Chapter & Verse Blog
The Manchester Literature Festival Blog
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Review: Mark Z Danielewski at the Burgess Foundation
Thursday 12th June 2014 1.45pm
Sarah Jasmon enjoys an evening of readings and weighty literary discussion with experimental novelist Mark Z Danielewski
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Review: Ben Marcus at the Burgess Foundation
Monday 14th April 2014 2.00pm
Adrian Slatcher spends an enlightening evening with American writer Ben Marcus.
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Review: Willy Vlautin at the Burgess Foundation
Thursday 13th February 2014 11.00am
Musician and author Willy Vlautin brought his humble ballads of everyday Americans to Manchester with a reading from new novel, The Free. Emma Nuttall enjoyed the show.
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Meet the MLF Team: Punam Ramchurn
Thursday 31st October 2013 11.30am
We catch up with MLF board member Punam Ramchurn
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Review: Neil Gaiman at The Dancehouse
Thursday 24th October 2013 11.40am
MLF Blogger Kate Feld enjoys an entertaining afternoon in the company of pirates, wumpires and intergalactic dinosaur police.
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Review: Joanna Trollope at the Royal Exchange
Wednesday 23rd October 2013 1.40pm
Festival Blogger Catherine Marsall enjoys hearing the author talk about modern life and updating Austen.
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Review: I am, I am, I am at The Martin Harris Centre
Thursday 17th October 2013 3.30pm
Rachel Barker is transfixed by a revelatory evening spent exploring Sylvia Plath's poems with Jackie Kay and Ali Smith.
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Review: The Blog North Awards at Gorilla
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 11.50am
MLF blogger Rachel Barker is surprised by the range and diversity of voices at an event celebrating British blogging.
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Review: I Have a Dream at Manchester Town Hall
Wednesday 23rd October 2013 1.30pm
MLF Blogger Fran Slater is captivated by Lemn Sissay's tribute to MLK and the music of Manchester Camerata.
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Review: Carlos Acosta at The Lowry
Wednesday 23rd October 2013 1.00pm
Claire Ramtuhul is charmed by the Cuban dancer-turned-writer and his stories from a Cuba that may no longer exist.
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Review: The Manchester Sermon at Halle St Peter's
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 2.30pm
MLF Blogger Fran Slater enjoys Lionel Shriver's "Anti-Sermon" Sermon.
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Review: Iain Sinclair at the Burgess Foundation
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 2.10pm
MLF Blogger Frank Collins spends a fascinating evening considering The Beats with legendary walker, talker and writer Iain Sinclair.
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Review: A Passion for Sport at The Green
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 1.45pm
Festival Blogger Chris Ogden finds much common ground between writing and sport at a rare event joining these two worlds.
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Review: Tea at the Midland with Rachel Cooke
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 12.20pm
MLF Blogger Sarah Jasmon gets her tea and a lot more out of an afternoon spent talking about the women of the 1950s.
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Review: Walter Mosley at Cornerhouse
Tuesday 22nd October 2013 12.00pm
Festival Blogger Jennie Shorley Carling is won over by author Walter Mosley's spare, direct way of doing things.
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Review: First Editions and Rarities Walking Tour
Friday 18th October 2013 1.00pm
On a ramble through the city, MLF blogger Catherine McGee learns the secrets of three Manchester libraries.
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Review: Manchester Crime Scene at Manchester Town Hall
Friday 18th October 2013 4.40pm
MLF Blogger Liz Gregory hears three different perspectives on crime writing in the Rainy City with Val McDermid, Cath Staincliffe and Tom Benn.
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Review: Helen Fielding at the Royal Exchange
Friday 18th October 2013 3.00pm
Festival blogger Lauren Binnie mourns Mr. Darcy, but finds some solace in a lively afternoon in the company of the Bridget Jones author.
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Review: Open the Windows at Manchester Museum
Thursday 17th October 2013 3.15pm
Festival Blogger Chris Ogden is moved by a surprising and powerful blend of poetry, music and medicine.
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Review: Barbara Pym event at The Portico
Thursday 10th October 2013 10.30am
MLF Blogger LJ Spilane heads to The Portico Library to celebrate the centenary of a most excellent woman.
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Review: Audrey Niffenegger & Jeanette Winterson at The Martin Harris Centre
Thursday 17th October 2013 2.40pm
At an evening with author Audrey Niffenegger, MLF Blogger Cat Lumb learns about creativity and the importance of hanging on to your native sense of wonder.
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Review: Shackleton's Man Goes South at Manchester Museum
Thursday 17th October 2013 2.00pm
MLF Blogger Joely Black is moved by Tony White's new book, a novel that delivers a powerful warning about the fate of the Earth.
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Out and About With Our Young Digital Reporters
Thursday 17th October 2013 12.25pm
Each year we work with a group of young people aged 15 to 25 to support them to develop their skills as digital reporters, documenting festival events from their perspective.
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Review: Xiaolu Guo at The Burgess Foundation
Tuesday 15th October 2013 2.00pm
Festival blogger Nanette Thomspon enjoys learning about author Xiaolu Guo
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Review: David Morrell at John Rylands Library
Tuesday 15th October 2013 3.30pm
MLF Blogger LJ Spillane hears about a potent tale of murder and drug addiction that's an intriguing blend of fact and fiction
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Review: The Great Gatsby Uncovered at Matt & Phreds
Tuesday 15th October 2013 2.30pm
Festival Blogger Lucy Rock is seduced by visions of a jazz age darker and more complex than we might believe.
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Review: Northern Lights Writers Conference at Sale Waterside
Tuesday 15th October 2013 1.30pm
Our blogger Desmond Bullen enjoys a day spent talking about writing and publishing in Sale
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Review: A Highland Romance at Manchester Art Gallery
Tuesday 15th October 2013 11.15am
Festival blogger Lucy Rock goes on a rewarding journey to the Scottish Highlands with poet Jen Hadfield
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Review: Patrick Ness at Manchester Town Hall
Thursday 10th October 2013 2.00pm
Festival Blogger Desmond Bullen is impressed by Patrick Ness.
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Review: Fiction Debuts at Waterstones
Thursday 10th October 2013 1.30pm
MLF Blogger Cat Lumb finds common threads among three very different perspectives at our Fiction Debuts event.
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Meet the MLF Team: Kate Feld
Wednesday 9th October 2013 2.20pm
In this week's installment in our Meet the Team series, we meet Digital Marketing Assistant Kate Feld
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Review: Graphic Novels at the Burgess Foundation
Tuesday 8th October 2013 2.00pm
Festival blogger Joely Black enjoys an ideal introduction to the world of Graphic Novels during MLF13
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Five minutes with... Dominic Berry
Monday 7th October 2013 12.00pm
We catch up with the enormously entertaining poet Dominic Berry (aka Dommy B) ahead of his upcoming appearance at our Family Reading Day October 20.
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Meet the MLF Team: Cathy Bolton
Tuesday 1st October 2013 12.00pm
In the latest of our series of posts getting to know the MLF team, we meet Festival Director Cathy Bolton...
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Five minutes with...The Bookshop Band
Tuesday 24th September 2013 10.40am
In advance of their upcoming gig at our Patrick Ness event on 8 October, we talk to Ben Please of The Bookshop Band, a unique musical trio who write and perform songs inspired by particular books.
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Meet the MLF Team: Jane Mathieson
Thursday 19th September 2013 12.20pm
In our latest Meet the Team post, we get to know Jane Mathieson, who has been a member of the Manchester Literature Festival board since its inception, and has helped develop and maintain strong links between the festival and libraries in the region.
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Jo Nesbø at Manchester Town Hall
Tuesday 17th September 2013 11.00am
MLF Blogger Sarah Jasmon on the seductive charms of Jo Nesbø, who got MLF 2013 off to an early start at Manchester Town Hall on 13 September. In a wide-ranging conversation with writer Barry Forshaw, the bestselling Norwegian author discussed the Scandi crime phenomena and what it's like to immerse himself in the dark world of detctive Harry Hole.
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Meet the MLF team: Liz Postlethwaite
Friday 13th September 2013 12.45pm
In the latest post in our "Meet the MLF Team" series, we get to know MLF's Children and Young People's Programme Coordinator Liz Postlethwaite.
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Up Close with David Peace
Tuesday 3rd September 2013 4.31pm
In a preview event for this autumn’s Manchester Literature Festival, David Peace visited National Football Museum to talk to author and DJ Dave Haslam about his latest novel, Red or Dead, which follows the life of Liverpool FC managerial legend, Bill Shankly. Blogger Jason Cooke was there to cover the event for Chapter & Verse.
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Meet the MLF team: Jon Atkin
Friday 16th August 2013 2.30pm
We work hard to bring you the finest festival we can every year. But who is this shadowy team of book lovers labouring away on Oak Street? To introduce MLF’s cast of characters and shed a little light on what exactly it is that we do all day, we’re starting a series of posts about, well… us. First up is Festival Coordinator (on sabbatical) Jon Atkin.
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Meet the designer: Mark Lester
Wednesday 14th August 2013 3.30pm
Mark Lester and his award-winning Manchester design studio, MARK, are responsible for all of the festival’s design and brand work. This year’s designs, which look at the 2013 festival programme through the medium of word puzzle books, are possibly the most intriguing yet. We caught up with Mark to talk about his work for the festival and where those ideas come from.
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Blogging the 2013 Festival
Thursday 8th August 2013 12.14pm
What you’re reading is Chapter & Verse, the brand new Manchester Literature Festival blog. In the weeks to come, we’ll be using this space to go deeper into the books, authors and ideas that figure in this year’s festival...
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The Universe Explained
Friday 26th July 2013 2.54pm
Picture a Venn diagram with one circle labelled 'into punk rock' and the other labelled 'interested in science'; the bit where the two circles overlap looked like the audience at Gorilla the other night for geeky gig The Universe Explained...