Up Close with David Peace

Words by Jason Cooke

As part of the Manchester Literature Festival, author David Peace paid visit to the National Football Museum, Manchester, to talk to Hacienda legend, Dave Haslam, on stage about his latest novel, Red or Dead.

Red or Dead follows the life of Liverpool FC managerial legend, Bill Shankly.

Dave Haslam took to the stage and the evening began with a short film, Bill Shankly- in his own words. The audience was transfixed on the screen-- you could hear a pin drop. The tone of the evening was set. Red neon lights shone into the faces of the eager audience as David Peace was introduced by Haslam. Peace provided the audience with a reading fromRed or Dead, ‘in Shankly’s voice’, as David put it, ‘but with a Yorkshire accent.’ Hearing Red or Dead read aloud makes it easier to understand the way in which Peace has written the book. For those who haven’t read the book, Red or Dead is written in a style like no other. Peace repeats words and sentences purposely to enhance the way that Bill Shankly was with his colleagues, the players, and his family--particularly his wife. This style is what makes the book over 700 pages.

Haslam jumped straight in with football, “So David, tell us about Red or Dead, you weren’t a Liverpool FC fan as a child...”, to which Peace replies, “Nor as an adult”. David Peace is a Huddersfield Town FC fan and knew of Bill Shankly due to him being the Huddersfield Town manager from 1956 until 1959 when he was scouted by then Liverpool Chairman, Tom Williams.

Haslam asked Peace if he thinks any Premier League footballers will read the book, to which Peace wittily replied, “Maybe, injured players with a lot of time on their hands!”

After a second reading the audience was invited by Haslam to ask David some questions.

“Would you ever consider writing a book about the Hillsborough disaster?”, one audience member asked. Peace took a deep breath before answering:

--“Short reply, no. I don’t know how I could convey what pain those families will have been through in words, and the story is still unfolding.”

Another question asked whether Peace has thought about writing another book about Brian Clough, this time during his highly successful reign at Nottingham Forrest FC, where Clough won 4 League Cups and 2 consecutive European Cups.

--“I’m surprised it hasn’t been done already! For me, what Clough did at Forrest was the greatest achievement in domestic football. I don’t think I will do it, but someone should!”

Peace carried himself well. The audience was interested in everything he has to say and Dave Haslam, who has clearly read all of Peace’s work, appears to be as fixated as the audience. Peace talked about his family and mentioned how he would video call his parents, reading his latest passages to his father for approval. He is clearly a family man, still in touch with his roots in Yorkshire.

“What’s next? Another football manager?” another audience member asked. “Never say never, but my first priority is to finish the third Tokyo book”.

With that, the evening drew to a close and David signed copies of Red or Dead in the bookstore towards the back of the National Football Museum.

Close Up with David Peace was a sell out, and a great taste of things to come within the Manchester Literature Festival. Click here for a full programme of upcoming events. 

Red or Deadis available in all the good bookshops and is a must-read for any football fan.

You an read the Humanities' Hallows pre-event interview with David Peace here.

Follow Jason Cooke on Twitter @JasonAshley5 & @JasonACooke

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/

Talking Heads- Horror and the Gothic: Unleash your Inner Zombie

Dr Linnie Blake discusses zombies, horror and the value of Humanities
Words by Sophie Bannister

Gothicist and Principal Lecturer in Film Dr Linnie Blake

Welcome to the very first Talking Heads, where we explore why the Humanities matter in today's society. In this week's instalment, Student Press Office journalist Sophie Bannister talks to Dr Linnie Blake and Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes about their exciting upcoming Gothic week, their work with Horror, and how zombies are taking over our television screens.

You can find out more information about Dr Linnie Blake by clicking here. You can also discover more information about the subjects discussed by accessing Linnie here. 

Have we got Alzheimer's all wrong?

MMU Student Press Office journalist, Megan Lucie Adams, gives us a first-hand account of Alzheimer's Culture by Dr Lucy Burke - Monday, 4th February, 2013

It is often a label that we find hard to understand and many fail to comprehend what Alzheimer’s actually refers to. Many may believe they know, thanks to the press, popular culture and literature, however, it is a widely incorrectly used term of which is used to describe and label degenerative loss of memory. ‘Alzheimer’s is everywhere’, Dr Lucy Burke from the Department of English told us. The ‘us’ in this article in fact refers to the lecture theatre of utterly engrossed attendees to the Alzheimer’s culture seminar this Monday.

Introduced by Professor Berthold Schoene, Dr Lucy Burke informed and argued a paper lending itself to the Ethical Issues in Humanities and Social Science Research Strand of the Humanities Research Program. In it, Dr Burke spoke of the representation of Alzheimer’s and ethical questions this raised in life writing and fictional literary texts, and in particular wrote about the idea that dementia, from which Alzheimer’s stems, is ‘no longer perceived to be a natural consequence of aging’ (Dr Lucy Burke, Alzheimer’s Culture 2013). Instead, this has now become a medical term for which we use as a label to those who are seen to have a mental disease. The shift in perceptions of Alzheimer’s was clear from the research; it has come to be an umbrella term and one that represents a high number of strands and different medical provisions. Dr Burke spoke about the complexities that it indeed ensued due to the cultural shift and new ideas that it has brought with it, but also how these impacted on ourselves. The highly informative and incredibly relevant paper used a number of examples in order to show us the impact of the advances of medicine and the juxtaposition of the person as a being and the person as a medical term.

The most interesting example of this juxtaposition arrived in the form of Iris Murdoch’s brain. She was a prolific writer of the 20^th century and yet her donation to medical science in fact turned her into a specimen and sample of science. Dr Burke offered examples from John Cornwall’s ‘Lessons from a Tragedy’ that was published in the Sunday Times in 2005. In it, he offered two very different examples of a creative body, one of a woman who he saw walk into a university office, and another as a matter of science, a ‘gross density of grey matter’, stripped of her humanity due a term that was given to the plaques present on the MRI scans of her brain. It was argued in both Dr Burke’s paper and also questioned in the media of the Murdoch’s “saintliness” and the idea that this donation was much more than an experiment, but a sacrifice for which awareness to the ‘disease’ and research could now begin with great media coverage.

The seminar also spoke of the way in which recent representations have come to dehumanise the ‘sufferer’ and depict them as the living dead. It was in the question and answer section of this seminar that I began to think of my grandfather, who suffered from senile dementia, and how he was represented by those around him and by the media. The reactions from participants were very different; one speaker shared how on a relative’s death certificate the cause of her death was in fact listed as Alzheimer’s, simply because she had a form of dementia. The conclusion that was put forward from this was that the term Alzheimer’s is more commonly known than it is actually diagnosed, due to the attraction of research. Dr Lucy Burke stated that, ‘The shorthand, culturally, is to say that everything is Alzheimer’s’, as once we label something as a disease it becomes a powerful category to which we attract attention.

The seminar was informative, eloquent and passionate, and as a granddaughter who had to sit and listen to people label her grandfather as a vegetating eighty something with no dignity left, Dr Lucy Burke reminded me that I saw nothing but a great, proud and loving person who had simply been a victim of cultural labeling. Yes, there may be proof that dementia did and does have something to play in the death of some people; however, life writing has become a way of perhaps offering a little understanding into a person rather than their disease.

To find out about the other research seminars hosted by MMU, please follow this link. You can also listen to Lucy's lecture here

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