Manchester literature map - terrific website and idea!

It's a great idea but it seems a bit empty at the mo. I get the impression they will be doing this kind of thing for other places in the Northwest too.. are there actually a lot of Manchester-related writers? I knew about Anthony Burgess.. but that's the only Manchester-based writer I know. I guess that's what this site is trying to get at too. I can only wait with baited breath.. Joyce's Dublin transposed onto such cultural meccas as Blackburn, Morecambe.. Preston, even. Yeah, I think this is a very interesting idea.. good luck with it, Eric. [%sig%]

Thanks, Andrew. Just to make it clear in case people reading this might misunderstand: it's not my idea at all, and not directly to do with me! I only recently found out about it from a Manchester artists' newsletter. Yes, the idea is to cover the whole NW. As far as I know it's only recently started. I think you may be right about the paucity of writers here. I only know two others. However you don't have to be based here to be on the map - it's only a question of having a local reference in your writing. I know Robert and Alison (fish) have visited Manchester, so they could write something about their visits and then legitimately have them linked to the map I imagine. Well, if it's published at least. (By the way, I think you mean "bated" breath, not "baited"! The word is related to "abated" and means stopped or held, as in "I held my breath." ...Unless you've been using particularly appealling breath freshener, in which case your breath might well be "baited"! ;-) My mother once made this mistake in a letter to me. She later insisted that it had been a typo but I wasn't convinced!) Eric

Oops... "appealing" has one 'l'! Cringe!

Well, I'm under the impression that I live in Manchester but there again it could be a virtual Manchester of my own imagining - no, that 41 bus definitely says "Piccadilly" on the front... There are LOADS of Manchester writers, just that the scene seems very fragmented with several writers groups and the gay/lesbian angle seems to predominate. There are two or three other Manchester writers who have posted on ABCtales but I haven't seen or heard from them for a while. Thanks for this Eric, I'll submit one or two things and see what they say. As long as it's not a half-baked project to scam grants from the Arts Council...

Sorry, Neil I meant people that I know personally who live in Manchester. You could stretch it to four if you count a friend of mine who works outside Manchester and another who is mainly a photographer but does some writing associated with his pictures. By the way, I tried to contact a couple of Manchester writers' groups that I found on the web (one in Didsbury, which would be very handy) but didn't receive a reply to my emails. Can you recommend anything? I suppose I'm looking for a group interested in general fiction, not a special issue group. Your help would be much appreciated. Cheers Eric

Aha! Bated.. yes.. as in Alan. Cheers. I was brought up in Bolton.. but if it's a NorthWest thing (and Manchester isn't that far) I'll try and get round to submitting something.. Neil.. do you know any names of other Manchester writers?.. as I'd love to read some new stuff.. especially poetry. The nearest I can think of is Mark E.Smith (who has been known to write the odd short story.. don't know if he's any good, though.. if he can ramble down a microphone for hours then he's at least fit for the odd reading or two!) There were always a few things going on at The Frog and Bucket (back of Piccadilly somewhere) and The Cornerhouse.. from what I remember. Manchester really should be the setting for an ABC bash at some point. [%sig%]

Manchester writers: Gwendoline Riley - wrote Cold Water and Sick Notes - both of which - uhm - show promise and 'are of interest'; Nicholas Blincoe (who I think is a bit rubbish); Alan Garner . . . .

Val McDiarmid comes to mind - her novels feature Manchester quite a bit. Mancunians tend to feature strongly in gay and lesbian anthologies.