Welcome to the Altrincham Word Fest Historical Fiction Writing Competition! We are challenging pupils in Altrincham schools to produce a work of historical fiction of up to 1 000 words. We would like you to write a story that is based on an event, situation or person relevant to the history of Altrincham, Manchester or of your own hometown. We would like your story to … Continue reading Historical Fiction Writing Competition
Neil Hughes of Altrincham’s Cinammon Club crowd funds his first novel Continue reading The Old Familiar Places
We recently caught up with blogger and writer , Susan Earlam Continue reading Catching Up with Susan
Sticky Post
A novel of working life in contemporary Manchester Continue reading Lanyards by Neil Campbell
‘The Song of Peterloo’ by Carolyn O’Brien is set in Manchester in 1819 where the cotton mills are making the owners rich whilst the millworkers are poorly paid and working in difficult even dangerous conditions. Many of the mill workers are drawn to radicals like Henry Hunt who are agitating for reform and plans are being made for a peaceful gathering of tens of thousands … Continue reading The Song of Peterloo
May 3rd (Sunday) Independent publishers book fair High street bookshops are full of books from a small number of large mainstream publishers, most based in London. However, the North West is home to a great variety of small independent publishers producing great work by little known and emerging authors. Our book fair will provide an opportunity for local people to discover fantastic work by the … Continue reading 2020 Programme
Local writer, Keith Warrender is the author of several books about Cheshire and Manchester and he has just produced ‘Manchester’s Lost District: Life before the Arndale’. It may seem that the Arndale Centre has been dominating the centre of Manchester forever. In fact, the shopping centre was built in the 1970s to replacing a warren of streets, squares and courts, remnants of a much older … Continue reading Manchester’s Lost District: Life before the Arndale Centre
This Automaton by David Wheldon ( Nightjar Press) is a strange fragment of a tale. The first page tells us that the manuscript of the story was found amongst the effects of a British infantryman killed in 1918. It is dated 1905 and relates an episode in the life of the boy who, we presume, would later become that unfortunate soldier. The child lives with … Continue reading The Automaton by David Wheldon
That’s What She Said is a monthly open mic event that showcases the best new writing and performance by women and non-binary writers. It features well known headliner acts and offers a supportive environment for emerging authors to perform a mixture of performance, poetry and storytelling. That’s What She Said usually takes place in the centre of Manchester but we are delighted to say … Continue reading That’s What She Said
Review by Katie Frankland Set in a cold, grey, eerie Manchester, “Sirens” introduces Adrian Waits, an unfortunate Detective with a menacing past and hopeless future. His present isn’t too promising either as he is pushed into the ugly, brutal darkness of the city’s criminal underground. Assigned to work on a solo, covert mission to investigate the whereabouts of a missing politician’s daughter, he positions himself … Continue reading Sirens -Joseph Knox (Transworld Publishers)
