A Modern Family book launch with Socrates Adams

Join us on July 25th to launch Socrates Adams' new novel A Modern Family.

You may remember our last launch with him. Remember? We packed the shop to the rafters and we all had a lovely time.

A Modern Family follows the life of a popular car show presenter who has the perfect job but doesn't have the perfect family. Author Jenn Ashworth says A Modern Family "is filled with wry observation, ruthless satire and, underneath it all, a real warmth. It is scathing, truthful and hilariously, painfully funny." The book is being released on the brilliant Blue Moose Books.

Our launch takes place in the shop at 6.30pm on Thursday July 25th, and it is absolutely free to attend. We'll even put on refreshments, courtesy of Blue Moose.

The Facebook event page is here.

See you on the 25th.

#NewmanMcr countdo-- oh forget that, here's @socratesadams

We're meant to be counting down to our Rob Newman event with a series of connected videos, but we're so made-up with Socrates Adams' award success, here's a video which is nothing to do with the event but we don't care so shut up.

Here's Socrates Adams' hilarious 2012 promo for his book Everything's Fine. Watch out for his essential new book A Modern Family: launch news to come.

Rob Newman's Manchester book launch, 4 June 2013

Come along and meet author and comedian Robert Newman reading from and discussing his stunning new novel The Trade Secret (Cargo Publishing).

Supporting will be brilliant and entertaining writing talents Rosie Garland and Anneliese Mackintosh.

It all happens at Gorilla on Whitworth Street West on Tuesday June 4 at 7pm. Your £3 ticket will get you £3 off off Rob's new book on the night. Buy your Robert Newman ticket now!

Hosted by leading Manchester literary lovelies Blackwell's and Bad Language.

Book launch haiku

Thank you to everyone who came along to last night's book launch for James Higgerson's The Almost Lizard, and to Legend Press for their invaluable help. As a, um, treat for our performers, we wrote them a haiku each. Here they are again with links to our performers' websites. With apologies to every poet ever.

Event haiku:

Words and words and words / and words and booze and words and / booze and booze and words. 

Chris Killen haiku:*

Simple summary: / award winning film maker / and pizza eater.
[more about Chris here]

Rodge Glass haiku:

Is that Ryan Giggs / in Rodge’s garden again / or is it a gnome?
[more about Rodge here] 

Sam Mills haiku:

Industry destroys. / Oh I think I’ve got the wrong / dark Satanic Mills.
[more about Sam here] 

James Higgerson haiku:

James Higgerson: / so wasteful of syllables / I might run out of
[more about James here] 

* By coincidence, Chris Killen also read a haiku or three and is, not surprisingly, much better at writing them than we are.

ALMOST LIZARD LAUNCH LATEST

Our event on Friday 15 March has two new things. A shortened URL and a poster! Woo! Do come and support James Higgerson's first novel launch - you also get Sam Mills, Rodge Glass and Chris Killen too, all for the price of nothing!

Do share. The Facebook event is here.

Here's the Twitter-friendly URL:

tiny.cc/lizardz

And here's the poster: Click for bigger.

THE ALMOST LIZARD LAUNCH: JAMES HIGGERSON, SAM MILLS, RODGE GLASS, CHRIS KILLEN

Short URL to this blog post: tiny.cc/lizardz
Join the Facebook event

An exciting new novelist will launch his debut in Blackwell's in March alongside a stellar line-up of authors.

James Higgerson is a cat-owning Manchester PhD student who was runner-up in the Luke Bitmead Bursary Award. The Almost Lizard (Legend Press 2013) is his debut and is a story of modern mental illness in a media-obsessed society. Our event on Friday 15 March will be the book's official launch.

Support will come from three massively exciting authors:

Sam Mills' debut novel The Quiddity of Will Self was longlisted for Not the Booker prize and is an "ingenious, energetic read" (Sunday Times). Sam is a former chess journalist and has contributed to 3am and The Guardian. As one of the founding members of the Will Self Club, Sam rose to the position of Sovereign Grand Quiddity Inspector General. Naturally. At the launch event, we'll have copies of an absolutely brand new paperback edition of Quiddity

Rodge Glass wrote two novels for Faber, Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs (Tindal Street Press 2012), won the Somerset Maugham Award in 2009 and co-authored the award-nominated graphic novel Dougie’s War: A Soldier’s Story (Freight, 2010). He is also Associate Editor at Cargo Publishing. As a special treat for event attendees, we hope to have preview copies of his not-yet-released short story collection LoveSexTravelMusik available on the night.

Chris Killen is an author whose much-vaunted novel The Bird Room showed "exuberant brio" (Guardian) and was "so fresh it practically pings with energy" (Independent). When he's not making podcasts about pizza and working on his new novel In Real Life, Chris is part of Metal Man, whose film Wizard's Way won the London Comedy Festival Discovery Award 2013.

Join Blackwell's, James, Sam, Rodge and Chris for a fantastic evening of fiction.

Date: Friday 15 March 2013
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Blackwell's bookshop, The Precinct Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RN
Admission: free

FRIDAY THANKS

Thank you to everyone who came down for Friday's book launch.

Jenn Ashworth read from her brand new book The Friday Gospels, a tragicomic tale of Lancastrian Mormons described by the Telegraph as "Ashworth’s most confident work yet". Our Q&A afterwards focused on the different voices of the novel, the uniqueness of British Mormonism and the warmth weaved throughout the narrative.

Russ Litten chose to read from his forthcoming crime novel Swear Down - which prompted the best comment from the evening when an audience member said in the Q&A: "I'm only here for the free drink... but I like you."

Your host for the evening was Fat Roland, who has been known to moonlight as Blackwell's assistant manager. Thanks to everyone for putting up with his insistent plugging on Facebook! Massive thanks too to Sceptre Books for supporting the evening. The launch even had a hashtag.

The Friday Gospels is a great book (we love that cover too) and we were proud to launch it in Blackwell's. We'll add photos to this blog post as and when they appear online.

THE FRIDAY GOSPELS: JENN ASHWORTH BOOK LAUNCH

It's Friday in Blackwell's, but this is no ordinary Friday... it's the launch of Jenn Ashworth's new novel The Friday Gospels.

Our event features a reading and a Q&A with Jenn, and support from Russ Litten, author of Scream If You Want To Go Faster and the forthcoming Swear Down. As well as the amazing company and laughs that were the trademark of our events in 2012. Your compere as ever will be the indefatigable Fat Roland.

It starts 7.30pm on Friday 18 January 2013 and admission is free! Do download the poster above (click for bigger) and share it on your networks.

Praise for The Friday Gospels

"A set of brilliantly realized voices in a narrative of great energy and skill... A serious novel seriously engaged with big themes. It is also very funny"' - Andrew Miller, author of Pure

"There’s an addictive, claustrophobic, intimate feel to this novel that reminded me of Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap. Engagingly funny and sad." - Red Online

"The Friday Gospels is possibly the first work of fiction to deal with the Mormon faith in the context of Modern Britain, but to focus on this aspect would be a violation of its specialness. It is rare to find a novel that is so complex, so damn clever and yet at once readable... - a truly exceptional novel." - Helen Walsh, author of Brass and Go To Sleep

HABIT: STEPHEN McGEAGH BOOK LAUNCH

On Thursday December 13, we launch an amazing debut on Salt Publishing by Manchester-based writer Stephen McGeagh.

Habit takes us from a chance meeting in Manchester to blood-drenched flashbacks and the goings-on in a room below 7th Heaven... this powerful first novel is an essential read, and we're dead excited because we get to offer you the Manchester launch in our bookshop for FREE!

The evening starts at 7.30pm and as well as a reading from Stephen, it also features readings from an amazing trio: Nicholas Royle, Claire Massey and Socrates Adams.

Habit review: 

“A raw slice of urban menace as immediate as a dangerous night out on the town. In the vivid language of the streets it invokes the paranoid spirit of the city. It's as harsh and clear as neon, and it rings alarmingly true. Be warned – this is not comfortable fiction. Perhaps there's no escape.”

Ramsey Campbell

Facebook event group.

TOM FLETCHER BOOK LAUNCH

Author Tom Fletcher invites you to an evening of horror and mince pies for the Manchester launch of his new novel The Ravenglass Eye.

The evening will include readings from the Northern Lines writing group. It starts at 7.30pm on Thursday 6th December and it's free!

The Ravenglass Eye reviews: 

"With his third novel, The Ravenglass Eye, we’re treated to something that really is different in so many ways to what’s gone before. But yet that unique and confident style, that unerring desire to tell a cracking supernatural yarn; that’s here, and more."
Spooky Reads 

"Powerful enough to make your skin crawl."
Bookmunch

Facebook event group.

LEARNING TO PAY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION: A DEBATE

Is education about truth and enlightenment? Or are students merely players in a market?

Join us on Tuesday for what we hope will be a fascinating and in-depth discussion about higher education. Our guests will be Joanna Williams, author of Consuming Higher Education, and Paul Taylor, communications lecturer at the University of Leeds and contributor to several Radio 4 programmes.

It starts at 6.45pm in our shop on Tuesday 20 November.

This is the latest in Manchester Salon's series of debates, which means the audience is encouraged to question and challenge. Tickets can be bought through the Manchester Salon website or from our ground floor tills.

CHRIS DOLAN & ALLAN CAMERON TONIGHT



Join us tonight as we launch a novel and a short story collection.

Chris Dolan and Allan Cameron will be reading from their latest titles. There will also be a Q&A... this event is must for up-and-coming writers as well as lovers of quality fiction.

In the shop from 6.30pm. It's free! See you there.

LINDSEY HOLLAND POETRY BOOK LAUNCH

Assuming you've not been dressed as a guy and been Wickerman-ed to a frazzle, join us on Wednesday November 7 for the launch of an exciting poetic debut.

Particle Soup "plucks patterns from random debris, mapping meaning out of scattered experiences" (Todd Swift) and is the first anthology from poet and editor Lindsey Holland.

You may have seen Lindsey's work in (deep breath) Tears in the Fence, The New Writer, BODY, Ink Sweat & Tears, Sabotage Reviews, Penning Perfumes and Lung Jazz (amazing title).

Lindsey will read from her new book and will be supported by some amazing talent: Angela Topping (Salt Publishing and much more) and JT Welsch (Crashaw shortlistee).

Wednesday's event is free and we start at 7.30pm. Do click on the picture of the poster and share it with your friends. See you there!

"This is a highly recommended volume by a strong new writer. - David Morley

"Particle is a discovery in more ways than one: in the smart poems themselves, and in the way it brings us to the recognition that Holland is among the best young poets now writing in the UK." - Todd Swift

"Lindsey Holland writes hauntingly beautiful poems of love and fear and the non-existent space in between." - Luke Kennard

SCIENCE SATURDAYS: MANCHESTER SCIENCE FESTIVAL

Join us for two days of free talks from leading science writers at Oxford University Press.

Throughout October 27 and November 3, our Science Saturdays should illuminate and amuse. It's all part of Manchester Science Festival, and it's going to be amazing.

Here's a poster which you can click on and copy if you want - along with our full schedule of events.

Waking the Giant
Sat 27 Oct 2012 11am - 12 noon
Bill McGuire argues that climate change is once more setting the scene for the giant to reawaken, and we can already see the signs... [more]

The Goldilocks Planet
Sat 27 Oct 2012 2pm
Two leading geologists give important insights into dramatic changes in Earth's distant past, and the delicate balance that ensures our planet is 'not too hot, not too cold', but 'just right' to sustain life... [more]

Why Millions Survive Cancer
Sat 27 Oct 2012 3.30pm
The enormous recent progress in fighting cancer, and the science behind it, is revealed fully for the first time Lauren Pecorino, who looks to the future in our battle with this disease... [more]

Run, Swim, Throw, Cheat
Sat 27 Oct 2012 5pm
Drugs in sport are big news and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is common. What are the limits of human performance? What stops us running faster, throwing longer, or jumping higher? Find out at this fascinating event... [more]

On Being
Sat 3 Nov 2012 11am
In this scientific 'credo', Peter Atkins considers the universal questions of origins, endings, birth, and death to which religions have claimed answers... [more]

Why Humans Like to Cry
Sat 3 Nov 2012 2pm
Why have we developed art forms - most powerfully, music - which move us to sadness and tears? [more]

Higgs: The invention and discovery of the 'God Particle'
Sat 3 Nov 2012 3.30pm
The hunt for the Higgs particle has involved the biggest, most expensive experiment ever. So what is this particle called the Higgs boson? [more]

There are loads of other venues hosting events too. See more on the Manchester Science Festival website.

PHILANTHROPY AND POLITICS: TONIGHT

Inderjeet Parmar (pictured) and Vanessa Pupavac will join us tonight for a discussion on the role of philanthropy and NGOs in politics.

The discussion, hosted by Manchester Salon, will look at how philanthropy has changed, from Rockefeller to Greenpeace - and how, as investigated in Inderjeet Parmar's Foundations of the American Century, it affects western influence in the world.

It starts at 6.30pm tonight at Blackwell's. Tickets can be bought via the Manchester Salon.

THE SHORTEST NIGHT: WED 20 JUNE

On the shortest night of the year, Blackwell's will play host to two compelling writers.

The Shortest Night is part of a series of events across the UK to celebrate International Short Story Day on 20 June 2012. The Manchester leg of the Day will take place in our bookshop and will feature Claire Massey and Anneliese Mackintosh reading their work and discussing their love of short fiction.,

Litfest's Claire Massey is co-editor of Paraxis and has been published in The Best British Short Stories 2011, Murmurations (pictured), Flax, and has released two chapbooks on the excellent Nightjar Press.

Anneliese Mackintosh writes literary fiction, comedy, stage plays and much more, and has appeared in the Edinburgh Review, Gutter, Outside of a Dog, and has been broadcast on Radio 4. She's just finished her first short story collection.

Claire and Anneliese will read from their work and discuss their love of the short story form. It starts at 7pm this Wednesday 20 June and is free to get in. The Shortest Night is brought to you in association with Manchester's Comma Press and Cargo Publishing in Glasgow .

You can find more information on the Comma Press website.

JAWBREAKERS, ENOUGH AND BRAKING DISTANCE LAUNCH

Join us for an incredible triple-anthology launch on Friday 8 June.

In an evening brimming with talented short story writers, we will have readings from three brand new books:

- Jawbreakers, which was released to celebrate National Flash Fiction Day and features contribitions from Ali Smith, Ian Rankin, Tania Hershman, David Gaffney and Vanessa Gebbie;

- Enough, a collection of short stories from Bristol prize winner Valerie O'Riordan;

- Braking Distance, a new Salt Publishing anthology from National Flash Fiction Day's scribbler-in-chief Calum Kerr.

And that's not all. We'll have a smörgåsbord of super scribes reading too: Jenn Ashworth, David Gaffney, Dan Carpenter, Benjamin Judge, Sarah-Clare Conlon, Trevor Byrne and Rupan Malakin. We have the best fiction talent this side of Jupiter.

It all starts just after work at 6.30pm on Friday 8 June 2012, so there'll be plenty of socialising time afterwards. It takes place in our bookshop, admission is free and there will be refreshments.

IS LITERATURE THE NEW POLITICS: MANCHESTER SALON THIS WEDNESDAY

Click the picture for embiggenation.

There are £3 concession tickets too. More information at Manchester Salon.

MANCHESTER LAUNCH FOR LEILA KHALED BIOGRAPHY: CANCELLED

Our launch of the Leila Khaled biography on May 24th has been cancelled due to unforseen circumstances.

Leila Khaled: Icon of Palestinian Liberation by Sarah Irving is a compelling account of Khaled's turbulent life. At the book launch, Sarah will explore Leila Khaled's involvement with a radical element of the PLO, the rise of Hamas, the role of women in a largely male movement and Khaled's activism today.

GREGORY NORMINTON BOOK LAUNCH, 26 APRIL

Author and activist Gregory Norminton will launch his new book at Blackwell's on Thursday 26th April at 6pm.

The Lost Art Of Losing is a collection of thoughts and rants, and is described by Costa Book of the Year winner Andrew Miller as "witty, provocative, self-revelatory and touching to read." It's not officially published until May, but we will have plenty of copies on the night.

The book launch is free to attend and there will be refreshments. It's our second book launch in two weeks: you can see photographs from our previous event on our Pinterest page.

Gregory teaches creative writing at MMU's Manchester Writing School alongside the likes of Sherry Ashworth, Andrew Biswell, Carol Ann Duffy, Michael Symmons Roberts and Jean Sprackland. We also run the bookstalls for their Duffy & Friends and Manchester Children's Book Festival events, among others.

Do come on down - it should be quite a crowd!

Event: Lost Art Of Losing Manchester book launch
Venue: Blackwell's Manchester
Date: 26th April 2012
Time: 6pm (should be no more than an hour or two)
Admission: free