Manchester Literature Festival is well under way, and it’s already shaping up to be a year to remember!
Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend an MLF event discussing the release of Louise Kennedy’s Stations and Wendy Erskine’s The Benefactors. Both authors, who come from Northern Ireland, offered insights into their writing processes, the art of writing unlikeable characters and the importance of Northern Irish voices in literature.
The evening was hosted by Deb Grant of BBC 6 Music, who initiated an insightful conversation about identity and storytelling.
Both Kennedy and Erskine delivered readings from their newly released novels. Erskine’s excerpt from The Benefactors was profoundly witty and humorous, in spite of its serious subject matter: sexual assault. Erskine explained that it was important to her that her novel captured ‘real-life experiences’, and that life is rarely ever entirely sad or entirely joyous. ‘It’s a balance,’ she said.
After her reading, Kennedy claimed that much of her novel, Stations, draws from her own experiences, moving from the North of Ireland to London in the 1980s. She explained, however, that the most interesting part of her writing is when the characters’ lives divert from her own experiences.
The evening offered a fascinating insight into the creative processes behind contemporary literature.
With many more events to come over the next week, this year’s Manchester Literature Festival is due to be one of the best yet. On the 23rd of October, Manchester Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam will host a creative non-fiction workshop, while on the following Sunday, the 25th, an incredible event with internationally acclaimed novelist Elif Shafak is due to take place. There are also plenty of opportunities for children, including a performance of The Enormous Turnip by Stuff and Nonsense theatre company.
With such a varied programme, there is sure to be an event for everyone at Manchester Literature Festival. Don’t miss out!
