Anthony Burgess’s copy of Italian Food by Elizabeth David is battered, ripped and stained, suggesting heavy use. It also contains scraps of paper which mark certain recipes, giving an insight into what Burgess may have been cooking. Burgess’s edition of Italian Food was published by Penguin in 1967, and there is internal evidence that he […]

Many items in the collections at the Anthony Burgess Foundation reveal Burgess’s connections with other writers. Some of these connections are unexpected, such as his long correspondences with Angela Carter and Shirley Conran, but some, such as his friendship with the Italian novelist and semiologist Umberto Eco, seem to make more sense. Burgess’s and Eco’s […]

Our new exhibition, Cartomancy: Anthony Burgess and the Tarot, is now open at the Engine House. Anthony Burgess was fascinated by the possibility of predicting the future. Drawing on previously unseen material from the Burgess Foundation collections, this exhibition explores Anthony Burgess’s creative relationship with dreams, horoscopes, and the mysteries of the Tarot. Burgess owned several […]

SUNDAY 2 JULY 2017 19:00: Welcome Event and Drinks Reception Join us at the Burgess Foundation for the launch of The Irwell Edition of the Works of Anthony Burgess. MONDAY 3 JULY 2017 9:00-10:00: Panel 1 Simon Johnson, ‘The Beautiful Belle Burgess: A Biographical Study of Elizabeth Burgess’ Will Carr, ‘Anthony Burgess’s Blackpool’ 10:00-10:10: Break […]

The International Anthony Burgess Foundation and the Manchester International Festival announce the world premiere of a new song cycle for baritone and orchestra by the composer Raymond Yiu, The World Was Once All Miracle. Commissioned by the Burgess Foundation as part of the celebrations of the centenary of Anthony Burgess in 2017, the new piece […]

We are delighted to continue our collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as they play Symphony in C (1975) by Anthony Burgess on 4 July 2017 at the Bridgewater Hall as part of the Manchester International Festival. This special performance celebrating Burgess’s centenary will be the European premiere. Anthony Burgess claimed to have written three […]

One of the highlights of the 2017 Manchester International Festival will be a new artists’ film, based on two of Anthony Burgess’s Enderby novels, which will be screened as part of an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester between 30 June and 16 July. Details of this free exhibition are available here. The […]

The Centenary of Anthony Burgess’s birth has inspired many commemorations around the world, especially in the place he lived. Monaco is celebrating its connection with Burgess with a new commemorative stamp. Monaco was Burgess’s home from 1975 to 1993, a relatively settled period of his life in which he lived with his wife Liana and […]

Never performed or heard in the UK, Burgess’s Oedipus the King is a robust and powerful version of Sophocles’s classic text. The drama includes an invented language that Burgess created especially for the 1972 production of the piece at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, USA. This has been preserved in the International Anthony Burgess […]

Anthony Burgess had a close relationship with classical music – not only did it influence his novels, but he also wrote his own music. On the centenary of his birth, Burgess’s biographer and director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Andrew Biswell, presents music that inspired him, including pieces by Beethoven, Walton and Constant Lambert. […]