Alumni Novel Goes Down a Storm

MMU Creative Writing graduate and author, Russell Smith, paid a visit to his alma mater and met with Humanity Hallows to discuss his debut novel, Oblivion Storm, as well as his time at University. 

Words by Jason Cooke

Today I have the pleasure of meeting local author and MMU Creative Writing graduate, Russell Smith. Russell paid Humanity Hallows a visit to discuss his time at university and his debut novel, Oblivion Storm.

I find Russell engrossed in a book at the new Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. We grab a coffee and make acquaintance. 

Russell studied his BA English and his MA in Creative Writing here at MMU. During his BA, Russell took a sabbatical year to work for then student magazine, PULP. He has since worked in the vehicle rental trade and drifted between jobs whilst working on Oblivion Storm. Russell is a busy man, currently writing a scenario for aid worker training as well as the sequel to his debut novel.  

I ask him about Oblivion Storm. “It’s kind of a ghost story, it’s kind of not”, says Russell. “It kind of deals with the un-dead.” Russell cooked up the origins for this novel after he graduated from MMU. There are two main protagonists, Rose and Jennifer. Rose awakens to find herself in hospital with no memory other than one; how she got there. Rose was viciously attacked at Bond Street station, before being flung under a train. If that wasn’t worrying enough, her assailant locates her at the hospital and Rose’s world is turned to chaos.

Jennifer, as Russell describes her, is 'kick ass'. She befriends Rose when the two realise they have extraordinary capabilities. Their first task is to escape Rose’s attacker, before being paid a visit by the spirit of Lady Iris Grenshall and becoming familiar with the intelligent, but dangerously curious, Dr. Kara Mellencourt.

When I ask what his inspiration for this story was, Russell replies, “I was fascinated by the chap they called the Piano Man, who was found dripping wet and wandering the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. He was mostly mute and the only thing they discovered was that he could play damn good piano!” It later turned out that the Piano Man was in fact a German national and was helped back to Bavaria by the authorities. Just how he wound up on the Isle of Sheppey remains a mystery, although there are theories that he fell from a Norwegian vessel that was in the area around the time he was found.

I ask Russell where Kara’s character came from, “Dr. Kara Mellencourt was my link to Manchester. She’s had a privileged upbringing and becomes one of the exposition characters. Kara’s obsessed with the supernatural.” Russell goes on to describe Rose and Jennifer as, “the miracles that Kara has been searching for, given her obsession”, adding that Kara now “has gold to work with.” Russell tells me that Kara’s character develops and grows from her academic role in book two.

We move on to Russell’s time at MMU. He reminisces about the time he spent as editor of the late PULP magazine. “I was finishing up my final year and I was elected editor of PULP. When I came in it was the 25^th anniversary and we decided to throw a party!” Russell says that Lemn Sissay was amongst the guests. “One of the editors was a friend of his and I wanted an interview for my first edition. He was more than happy to be interviewed for the anniversary issue!”

Russell tells me how he wound up on the MA Creative Writing course, “I was getting to the end of my time at PULP and I knew I was interested in having a book published, so I spoke to the then course leader, Michael Schmidt,” who convinced Russell to get on-board.

Russell talks about the group of friends he made, the majority of which he is still in touch with. He mentions the 'solid bond' that he had with them, helping him through his two years and explains that the course has become central to his life plans. “I absolutely loved the course”, Russell explains. “But, attending university isn't just about gaining a degree; it’s about going through doors and making the most of your time whilst you’re there. Even when I graduated you had to have that extra bit of flair.”

I find myself engrossed in Russell’s wise words and reflect on my time at MMU. My daydream is comically interrupted when Russell states, “Everyone takes something away from University, even if it is how to cook mince properly!”

Wise words indeed, and very true.

Oblivion Storm was released on the 10^th December last year and you can find it here. You can follow Russell on Facebook and Twitter and he also has a website: https://projectshadowlondon.wordpress.com/

A Novel Evening with Nicholas Royle and Alison Moore

MMU Student Press Office Journalist Liam Stewart shares his account of a wonderful reading from two local authors, Thursday, 24th January, IABF

Nicholas Royle

In the suitably literary surroundings of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, I had the pleasure of attending an evening with Nicholas Royle and Alison Moore.  Both authors have had recently published novels;  in 2012, Alison’s first novel, The Lighthouse was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and Nicholas’s seventh and most recent, First Novel, was released at the start of January to much critical acclaim; Dazed and Confused magazine describing it as 'A cutting-edge, vital new British novel'.

Nicholas opened the evening with a reading from First Novel; a tantalising extract that painstakingly described an examination of, and an attempt to, dismantle that most controversial of literary devices: Kindle. An action described in such a way as to suggest the sort of trepidation a Neanderthal may have felt when he first discovered fire.

Following this, Alison read an extract from her book The Lighthouse, a narrative that has caused quite a stir in the literary world, and from this extract it is easy to see why, as the crowd was drawn in with its bleak, yet elegant, prose.

Alison Moore

Both authors then jointly spoke of their relationship as author and editor and we were able to gain an insight into the creative processes and inspiration behind each text. The audience were invited to put questions to the authors in what made for a thrilling exchange, as we were given a glimpse into the context and background of both texts and authors.

Alison Moore's  The Lighthouse

After the event I had the opportunity to speak to Nicholas about his varied roles as author, editor, reviewer, and also senior lecturer in creative writing at MMU. A lifestyle he describes as “increasingly busy and increasingly stressful”. Nicholas spoke of the inspiration he finds in the work of his students, describing how “Some of the work produced by my students is so good; that in itself is inspiring”. Nicholas spoke of his pleasure at seeing students such as Kieran Devaney’s work published and his satisfaction at helping his students achieve their goals.

Nicholas went on to discuss the inspiration behind First Novel being “real things and real people”, a topic he spoke of during the evening when he revealed that he had adapted certain local Didsbury characters for walk-in parts within the novel. This fascination with his surroundings seems to be what drives Nicholas’s imagination, rather than any desire to sell vast quantities of books; as he revealed, “I don’t write novels to make money; I write them out of a certain internal compulsion”.  Nicholas also proclaimed First Novel to be “my favourite by a long way” as well as speaking of his satisfaction at the finished text, after it took a grand total of seven years to complete.

Nicholas Royle's First Novel

This compulsion also seems to be something that drives Nicholas’s work as an editor, as he described editing Alison’s The Lighthouse as a, “hands on” task, proclaiming that “you can’t be objective about your own work”. Indeed,the relationship between the two authors is one that has borne wonderful fruit in the form of The Lighthouse and First Novel.

This evening served as a reminder of the wonderful creative talent and literary heritage we have amongst the MMU staff and within the city. I was left with a compulsion to immediately set out and read both novels, as I am sure all those in attendance would have also felt, given the queue of people with book in hand, clamouring for a signature on their newly purchased novels; something to take away as a lasting memory of a wonderful evening.

For more information on the Manchester Writing School visit: www.mmu.ac.uk/writingschool