• Menu

    What’s it going to be then, eh?

    The International Anthony Burgess Foundation
    About Anthony Burgess
    • Introducing Anthony Burgess
    • The Books of Anthony Burgess
    • The Music of Anthony Burgess
    Discover More
    • A Clockwork Orange
    • Earthly Powers
    • Anthony Burgess and Shakespeare
    • Dystopian Fiction
    About The Foundation
    • Our Mission
    • Visiting Us
    • The Burgess Bar
    • Support the Burgess Foundation
    • Join our mailing list
    • Contact us
    Anthony Burgess Archive
    • About the Archive
    • Visiting the Archive
    • Object of the Week
    • Contact the Archivist
    What's On
    • News and Blogs
    • Event listings
    • Venue hire
    • Burgess Prize
    • Exhibitions
    • Podcasts
    The International Anthony Burgess Foundation
  • What’s it going to be then, eh?

    OPENING TIMES
    Bar Open for events
    Reading Room Available for pre-booked appointments 10.00am - 3.00pm weekdays
    Office Hours By appointment: info@anthonyburgess.org
    HOW TO FIND US
    Engine House
    Chorlton Mill
    3 Cambridge Street
    Manchester
    M1 5BY
    Nearest train station Oxford Road More information
    Next event
    Literature: Poets & Players Sat 25 Mar 2023 2:30 pm Free More information
  • The International Anthony Burgess Foundation
  • What's it going to be then, eh?

    Exhibitions. New writing. Concert commissions. Academic research. Public events, in venues and online. And at the core of everything, preserving and promoting our extensive Anthony Burgess archive.

    Your donation to the Burgess Foundation supports our mission to promote the life and work of Anthony Burgess in so many ways.

  • What’s it going to be then, eh?

The International Anthony Burgess Foundation The International Anthony Burgess Foundation
NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

‘Manchester Made Me: Anthony Burgess and Manchester’

  • Burgess Foundation

  • 25th June 2015
  • category

  • Blog Posts
  • tagged as

  • Any Old Iron
  • Little Wilson and Big God
  • Manchester Made Me
  • The Pianoplayers

On 11 June, many friends and supporters of the Burgess Foundation gathered for the launch of our new exhibition at the Central Library, “Manchester Made Me: Anthony Burgess and Manchester”.

Inspired by Stuart Bolton’s extensive research into Manchester City Council’s Local Image Collection, the exhibition features images from that collection, the Burgess Foundation’s own archive and contemporary photographs to explore Burgess’s formative years in Manchester and reveal the ever-changing face of the city.

Born in Harpurhey in 1917, Burgess left Manchester more or less permanently in 1940, but it never left him. Manchester was a tough, industrial city, but it had an independent, vibrant spirit and was home, Burgess later said, to the “best orchestra” (the Hallé), “best daily newspaper” (Manchester Guardian), “best pub” (Tommy Ducks), “best zoo” (Belle Vue) and “best jokes”. Burgess’s attitudes to the city were conflicted, but he never escaped its influence: his formative years in Manchester were to remain a rich source of inspiration for his later literature and music. In novels, such as Tremor of Intent (1966), The Pianoplayers (1986), and Any Old Iron (1989), Burgess draws heavily on the experiences of his youth, and his childhood in Manchester features prominently in the first part of his autobiography, Little Wilson and Big God (1987). Among his musical works is A Manchester Overture, completed in 1989, which has strong autobiographical elements.

Visitors to the “Manchester Made Me” exhibition are offered a unique photographic insight into Burgess’s early years in North Manchester and Moss Side, his school and university life as a student of Bishop Bilsborrow Memorial R.C. Primary School, Xaverian College, and the University of Manchester, and his early musical influences. His nostalgia for the food of his youth and frequent visits to the Central Library are also explored. The photographic material on display is enriched by copies of manuscripts, typescripts, books, and other items from the Burgess Foundation’s rich archive, including a copy of pages from an incomplete draft of Burgess’s undergraduate dissertation, and examples of his earliest published poems, dated 1935.

The exhibition is open until 20 July and is freely available to visitors to the Central Library in the Wolfson Reading Room and first-floor exhibition area. A catalogue has been produced to accompany the exhibition and is available for £5 in the Burgess Foundation shop.

With thanks to Stuart Bolton for his invaluable advice and support, and also to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, and our hosts at the Manchester Central Library.

 

  • Share | 
  • Print
Related Blog posts
A Shorter Finnegans Wake: editing an epic Andrew Biswell
Inside the archive: Restoring Joyce and Belli Anna Edwards
Blowing the horn for Anthony Burgess in 2023 Andrew Biswell
The 2023 Observer / Burgess Prize has a winner Ian Carrington
SEE ALL NEWS AND BLOG POSTS
Go to home page
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Go to home page
Follow us

© 2023 International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Charity no. 1102623

International Anthony Burgess Foundation
Engine House Chorlton Mill 3 Cambridge Street M1 5BY
  • Site map
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms of use
  • Designed by Instruct
  • Built by OH Digital