Two free literary events this Saturday at Central Library

More festival goodness this Saturday! Manchester Central Library is hosting two more events tomorrow as part of the Manchester Literature Festival. At 11am you can watch 6 aspiring novelists pitch their ideas to a panel of publishing experts - a sort of Dragon's Den for new writers. Here's how the literature festival brochure describes the event:

Commonword and Manchester Literature Festival have been seeking out the most exciting new fiction voices in the North West and now six unpublished hopefuls (Rachel Connor, John Davenport, Gift Nyoni, Marli Roode, Pauline Rowe and Colette Snowden) will be pitching their novel to a panel of movers and shakers in the publishing world, including Dan Franklin (Canongate), Rebecca Swift (The Literary Consultancy) and novelist Sherry Ashworth. The panel's favourite will win £250 and the opportunity for more extensive feedback on their work. If you think you have a novel in you and want to know how to get it published, come along for some top tips from those in the know. For more information contact: admin@cultureword.org.uk

Ans at 1pm Maya Chowdhry and Segun Lee-French, winners of Commonword’s recent ‘30 Poems’ competition, launch their debut collections with a joint reading.

Maya Chowdhry’s collection, The Seamstress and The Global Garment shows a poet ‘uniquely alive to the possibilities of multiple identities, fused mother tongues and the interweaving of myths’ (Chroma).

Segun Lee-French’s collection Praise Songs For Aliens unveils a poetic voice ‘bathed head and toe in the historical waters of the Negritude champions and in the oeuvre of the great African-American firebrand Amiri Baraka…His words grow tall and strong into magical song’ (Kevin Le Gendre).

Both events are free, but booking is advisable. Call 0843 208 0500 to book tickets.