Launch of Dead Ink Press
Dead Ink, a new press publishing contemporary poetry and fiction, stages its first event. Join them for the launch of K-o by Richard Evans, enjoy readings from Dead Ink contributors, and get the chance to ask the editorial team and authors your questions. The event will feature readings from The Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Award Winner David Tait, the poet Charlotte Wetton, and Bad Language’s Nici West.
More information here. Entry is free to members of the National Association of Writers in Education.
Concert: ACM Ensemble
Through music, film and literature, ACM Ensemble immerses its audience in contemporary Hungarian culture, with all its eccentricity, wit and irony. Centred around part I of Kurtag’s monumental Kafka Fragments the program features music by key players in the country’s recent music scene as well as premieres by UK-based composers inspired by Hungarian contemporary art and literature.
György Kurtag Hommage à R. Sch.;
Vitalija Glovackytė Let it be not to be (premiere);
Peter Eötvös Two poems to Polly;
György Ligeti Horn trio (mov.II);
Michael Cutting Esslin’s Theatre (premiere); and
György Kurtag Kafka fragments
Grimmfest film screening: Dark Star, plus documentary
Grimmfest presents the 1970s sci-fi classic Dark Star, a parody of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, following a warped intergalactic mission to blow up unstable planets. Four bored astronauts fill in time between missions catching up on their tans, playing with a suspiciously plastic-looking alien until things start to go horribly wrong with the ships computer and a ‘smart bomb’ thinks it is God. Followed by the ‘making of’ documentary Let There Be Light. More information and tickets here.
Seminar: digital publishing
Literature Northwest presents a seminar on eBook production with Nigel Marsh, Director of Publishing Services at Faber.
Nigel will be speaking about conversion to digital formats, the distribution of these assets to retailers, and what the Faber Factory Service has to offer independent publishers. This seminar will be suitable for independent publishers of all sizes who are digitizing their lists (or who anticipate doing so in future). It offers the opportunity to put your questions to one of the most experienced digital production directors in the independent sector.
If there are any specific questions you’d like Nigel to address, please email them in advance to Jim Hinks.
The seminar is free to attend for independent publishers, but please book a place by emailing Ra Page.
Poetry: Nikolai Duffy, Ian Seed, Jeremy Over
Join three accomplished writers for readings from their work, including the launch of the little shed of various lamps by Nikolai Duffy (Red Ceilings Press). All welcome.
Film double bill: Rare Exports and Saint
Grimmfest presents two seasonal slashers. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is set in northern Finland, and an ‘archeological’ dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town. And in Saint, it’s Christmas and a swath of brutal murders leave the city in shock. When reports come in of Saint Nicholas flying over rooftops, it becomes apparent that this will be one Christmas no one will ever forget. More information and booking from Grimmfest.
15+ only.
Performance: literature, music and medicine
‘The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business; a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head.’ William Osler, physician, 1849-1919.
An evening of performances by students from Manchester Medical School, reflecting the place of literature and music in medicine. Students will read and play their own literary and musical compositions . To reserve a place, please email sarah.collins@manchester.ac.uk.
Concert: Euros Childs
We’re delighted to welcome legendary Welsh singer-songwriter Euros Childs to the Burgess Foundation for an all-seated concert in the intimate surroundings of the Engine House. He’ll be playing solo with just a piano (Anthony Burgess’s own Bosendorfer), from his new album Ends, released in November. Support from Jane Weaver. Tickets available here.
Reading: Alan Hollinghurst
Novelist Alan Hollinghurst reads from his work as part of a new series of free author events for autumn 2011, organised by the Manchester Writing School and presented in partnership with the Burgess Foundation. He will be reading from and talking about his work, and answering questions from the audience. Refreshments will be available to purchase from the bar, and Blackwell’s will be running a special book stall, with signing, after each event. All are welcome – no need to book. This series is sponsored by the Midland Hotel, Manchester. For hotel reservations: phone 0845 074 0600 or click here.
Film screening: two Nobel documentaries
English PEN presents two documentaries on the Nobel Peace and Literature Prize winners, Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo and Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa.
Liu Xiaobo, Honorary President of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, was arrested in 2008 for his role in Charter 08, a declaration calling for political reform, greater human rights, and an end to one-party rule. In 2009, Liu was convicted of incitement to subversion and sentenced to 11 years in prison where he remains today. The film I have no enemies explores the impact of the Nobel committee’s controversial decision to award Liu last year’s Peace Prize on Liu and his supporters, and in China. A Portrait of Maio Vargas Llosa explores the life experiences of Vargas Llosa from military dictatorship, a dominating father and political extremes and how these memories are mirrored in his writing. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A on the work of English PEN with Amanda Hopkinson (Professor of Literary Translation at Manchester University), and poet John Siddique.