putting the regular night together, and they really took on a big project with last month's <a href="http://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/past-events/next-draft/">Next Draft:</a> a two-day event at the King's Arms produced with Studio Salford, aimed at giving past performers a chance to perform works that were a bit further along in its development.<br />
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I went along and enjoyed Jez Hewes and Andrew Williamson's daft mashup of three songs, a lovely nonfiction essay from Nija Dalal, a funny performance from Anjali Shah, a cheesy story from Fat Roland and Faro Productions' one-woman play about the fascinating Mata Hari. Unfortunately I had to leave before the second half so missed out on Papermash Theatre<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">’s </a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">Happy Birthday Without You</a>, from playwright and performer <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">Sonia Jalaly</a>. But they're back to their bi-monthly-ish slot at The Castle <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1474714219432010/">next Monday night </a>with a fresh batch of performers ready to rise to the Empyrean heights of the challenge set by the theme 'Songs of Praise.' Come along, or get in touch if you're interested in performing <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FirstDraftMcr">here</a>, the next one's in August.Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-31440334077591059202014-05-27T14:00:00.001+00:002014-05-27T14:02:07.856+00:00Writing and blogging workshops at Manchester Central Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just a quick one to say that we at writing organisation <a href="http://openstories.org/">Openstories</a> have just announced a new series of workshops aimed at emerging writers and bloggers looking to brush up on their skills and try new things. Held at the new and improved Manchester Central Library in June and July, you can take part in sessions on:<br />
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<li>Making your blog or writing website look good with tech wizard Chris Horkan (17 June)</li>
<li>Marketing your writing with poet Jo Bell (24 June)</li>
<li>Re-invigorating your blog with ME (1 July)</li>
<li>New approaches to creative writing with writer Steve Dearden (8 July) </li>
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For full info on the workshop leaders, what you'll actually learn at the sessions and the rest of the whys and wherefores head to the <a href="http://www.librarylive.co.uk/event/openstories-shout-about-it/">Library Live site</a>, where you can also see other cool stuff happening at the library. All of the above sessions will be held on Tuesday evenings at the Library from 6-8pm and will cost £7 per place. Places are limited so if you're interested get over to <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/o/kate-feld-3787515309?s=25297483">our Eventbrite page</a> and book yourself on.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image courtesy Greater Manchester Transport</i></span></h4>
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<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-27121293117158757102014-04-23T11:05:00.000+00:002014-04-23T11:09:31.147+00:00The Short Short Story Slam (and why you should go see live literature in Manchester)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So. Manchester’s live literature scene, something happened to it while I was hibernating. It got awesome. <br />
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Last night was <a href="http://flashtagmcr.wordpress.com/">Flashtag Collective’s</a> <a href="http://www.shortshortstoryslam.co.uk/">Short Short Story Slam</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/Gulliversmcr">Gullivers</a>. I’d heard great things about last year’s slam in Didsbury, but I wasn’t really prepared for the quality of the readings. Eleven writers all giving it their best shots, and there wasn’t a dud in the bunch. Standouts for me included Mark Powell’s surreal hijinks with Scoob and the gang, Mark Mace Smith’s deceptively simple stories, Joy France’s brilliantly filthy opener and runner-up Joe Daly’s bleak closer, which proved you don’t always have to go for the laughs. But there could be only one winner and Simon Sylvester was it with his strange, tightly crafted fictions and what was really a very fetching hat.<br />
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Much respect to these writers. It’s fucking terrifying reading your work before a live audience as it is, but to do so knowing that your story will be instantly judged right in front of you, that you will be either the winner or the loser... sheesh. And the Flashtag team were experts at wringing the maximum entertainment from the experience while also maintaining a friendly and supportive vibe throughout. It’s great to hear that they’re thinking of doing this every few months – judging by the big crowd last night it could do very well indeed.<br />
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But there's more. Next week, the ever-brilliant <a href="http://badlanguagemcr.wordpress.com/">Bad Language</a> is at The Castle next Wednesday, April 30 with Luke Brown headlining. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/217858708423427/">Effed Up</a> comes to The Castle on Sunday May 4 with a theme of outsiders’ views of Britain. Cabaret night <a href="http://firstdraftmcr.wordpress.com/">First Draft</a> is cooking up a special two-day showcase, Next Draft, at The King’s Arms on 5 & 6 May. Open mic <a href="https://twitter.com/EvidentlySld">Evidently</a> holds court at The Eagle in Salford every second Monday, storytelling night<a href="http://talesofwhatever.com/"> Tales of Whatever </a>is at Gullivers every month…oh, I could go on. But you get the picture: it’s happening. Get in there.<br />
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<i>Image courtesy of Flashtag.</i><br />
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<br />Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-82042479816167809372014-02-25T13:31:00.002+00:002014-02-25T13:47:55.959+00:00A rant about girls and sport in Britain.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->My daughter was in reception when we got the flyer about football sessions on Saturday mornings in the park. I got excited; my eldest daughter loves running around outside and has a competitive streak, this would be perfect for her. We bought tiny shin guards. We turned up, with a couple of her (girl) friends and their mums. Everyone else there, including the instructors, was male.<br />
<br />
Molly did one session and told me she wasn’t going back. Neither of the other girls wanted to stick with it, either. It’s possible they just didn’t enjoy it, which is fair enough. But I’m pretty sure that at least some of their reluctance came from the message they picked up loud and clear beneath our encouraging pep talks: this was not the place for them. Where were the girls? Girls spent Saturday mornings swathed in pink, twirling in a ballet class, or maybe in gymnastics. But not on a muddy pitch running about with boys.<br />
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While I was writing this, my three year old daughter came up to ask for a cuddle. I gathered her up, kissed her peanut butter-smudged face, and asked: “Bell, do you think you might like to try playing football when you’re at school?”<br />
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“No,” she said immediately.<br />
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“Why not?”<br />
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She gave me an apologetic smile. “It’s for boys.”<br />
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When I was a girl I played soccer with girls and boys. I played baseball (see above) and pickup ice hockey, spent afternoons shooting baskets and roller skating. I grew up in America, in the golden age of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX"> Title 9</a>, and I enjoyed sports, though I wasn’t good at them or considered “athletic.” In high school, I became one of the arty kids with too many rehearsals after school to go out for the cross country team, which I still regret. But in college, I rediscovered sports, playing intramural women’s soccer very badly but with great gusto. Since then, I’ve been as active as time allows, running and doing excercise classes. I do miss those things you only get from competitive team sports – the companionship, the spirit and the collective drive to win.<br />
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For girls to feel comfortable doing sport, they need to be shown that it is theirs as well – and if it takes girls-only football clubs, then that’s what we should give them. So I ask. There is some funding available for girls’ football clubs, I am told by one of the organisers of the boys’ sessions, but no girls seem interested. No one is bothering to try and get them interested, I point out. I offer to hand out flyers at the local schools for a girls-only session and help out with organising, but I am politely rebuffed. I live in Bury, where Sport England is spending £2.3 million on a big campaign,<a href="http://www.iwillifyouwill.co.uk/"> I Will if You Will</a>, aimed at getting women active, and it’s fantastic to see all that’s on offer for us. But if girls don’t learn to love sport when they are young, teaching them to be active as adults will remain an uphill battle.<br />
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I feel bad for Sport and Equality Minister Helen Grant, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/10636527/Sochi-2014-Give-British-women-the-sport-they-want-even-if-its-more-Zumba.html">who responded to a question that reflected some unappetising but very real pre-conceptions about sport</a>, and promptly had her head bitten off, with commentators up and down the land quoting her out of context. It’s facetious to pretend that there isn’t something very wrong with women’s sport in this country, whether you like it or not. <br />
<br />
But it’s a very welcome conversation to be having, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/22/girls-school-sport-femininity">the columnists say</a> – maybe now people will start taking women’s sport seriously in Britain.<i> </i>Yeah, okay. <i>Maybe now</i>, they said, every time a women’s football or cricket team did well in international competition. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2012/aug/13/women-2012-success-equality-sport"><i>Maybe now</i></a>, they said, when female athletes won 22 medals for Team GB at London 2012. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/24/radical-womens-sport-uk-medals-winter-olympics-gender-stereotypes"><i>Maybe now</i></a>, they’re saying at this very moment, as women have won three quarters of the medals at Sochi.<br />
<br />
While we wait, another generation of girls is learning that football is for boys. Another generation of girls is learning to value their bodies only for their visual appeal, not for their strength. Another generation of girls is growing up without learning the pleasures of physical activity, without building habits that will prolong their lives. Another generation of British girls is growing into women who will buy pretty pink ballet outfits for their little girls and football shoes for their little boys.<br />
<br />
Apparently, it’s already too late for my daughters.Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-37812131516654696722014-01-31T13:38:00.001+00:002014-01-31T13:54:09.339+00:00News flash: I am not cool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am a fraud. I am misrepresenting myself, living a double life, guilty of perpetrating an online persona that is more than a little out of whack with reality. Actually, there is a gulf so big between the two things that you could drive a fleet of Mack trucks through it. But it’s so easy now, isn’t it? We all have these virtual aliases, a pocket full of glossy digital incarnations which only resemble our real selves if you squint really hard.<br />
<br />
Writing about ‘what’s on’ is a young person’s game. Look at the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/jan/25/theguide">Guardian Guide</a>, with its slavish devotion to niche musicians you’ve never heard of and easy way with slang so laughably unfamiliar you suspect they’ve invented it (also see: <a href="http://www.theskinny.co.uk/">The Skinny</a>.) These publications are written by actual young people who care intensely about these things, with a few good fakers trying to hide in the back. And they should be. They know what they are talking about.<br />
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<a href="http://www.manchizzle.com/2005/08/girlfight-at-piccadilly-pound-world.html">When I started this blog</a>, I was young. I had just arrived in this city and was on a mission to map Manchester’s every hidden hangout, coolest surprise, weirdest place. I stayed up all night, so many nights, dancing around rusty machinery in an old cotton mill and then tumbling out into the bleak Mancunian dawn. I saw every important movie on release and plenty of not-remotely-important ones too. I had an insatiable appetite for new music, could go to three or four gigs in a week, and <i>I didn’t even care if there was comfortable seating.</i> Theatre press nights, restaurant launches, readings, art exhibition openings – any occasion attracting the same dubious band of Manc bohemians conjured, as if by magic, with the sound of the cork popping on a bottle of Barefoot (hey guys) – I was there, talking and swigging free horrible wine and going on to the pub to drink and argue and laugh some more, while smoking approximately 46 fags at once. But that was almost ten years ago. Much shit has happened.<br />
<br />
So here’s my confession: I am not young. I am not cool, if ever I was. I am not urban. My finger isn’t exactly on the pulse. I listen to Radio 3 just as often as I listen to 6Music. I’m 40 years old, with two children who aren’t even babies anymore. I don’t really drink, and never do drugs or smoke anymore. I go to bed before 10, and get up at 6:30. If it's not on television before 10, I'm not going to see it until I grudgingly shell out for a secondhand box set years after everyone stopped talking about it. I watch Countryfile while wearing fleece (mostly for the excellent, in-depth weather report. But still.) Getting me to leave my house in the farthest reaches of exurbia on a January night, even for a trip down to the pub on the corner with some mates I adore, is like chiselling a barnacle off a rock.<br />
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The irony is, now that I’m settled in the hills, I get invited to everything. In UK blog years, Manchizzle (est. 2005) is like the Domesday Book, so I am on every PR list in creation. And then there’s the fact that <a href="http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/author/kate/">my day job</a> is also writing about interesting things to do and see and eat in Manchester. So for the past couple of years, the old/reclusive thing, plus the fact that I get paid to write Manchizzle posts for a living (just not here), has meant that I haven’t had much to say on this blog. <br />
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I feel like a fraud writing posts like this<a href="http://www.manchizzle.com/2014/01/good-stuff-winter-2014.html"> last one</a>. Because those events were all genuinely enticing ways to spend an evening and I desperately wanted to go to each one of them. Just not as much as I wanted to sit in my perilously cosy red armchair and reread Gaudy Night for the 17th time. I didn’t go to them, and I knew I wouldn’t when I wrote that. But I still wrote about them, so that maybe you could go to them, if you wanted to. But there might be less of that on here for a while.<br />
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I’m not saying culture is only for the young. Hell no! It’s just that I’m hunkered down for the winter, and going through a hermitty time in my life, so it seems fake and distasteful to write a blog that doesn’t reflect that. I have no desire to break up with the 'chizz, and I miss blogging more often. So this blog may increasingly not do what it says on the tin. <br />
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How exciting.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image: Guilherme Kardel via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/guilhermekardel/">Flickr. </a></i></span>Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15707736.post-1369981733401906032014-01-17T16:54:00.002+00:002014-01-17T16:54:49.621+00:00Good stuff: winter 2014<br />
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Lots of good stuff coming up in Manchester over the next month. Here's what's on my calendar.<br />
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January 22: Listen up! Radio geeks from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/438446492949048/?source=1">In the Dark Manchester </a>bring an evening of creative radio, soundscapes and audio documentaries from around the world to the Castle Hotel.<span class="fsl"></span><br />
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On January 23, ten-year-old Manc film collective Filmonik celebrate their 10th birthday by getting their first official home, in the vast Castlefield Gallery-run New Art Spaces site on Balloon Street. But they need to raise money and collect stuff to furnish the place, hence <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/587914387955603/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=1">this party.</a> Bring that slightly wonky chair you've been meaning to get rid of, or just drink enough to buy a shitload of office supplies.<br />
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Scratch n' Sniff Cinema screens <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/220583888124599/">The Wicker Man at Cornerhouse</a> on January 25. Watch with your own scented scratchcard enabling you to experience this classic of British horror with added sensory input. <br />
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On 2 February, <a href="http://kittencamp.joinvan.com/">#kittencamp </a>comes to Manchester. You enjoy looking at pictures of kittens on social media, right (um, doesn't everyone)? I'll admit that the title "Meme Master Meow" intrigues me. Also, there's free beer.Kate Feldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05215172535468962913noreply@blogger.com0