'Timelines' Takes Over Historic Ordsall Hall

Ordsall Hall

Historic Ordsall Hall provided the stunning setting for the Timelines anthology relaunch, as part of Manchester Children's Book Festival. A number of the contributors to the anthology - a "unique project" written and illustrated by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) students - were brought together in the magnificent surroundings of the Tudor manor house to read excerpts from their own short stories.

Manchester Writing School's Livi Michael and Iris Feindt

Speaking to us ahead of the readings, in the impressive main hall of the building, Livi Michael and Iris Feindt from Manchester Writing School were clearly overjoyed by the choice of venue. Iris said "I don't know why I've never been here before, it's such an amazing place. I could just sit here all day!" Whilst Livi added, "We were at (the Family Fun Day) all day yesterday, which was rather noisy, so it's lovely to be here at this beautiful, rather calmer, place. We love the setting, we hope it will make everyone feel happy about doing their readings."

Asked about the Timelines anthology itself, Iris told us,

"It came about last year. Livi and I edited it and it's a collection of short stories written by master's degree children's writers and some of their tutors. It's to give the writers a 'leg up,' because it is really difficult to get published, to get that first step on the publishing ladder. It was illustrated by students from the Manchester School of Art and we feel that the illustrations completely bring the collection to life.

The authors of Timelines

"The writers on the anthology had a really professional attitude throughout, whilst it was being edited. We didn't have anyone who was really precious about their work. We made them jump though so many hoops, just to try to make the ending work, we'd say "try this, try that ..." and some of them had to write it several times, but they did it and they all had a really good attitude which was nice to see. It's good for them to have been through that process. It's a university publication, but it doesn't look or feel like a university publication because there was a strict selection process and it's been handled so professionally." Meanwhile, Livi added,

"We publish Timelines to a professional standard and it's marketed through Amazon and Blackwells, so it is also sold professionally. Every story in there has been edited and proofread many times over. And the illustrations are great."

Dan Seitler and Yosef Kanter, both aged 7.

Iris was first to read from her short story The White Line, which is set in Berlin during the Cold War and deals with the building of the Berlin Wall. 

Another contributor to the anthology, Marie Dentan, had traveled all the way from Paris to be at the Festival and read from her short story Robin and the King. Marie told us, "Ordsall Hall is amazing, it's really beautiful. For the Timelines event it is perfect."

Last to read was Kim Hutson who not only works at Ordsall Hall but also set her own short story at the Tudor manor itself. She said, "I realised that the things we usually talk about here are to do with Tudor times and the 16th and 17th centuries. I wanted to do something different with my story, The Silver Spoons of Ordsall Hall, so it is actually set in 1831."

Oscar and the White Lady illustrator Adam Pryce shares his craft

In fact, Kim had yet another reason to be excited about the event, as her latest children's book Oscar and The White Lady, again set at Ordsall Hall, was enjoying a pre-launch party in the manor house kitchen. Children were busy learning to draw some of the book's characters with the illustrator Adam Pryce. He told us,

"It's a story about a young boy who is obsessed with ghosts and he comes here to search through each of the rooms. The book will be launched here properly in a couple of weeks at a special outdoor event. I'm just working with the children here, who are drawing Oddy the Mouse, a new mascot I invented for Ordsall Hall, who appears on every page of Oscar and the White Lady."

In addition to exploring the hall's many interesting chambers, the children at the event enjoyed loads of great activities, including dressing up and, for a brave few, even a spooky storytelling in the haunted attic! We had to leave that particular activity quite early on ... eek!

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The follow up book to the Timelines anthology is a brand new collection entitled Crimelines and will be the focus of a further Festival event on 5th July at John Rylands Library. Find out more information here.

- NH

Wolf Tide Gala Launch

The Manchester Writing School at MMU and the Manchester Children’s Book Festival present the gala launch of Catherine Fox’s latest novel, Wolf Tide, Thursday 12th December 2013

Words and Photographs by Chantelle Salkeld

Catherine Fox took to the stage at the Anthony Burgess Foundation to launch her latest novel, Wolf Tide. Accompanying Catherine were fellow writers from the Manchester Writing School, reading from the Timelines short story anthology.

The event began with an announcement from Livi Michael, a Creative Writing Lecturer at MMU and host for the evening. The Timelines anthology, the Manchester Writing School’s own publication, had sold out for the second time. Timelines is a collection of short historical fiction for teens, and includes stories and illustrations by students of the Manchester Writing School and the Manchester School of Art at MMU. It was clear from extracts read by Anna Mainwaring and Emma George, Timelines consists of many aspiring and imaginative storytellers. Other notable authors include N.M. Browne, Sherry Ashworth, Iris Feindt and Livi Michael, who aim to be the leading publisher for children’s writing in the UK.

Wolf Tide is Catherine’s 10th novel, and is unlike any of her past work. Dark, compelling, full of magic and although it is aimed at young adults, there is something for an older audience too. As Livi said, she was ‘completely hooked’ from the start.

Left to Right: Livi Michael talks with Catherine Fox

17 year-old Anabara Nolio is descended from a long line of warriors. She is also a private investigator. When tasked with discovering the truth about the university library’s lost books she thinks it’s a simple case. But the city isle of Laridy is riddled with dark secrets and ancient magic – a legacy from historic dealings with the realm of the Fairy. A world where stained-glass angels can leave their windows to fight, where rooftops are guarded by armed statues. When Anabara decides to free a Fairy slave during her investigation she is plunged into a terrifying underworld of trafficking and trickery – and solving the case becomes the least of her problems.

The novel is a departure from her earlier works, which are mainly set in the real world. Catherine explained that she wanted to write a detective story, but didn’t know much about police procedure, so it was far better to be set in a realm she has created herself. "In that case I could do exactly what I like as long as I keep my own rules," she explained.

"Writing is a process of discovery," Catherine said. She invents her characters as she writes them. "That’s my plotting technique as well," she admitted, bringing laughs from the audience. For example, an amulet is described throughout the novel, and as Anabara wonders what it does, Catherine did too during the writing process. Finally, ‘it all fell into place’ as she completed the first draft of the novel.

First drafts and editing can be a tricky business. Catherine remembers one editor holding up a manuscript of hers saying “I think this is a first draft, of a first novel, out of which may eventually come the novel we publish.”

“It came back with red ink all over it,” she laughed, saying she felt like she would be sent to the head teacher’s office.

Waiting to be published is the hardest part of the process: having rejections, and hearing nothing. Rejection," Catherine said, "is like running into a plate glass window that you didn’t know was there.”

Left to Right: Iris Feindt with Timelines, Livi Michael, and Catherine Fox with Wolf Tide

I had the chance to ask her a couple of questions after the main event. I wanted to know how she created the names for the characters.

“I spent some time walking on the coast of North Devon, where there were many gulls flying around. I looked up the Latin word for gull, which is larus, and this became the City of Laridy, where the Gull People live.”

She usually uses Latin words as a springboard to help her create some names. The title was inspired from the tidal bore on the River Severn, which is celebrated to this day in England, as it is by the inhabitants of Laridy.

As for character names, she chooses ones that sound fitting, but not so obscure readers can’t remember them. Some ideas she took from Maori culture, as the Gull People have tattooed foreheads.

Catherine also has a new novel coming out soon, Acts and Omissions. It is crowed-sourced as she began writing bits on Twitter each week and found she was getting responses. She thought it would be fun to write about the serialised Victorian novel and get other people’s opinions, and they contributed some ideas she would never have thought of. She explained how it will be interesting to see it as a book altogether, as it worked really well in serial form.

Wolf Tide is available for purchase from Amazon. The first chapter is available for free here.

Wolf Tide Gala Launch was a Manchester Children's Book Festival trailblazer event. If you would like to hear about upcoming events in relation to MCBF you can sign up for the 2014 mailing list here.

Chantelle studies English and Creative Writing at MMU. She enjoys painting and poetry in her spare time. You can follow her on Twitter @Chantelle_L_S

Time to Shine for MMU’s Writing Talent

The Writers & Illustrators of The Timelines Anthology

Words by Lisa Burns

The John Rylands Library played host to a plethora of MMU’s finest writing talent last weekend, with the launch of MMU’s Timelines Anthology. Part of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival, the anthology is a collection of short stories for children and teenagers, written by students of MMU’s Writing for Children MA.

A selection of the anthology’s 17 authors were invited to step forward and read their stories to members of the public. Each story within the anthology contains around 3000 words and is aimed at an audience of readers aged 10 – 14 years old. The stories each have a historical theme, covering almost every period from the Cretaceous Period right until the present day, set in times and spaces all over the world.

The students who took up the challenge to write the short stories all study at Manchester Writing School and were specially commissioned by their tutors. The tutors in question are all established authors in their own right - N.M. Browne, Sherry Ashworth and Livi Michael, amongst others. Timelines was inspired by the Manchester Children’s Book Festival, which takes place every two years to encourage children to develop a passion for literature and to get involved in creative writing projects.

N.M.Browne, Dr Livi Michael, Iris Feindt & Sherry Ashworth

Saturday’s launch began with an introduction from MMU Lecturer and author Dr Livi Michael, who was also an editor of the anthology. She remarked, ‘this is the first time that an anthology like this has been produced by a university and published and marketed professionally. I am so proud of this book and all the writers in it. Commercial publishers are not doing enough to promote our talented writers, and so we thought we’d give them a step up the ladder’. This follows big publishers 'playing it safe' during the current economic climate by working exclusively with established series and authors. This in turn creates difficulties for new voices and short fiction in particular, to break through. This showcase is designed to help budding writers.

Among the guest writers was N.M. Browne, who had travelled from London to read her story set in Fifth-Century Dark Ages Britain, entitled The Betrothed. Browne made a point of stating her gratitude for being invited to the occasion, ‘it’s so nice to finally meet people that I’ve talked with online, and to be able to put faces to names after all this time! I’m honoured to have been invited here today.’

Other guest writers included Matt Killeen, Emma George and Marie Dentan. Dentan had come all the way from Paris to read her story set in the time of Henry V and the Hundred Years’ War. Marie has created a blog which showcases her MA project, as well as interviews with the authors and editors of Timelines.

The event was well-attended, it was so great a success that host and Editor-In- Chief, Iris Feindt, had to keep offering the last chair available in the room (her own chair!) to the many people left standing. ‘I’m so happy with the turnout’, Iris enthused. ‘It’s quite special when you get to hear the authors reading their own stories’. Many of the student authors had never read their stories publicly before, so the launch was a very special occasion.

 Author, editor and MMU Lecturer Sherry Ashworth gave the anthology a glowing review at the end of the event. Sherry stated, 'Timelines is wonderful and would make a great Christmas stocking-filler for adults and children alike! It’s not just for children, it’s for everyone!' If the success of the Timelines book launch is anything to go by, MMU’s Writing School is sure to continue producing work that feeds the imaginations of generations to come!

The Timelines Anthology is available to buy from 21st October, and costs £8.99.

Follow Manchester Children's Book Festival on Twitter @MCBF2014

Lisa Burns studies History and English at MMU. When she’s not got her nose in a book, she loves having adventures in the great outdoors! Follow her on Twitter: @LittleRobin09