Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Great Week for Literature

The lit season is coming to a climax... actually, it never really stops does it, but probably slows down a bit in the summer as the literati head on holiday. So April and May are periods of Peak Lit. This week's crazy...

Tonight its Bad Language at the Castle - always a good night if you're in town and like your literature washed down with some decent ale. Ex-Tindal Street's Luke Brown is the headliner so see for yourself whether his novel "My Biggest Lie" is a "delicate delineation of grief and loss" (Jenn Ashworth in the Guardian) or has "multiple flaws", (Max Dunbar in 3AM Magazine).

Tomorrow its the literary equivalent of the homecoming gig, when Emma Jane Unsworth's second novel "Animals" is launched with a cast of thousands (well, a few) at Waterstones. I so wanted to be at this, but something's come up and it's going to be a squeeze to make it, but don't let that stop you.

Then Friday its the launch of the latest instalment of the inestimably good Bury Text Festival. The arts on for a few weeks but there's a whole range of readings all day Saturday and Sunday, so do get on that tram and get along to one of Greater Manchester's gems of a festival.

Its a couple of weeks off, but it looks like another work trip means I'll miss the launch of Michael Schmidt's "sequel" to his monumental "Lives of the Poets", "The Novel: a biography" at Anthony Burgess on Wednesday 15th May. More known for his poetry knowledge, I studied my M.A. in novel writing under him back in the day, and he brings an equal fervour to great prose. This book's been a long time in the pipeline and I'm sure it will be a fantastic event for all literature lovers.

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