Literati glitterati

The Manchester Literature Festival has once again been a resounding success. Last night saw the 6th annual Manchester Blog Awards, an integral part of the festival, at the Deaf Institute on Grosvenor Street, with excellent compere Kate Feld, who is a writer, blogger, instigator of these awards and much more, originally from Vermont: http://katefeld.com/
http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/

I was delighted that this blog (Mancunian Wave)- still only six months old- was shortlisted for the Best Arts & Culture Blog award, but congratulations to deserving winner The Shrieking Violet, who had been nominated three years running: http://theshriekingviolets.blogspot.com/

I was also delighted to see such a mix of people in the audience and amongst the readers onstage, from many ethnicities and age ranges- from late teens to 70s I would guess. There must have been well over one hundred people attending. Best reading of the night for me (although there were several others that were top quality too) were the evocative memories of David Day. You can hear a short extract at Audioboo:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/511797-david-day-reads-his-essay-at-the-launch-of-the-real-story-creative-nonfiction-project-in-manchester

http://www.manchesterblogawards.com/