Skip to main content

Books Archive


14th October 2013

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names juxtaposes the bleak backdrop of a Zimbabwean shantytown with the warmth that Darling and her friends radiate with their bright outlook and youthful energy, says Maisie Boggild-Jones
14th October 2013

The MANchester Booker Prize 2013

The reviews are in! Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury invites readers to vote for their favourite
14th October 2013

Classics digested: The Great Gatsby

Olivia Stevens revisits the novel that captured the Jazz Age – and our imagination
14th October 2013

Literary daytrip: Hathersage

Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury invites you to hop on a train to Hathersage and walk in the footsteps of Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet
14th October 2013

Top five fictional diaries

In celebration of the release of the third instalment in the Bridget Jones’s Diary series, Andrew Websdale reveals his favourite fictional diaries of all time
14th October 2013

Harvest by Jim Crace

Favourite to win the Man Booker Prize 2013, Jim Crace’s Harvest is a beautifully written tribute to those affected by the Enclosure Acts, says Shanda Moorghen
14th October 2013

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary gnaws away at previously held beliefs and convictions as only good literature can, says Katie Myerscough
7th October 2013

Editors’ Picks: The Manchester Literature Festival

From 7th October to 20th October, celebrated authors will be descending on venues across Manchester. Books Editors Esmé Clifford Astbury and Annie Muir reveal their top picks
7th October 2013

The death of Mr Darcy

Elizabeth Mitchell muses on Britain’s favourite singleton becoming a widow
7th October 2013

Michael Schmidt on the life of an editor

Books Editor Annie Muir talks to the poet, scholar and editor-extraordinaire, Michael Schmidt

Get involved with Books

30th September 2013

The Manchester Anthology

New writers make their mark in The Manchester Anthology
30th September 2013

The Booker of Bookers

Books Editor Annie Muir looks back at the ultimate Booker Prize winner, Midnight’s Children
30th September 2013

Helen Isserlis talks teenage angst, Spike Milligan and e-cigarettes

Emerging poet Helen Isserlis talks to Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury
21st September 2013

Manchester: a literary city?

If you thought the rainy city didn’t have much to offer in terms of literature, think again. Manchester has inspired generations of great writers and is now home to a vibrant literary scene.
21st September 2013

Top five literary nights out in Manchester

Looking to escape the madness of Freshers’ Week? Check out some of these bookish venues
21st September 2013

Celebrating the life and work of Seamus Heaney

Elizabeth Mitchell pays tribute to the great Irish poet
19th September 2013

Taking on the Man Booker Prize

Esmé Clifford Astbury considers this year’s Booker Prize shortlist and invites readers to take a stab at predicting the winner
29th April 2013

The Working Class Movement Library

Annie Muir’s finds some stirring stuff in Salford’s Working Class Movement Library
29th April 2013

Why Anthony Trollope is a Better Version of Charles Dickens

Elizabeth Mitchell argues that one of the most prolific writers of all time deserves the same reputation as his overexposed contemporary, Dickens
24th April 2013

Book Club: Celia Mullins, History Student

Celia Mullins talks to Book Club about House of the Spirits, the Isabel Allende classic, visceral prose, and Meryl Streep