Best book covers of the 21st century?

The Book Cover Archive blog names its best cover design (and a runner-up) for every year of the first decade of the 21st century. The Book Cover Archive's mission is 'the appreciation and categorization of excellence in book cover design' and it's a beautiful website, with 75 pages of book jackets for you to peruse. They also have a great list of websites on book cover design, which I have reproduced here -

• The Casual Optimist
• The Book Design Review
• Book Covers Anonymous
• Covers
• Faceout Books
• Judge a Book...
• Tal Designz
• The Penguin Blog
• Peter Mendelsund's Jacket Mechanical
• Readerville Most Coveted Covers
• Old-Timey Paperbacks
• War of the Worlds cover archive
• The Pelican Project
• Joe Kral's Penguin Collection

And here is a bit more writing on book covers, mainly Nabokov, in the Guardian Book blog.

Blank Pages - Issue 16 available for download now

Blankpages is a monthly digital magazine for emerging artists. ISSUE 16 out is now and is available for FREE download.

This month's Blankpages is a poetry special! Manchester’s queer vegan performance poet, Dominic Berry, treats us to his words, Justin Walsh serves up absurdities and nonsense - and for desert? Poetic treats from John Leyland. And more! Gerry Potter talks exclusively to blankpages in his first interview as himself since ditching his successful alter-ego Chloe Poems.

Music this month comes from Irma Vep, a Welsh born, Manchester based artist fusing a mixture of styles. Stunning guest visual design is provided by Liverpool artist Jack Welsh and the spotlight falls on Phillip Marsden, a comic illustrator and founder of Compromise Comics Enterprise.

You can download blankpages as a pdf or read the online Flash version.

Freed Up - Manchester's leading open mic night?

Arthur Chappell is today's guest blogger. Arthur is a regular performer at Freed Up poetry nights in Manchester and he's also a photographer of Manchester's hidden places and a writer.

Today Arthur tells us why he enjoys performing at Freed up...

Freed Up is one of Manchester’s leading open mic performance poetry nights. Run on the third Thursday of each month for over three years at The Green Room by Dominic Berry & Steve O’Connor, Freed Up is free, for performers and audience members alike, though poets have to pre-book for one of up to twenty-four performance slots.

Poets can perform for up to four minutes each, and there is usually a set theme to encourage new writing, so established poets have to write new material rather than repeat the same tried and tested material at every performance.

Rising, phoenix-like from the Creatures Of The Night poetry Slams run so effectively by Rosie Lugosi up to 2003 at the Green Room, Freed Up is non-competitive, has no special guest poet, so no one gets top or bottom billing, and the audience always give the performers a good reception. Well-established poets, including Gerry Potter, Jackie Hagan, Melanie Rees & Gordon Zola perform alongside performance virgins, but the standards are always high.

Freed Up, used to take place in the performance space lounge at the Green Room, but attendance has grown and the stuffy little room became impractical, so it is now performed in the main bar area, allowing more people to see the show from the Mezzanine and even from outside. Many people just popping in for a drink find themselves staying right through the show. Poets are also less distracted by anyone slipping to the bar for refills as they are already in easy access of the bar.

I’ve become a regular performer at Freed Up myself, and the camaraderie between audience & poets there is extraordinary. The shows are also an important opportunity to learn of other poetry events in the region, as the chances are that someone at Freed Up will know of the poetry activity elsewhere in Manchester. Freed Up has been a strong supporter of the arts in Manchester, and a major addition to the programme of the Not Part Of... Queer Up North & National Poetry Day festivals, though not all in the same year. My own writing has been considerably improved by involvement with such a relaxed thriving poetry platform. I hope Freed Up runs for many years to come.

Arthur Chappell

Sounds like a great night - if you want to get involved there's more information about the Freed Up nights on their Facebook page.

BookRix - a social platform for aspiring writers

BookRix is being billed as a MySpace for writers. The social software platform started in October 2008 and targets writers, providing tools for creating, sharing, and getting feedback on unpublished works.

Aspiring authors create profiles and find collaborators who may help them refine their work online. Using proprietary software, called ViewRix, members upload, share, and comment on content as varied as novels, CDs, or cover art. Original content is uploaded in PDF or Word format.

Bookrix provides users with a platform to:

* find other readers and authors

* share thoughts about many interests in groups

* discuss books and projects

* join author fan clubs

* participate in writing competitions with like-minded people in a big literary network

* write reviews

* send your books to friends and family via e-mail

* find top-rated books and all new works

There's a comprehensive review of BookRix over at Makeuseof.com

Take a look at BookRix

Do you dream of a non-stop stream of digital books?

Resource Shelf has a great article about John Mark Ockerbloom’s Online Books Page. This is an essential resource for anyone interested in digitized, full text books.

"Where do you begin with a site so full of content? For me, that’s easy. Monitoring the latest additions to the catalog/page. I am always blown away by the amount of new listings (when does Ockerbloom sleep?) and the number of organizations digitizing books. If you think it’s only Google digitizing books (of course they are a major player) but not they’re far from the only one doing this type of work. Just look for yourself. The page even has an RSS feed."

Major parts of the site include:

* An index of thousands of online books freely readable on the Internet
* Pointers to significant directories and archives of online texts
* Special exhibits of particularly interesting classes of online books
* Information on how readers can help support the growth of online books

Links:
Resources Shelf article
Online Books Page
Find loads more articles on ebooks at Teleread

Moving Memories: Moss Side and Hulme on Film @Central Library

In this short 30 minute film, people recall stories of living, working and growing up in the area during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Tales of markets, cold weather and clubbing are mixed in with original BBC regional footage, to form a fascinating record.

The film was produced by Karen Gabay of the Troubadour Foundation in collaboration with the Manchester Metropolitan University’s North West Film Archive and Regional History Department. It will be introduced by Marion Hewitt of North West Film Archive and Karen Gabay.

This is a free event but you will need to book a place. Please ring Libby Tempest on 0161 234 1981 to book your place or email l.tempest@manchester.gov.uk

Friday 27 November
Reception Room 1pm - 2pm FREE
Manchester Central Library

Bewilderbliss magazine seeking submissions

Bewilderbliss is a new quarterly magazine published in Manchester showcasing the capabilities of new writers in the area. The magazine is sold at various outlets throughout Manchester, including the Cornerhouse and Blackwells.

The second issue is out now and the magazine are currently looking for submissons for the third issue. Jenn Ashworth has set the theme of ‘untruthful’. This theme is just a guideline so you can be as creative as you like with it. Bewilderbliss look for both poetry and prose and will carefully consider all submissions.

Submissions must be up to 2,000 words of prose and up to three poems. All the pieces submitted must be original and not published elsewhere. Have a look at a copy of the magazine to get an idea of the type of submissions that are published.

Bewilderbliss also supports new writers by getting interviews with established authors and posting their information and advice for new writers on the Bewilderbliss website.

If you’re interested in buying a copy, but you aren’t fortunate enough to live in the Manchester area, then there are contact details on the website to arrange one to be mailed to you.

Write for Write Out Loud!

Write Out Loud have got a new web team in place and they inviting submissions for the website. You can send news items to Christine Dawson at news@writeoutloutloud.net or you can help by doing any - or all of the following

* Pitching any ideas for features you’d be willing to write and/or manage to Dermot, the new feature editor at dermot@writeoutloud.net

* Why not write a review of about 300 words, and send it to him for consideration?

* You could pen an article for the "What I do that's new" feature.

Paul Blackburn wants to know what's happening on the poetry scene near you and would welcome a 300 word articles and he is also looking for small works of art, photographs and cartoons to illustrate the site. Contact him to learn more at: paul@writeoutloud.net

Michael Schmidt lecture tonight at Friends Meeting House

Carcanet’s Editorial Director, Michael Schmidt, will give the second in his series of talks for The Poetry School at 6.30pm on Friday 20th November. Making Room for the Reader will discuss the ways in which a poem makes space for the reader to inhabit, considering the differences between descriptive, analytical and enactive writing.

Michael Schmidt is a Mexican-British poet, author and scholar. He studied at Havard and at Wadham College, Oxford. He is currently Professor of Poetry at Glasgow University, where he is convener of the Creative Writing M.Litt programme. He is founder (1969) and editorial and managing director of Carcanet Press and a founder (1973) and general editor of PN Review. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he received an OBE in 2006 for services to poetry.His literary career has been described has having "a strong sense of internationalism and cultural ‘connectedness’". Schmidt modestly refers to himself in his book Lives of the Poets as ‘an Anglophone Mexican publisher’.

This is a Poetry School event at the Friends' Meeting House in Manchester city centre. Tickets cost £7 or £5 concessions. Visit www.poetryschool.com to book tickets.

Tomorrow! Teen Poetry Slam with £50 prize at Chorlton Library

Aged 13-19? Written your own poetry and want to perform it? Come and try out - you’re among friends! There's a prize of £50 cash for the most talented local teen poet. Your compere is street poet and Reading Champion Mike Garry.



Mike Garry is an acclaimed Mancunian poet. He has performed poetry since 1994, worked in hundreds of schools and held residencies in prisons, hospitals and art galleries. His work celebrates the beautiful ugliness of the city. His heroes are the underdogs and lost souls who wander the streets searching for answers. A finalist in a Poem for Manchester judged by Andrew Motion and winner of numerous poetry slams worldwide. Mikes' poetry has been published widely and his live performances are explosive and unmissable.

The slam is at Chorlton Library on Saturday 21 November at 1pm.

How to write a great novel

In How to Write a Great Novel authors such as Edwidge Danticat, Hilary Mantel, Orhan Pamuk, Junot Díaz and Margaret Atwood speak about their writing process. If you want thoughts on writing in a longer format, try The New York Times' Writers on Writing series, which features short essays by, for example, Kurt Vonnegut, Saul Bellow, Louise Erdrich and Annie Proulx.
(via Metafilter)

Where to find ebooks for your mobile phone

Get ebooks on your iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry, Palm or other mobile device.

Feedbooks: You can download books for any mobile device here.

Mobipocket: Find ebooks and an ebook reader for PCs, Smartphones, BlackBerry, Palm, Windows mobile and more.

Stanza: If you want to read an ebook on your iPhone, use Stanza.

Books in My Phone: Read ebooks on a java-enabled phone when you download them here. You can also manage a reading list.

Barnes & Noble eBooks: Get NYT titles, new releases and more for your iPhone, BlackBerry or computer.

MemoWare: Get literature, poetry, and reference books for your PDA.

Audible.com: Here you can download books to your iPod or mp3 player.

iTunes:
iTunes has audiobooks for iPhones and iPods.

LibriVox: Get free audio book files on this site, or volunteer to record your narration for other books.

eReader.comMobile: Get the mobile-friendly version of eReader.com here.

Any more suggestions?

Knitted poem takes a bath

On Sunday 22^nd November the Knitted Poem arrives in Manchester, and with it comes a rare opportunity to see inside Manchester's Edwardian water palace - Victoria Baths.

The Poetry Society’s giant centenary poem is a 13 by 9 metre, hand-knitted version of Dylan Thomas’s ‘In my Craft or Sullen Art’. It contains more than 1200 squares, and is the work of more than one thousand knitters and crotcheters worldwide, including knitters from Manchester Central Library.

Victoria Baths on Hathersage Road, M13, are, arguably, Britain's best-loved restoration project and the knitted poem will be on display in the former Ladies Pool.

There is disabled access, and the event is free.

http://www.victoriabaths.org.uk

Ambit poetry competition

To celebrate their 200th issue Ambit are holding their first ever competition. The challenge is to send 200 words of poetry or prose, on any subject and in any style. 1st prize: £500 2nd prize: £200 3rd prize: £75 Judged by Ambit writers Naomi Foyle and David Gaffney, the winner will be published in the 200th issue! Entries cost £4 for the first, and £3 after that. If you are a subscriber it's a thrifty £3, and £2 for subsequent entries. Deadline is 15 February 2010, so get cracking! Hop over to the competition page for more details http://www.ambitmagazine.co.uk/200words.htm Good luck!

Unsung magazine looking for submissions

Unsung is a FREE monthly magazine that helps promote all the unsung, underrated, underground, unheard voices of Manchester. They publish prose, poetry, essays, pretty much anything that is good writing and distribute the magazine throughout Manchester...

They are currently looking for content for issue 5 so, if you are interested in getting your work published please email your submission to unsung.manchester@gmail.com.

Writers @ Central Library: Elizabeth Baines and Robert Graham

Elizabeth Baines is a prize winning playwright for radio and stage, an acclaimed blogger (fictionbitch)and author of short story collection Balancing on the Edge of the World (Salt) - 'A stunning debut collection' Melissa Lee-Houghton, The Short Review
Elizabeth will be reading from her new novel, Too Many Magpies.

Robert Graham teaches Creative Writing at MMU and is the author of several books on creative writing and writing fiction. He has written and directed more than a dozen youth theatre productions and his first novel, Holy Joe, was published by Troubador in 2006.

Wednesday 2 December
Committee Room, 2nd floor 6pm

FREE
Everyone welcome - for more information please contact Libby Tempest on 0161 234 1981
email: l.tempest@manchester.gov.uk

Poets @ Central Library: Simon Rennie & Friends

Simon Rennie is well known in Manchester as the debonair (!) founder and host of MMU’s successful poetry night Inn Verse.

He is currently working towards his MA in Studies in Poetry at the University of Durham. Little Machines is Simon’s first collection (Knives, Forks and Spoons Press).

“…full of assurance, skill and wit...at their best, these are poems of beauty and tenderness, carried by a distinctive new voice”
Michael Symmons Roberts, Professor of Poetry at MMU

Also appearing are John G Hall, Editor of Citizen 32, reading from his new collection Bang! (Militant Minds)and Alec Newman, Editor of Knives, Forks and Spoons Press, reading from his new collection Earthworks.

For more information please contact Libby Tempest on 0161 234 1981
email: l.tempest@manchester .gov.uk

Thursday 26 November
Committee Room, Second Floor 6pm

Bookish gifts: No 2 Literary Handbags

Mad about a certain book? Have it immortalised on a bag. Olympia Le-Tan makes handbags that look like books, with covers embroidered to resemble classics. Her new limited edition collection features 21 classic novel covers embroidered onto canvas stretched over a brass frame. Each bag costs (sit down!) $1,600 and Tilda Swinton and Chloe Sevigny are said to have ordered bags - the Moby Dick bag was a commission for Sevigny. If you are visiting Paris, the bags are on sale at Colette, the Paris concept store. More pictures here.

Ruth Estevez and Elizabeth Baines launch Chorlton Book Festival today! #chorltonbf

A scriptwriter on BBC’s Bob the Builder, Ruth Estevez’s first novel, Meeting Coty, explores choices between relationships and a career with the most successful perfume maker of the 1920s. Ruth will be at Chorlton Library today talking about blending fact and fiction, relationships and a career and reading from her novel, "Meeting Coty".

If you want to know more about Francois Coty, one of the great perfume makers of his generation, join the debate about how people manage all the different elements in their lives, or just sit back and listen, please join us at Chorlton Library today (Monday 9 November) at 2pm...

...and at 7pm it's your chance to meet Elizabeth Baines in Chorlton's Lounge Bar. Elizabeth writes prizewinning fiction and plays for radio and stage and her most recent books are the acclaimed short story collection, Balancing on the Edge of the World and her new novel, Too Many Magpies (Salt), published in October.

Born in Bridgend, South Wales, to a Welsh mother and an Irish father, she studied English at Bangor, and for several years was a teacher of English in schools in Scotland and England. She is the prizewinning author of prose fiction and plays, with an established career as an acclaimed radio dramatist. Her collection of short stories, Balancing on the Edge of the World, was pronounced 'a stunning debut collection' (The Short Review). In 2004 she took up occasional acting by performing one of her own stage monologues for the 24:7 Theatre Festival. She lives in Manchester and writes the well-regarded Fictionbitch blog and her own author blog.

Chorlton Book Festival starts today bringing prizewinning authors, scriptwriters and poets to the local library as well as pubs, bars and churches. With Treasure Island and Bob the Builder alongside the Spanish Civil War and Social Media there is a real mix of events and discussions to suit everyone.

Pit your literary wits in the specially created pub quiz or, if you're aged between 13 and 19, take part in the teen poetry slam and you could win £50. and runs until. For full listings have a look at the Book Festival brochure.

Literary gifts: Twilight necklace

We are putting together a bookish gift wishlist and today's featured item is a crocheted vampire bite necklace available on U.S. online craft site, Etsy.com.

How to knit a poem

A group of Manchester Central Library knitters have created some of the letters for the giant woollen verse unveiled to mark the Poetry Society centenary. "We knitted the letter 'N' and some patterned pieces" said Rose Ryan, Reader Development Officer for Manchester Libraries and a member of Complete Knitters, who meet in the library.

More than 800 knitting enthusiasts were involved in knitting and crocheting individual letters to create the 13 x 9 metre, hand-knitted version of Dylan Thomas’s ‘In my Craft or Sullen Art’ (which can be read in full at the Poetry Society website).

The giant knitted poem was displayed at the Southbank Centre, London, to help celebrate National Poetry Day Live, and will be on show in Swansea, Thomas’s home town, at the end of October. Thereafter it will tour to Manchester and beyond - watch this space for details!

Poem of the Month: Paisley Rain by Rebecca Willmott

November's Poem of the Month is Paisley Rain by Rebecca Willmott. Rebecca is a writer, poet and artist and she blogs at Doll With Big Eyes. Rebecca writes poetry on fantasy fairy tale themes with a distorted subtext and she often accompanies the poems with paintings and textile work. Paisley Rain is influenced by blossom that falls onto the ground in spring. Rebecca says "I often run through the blossom and the colourful surroundings make me feel like I'm part of a beautiful postcard photograph".

Paisley Rain



You collect insects in your pocket as you run through cartoon coloured fields in the setting sun.
The trees sneeze cherry pink blossom, showering your face, you gather petals in your polka dotted teapot and scatter them at unknowing dove’s feet, raining a paisley splendour, painting the floor seaside colours of pink, white and red rum.
You make footprints in the flower bed, the one where you once slept, you leave puzzling patterns for me to follow because last time I misplaced you and found you in a tree that was hollow.
I push you into a pillow full of blossoms, peering at your eyes makes me lose my sight, just for one moment. You make me feel like a live in a bubble made of glass.
I see a silhouette of a fawn in the distance, mysterious and gentle just like you, remember when I held your hand till dawn?
We collected pine cones in the winter, our fairytale romance has just began to flourish, now it has wilted like spring’s daffodils against winter’s harsh blister.
We placed the pine cones by the shining windowsill, we imagined the sun would turn the tips to a rich golden colour and then we could sell them to walking men with top hats and forever eat sugar buns.
I see you fall asleep amongst the daffodils, I will love you forever as I place a sharp rose thorn across your perfect porcelain cheek. You are no longer an English rose but a bleeding distress as I gaze upon you I see your eyelids wept. And when you scream with pain, no one will hear as they will have their hands over their gossiping ears. And you wonder why no one stopped to help, but you faint at the blossom’s intoxicating scent.
I want to reach the season where your twigs are so longer harsh and you rain pink blossom like fairy dust that scatters and decorates the grey floor with coloured buttons of paisley splendour. Remember when We carved our love in trees we thought would last forever but the branches of the tree snapped and bled skeletal dead leaves, the bark flaked and splintered my nettled skin, reminding me of my previous sin. And if you look at us now through a mirror image we would no longer be together as the branches fell and broke my delicate neck, shattering our love forever.

I tried to follow your twisted branch of thought but I stumble as I splintered on your prickly bark and this is how I fall.

Twitter novel 'November In Manchester' starts its first chapter

Ambitious social media novel 'November In Manchester', began its fictional tale yesterday with the launch of its official website, www.novemberinmanchester.com

The not-for-profit project will run until Monday 30th November and the site will allow readers to follow the story of eight characters via regular Twitter updates and blog posts.

The site is the central hub of the story; presenting character biographies, bringing together all Twitter and blog updates and showcasing the catalogue of user-submitted photographs that make the story personal to Manchester.

The website will also have a daily summary of what has happened in the story so far, making it easy for new users to follow the work of fiction.

Tom Mason, creator of the project said; “We received a great response to our request for photos, events and videos, which gives us confidence that the story will have a real authenticity. It is very important that the novel fairly represents the vibrant nature of the city; plenty can happen within a month and thankfully Manchester isn't short of things for the characters to do.

"We have been setting up the backstory for the characters over the past couple of weeks and established Manchester venues, unaware of their fictional nature, have responded to their blogs and tweets. Now the story has officially begun, we hope to see more users and venues interacting with the characters.

"Telling a story over this period of time via social media networks such as Twitter is a daunting prospect, but it will be exciting to see if a novel can run via these mediums.”

Ruth Estevez - Meeting Coty @ Chorlton Book Festival

A scriptwriter on BBC’s Bob the Builder, Ruth Estevez’s first novel, Meeting Coty, explores choices between relationships and a career with the most successful perfume maker of the 1920s. Ruth will be talking about blending fact and fiction, relationships and a career and reading from her novel, "Meeting Coty."

Ruth is currently working on the sequel to Meeting Coty and you can keep up with her thoughts about writing on her blog AromaticWords.

If you want to know more about Francois Coty, one of the great perfume makers of his generation, join the debate about how people manage all the different elements in their lives, or just sit back and listen, please join us at Chorlton Library on Monday, 9th of November at 2pm. This is a free event.

Off on a word tour with Chorlton Book Festival

Off on a word tour with Chorlton Book Festival
by guest blogger, Clare Conlon.

Cosying up with a good read is probably one of the nicer aspects of the nights drawing in and the weather taking a turn for the worse, but if you can bear to get out from between the covers (in both the blanket and the book sense), the Chorlton Book Festival looks promising for both readers and writers.

Starting next Monday (9 November), the fifth annual festival is shaping up to be quite a fortnight. It would be a cliché to say that there's something for everyone, but with novelists, short story writers, poets, playwrights, historians, non-fiction authors and bloggers, most forms of writing do seem to be covered. Even those strange people who don't like reading are included: to coincide with the festival, Chorlton Film Institute will be screening Elegy, an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel The Dying Animal.

In fact, the festival is getting out and about quite a bit this year. Former Chorlton (now Didsbury) resident Elizabeth Baines is going to be reading from her new novel, Too Many Magpies, at Lounge bar, while local author and short story writer Robert Graham will be hanging out up the road at Lloyd's Hotel. Chopin will open its doors briefly, so Chorlton Telling Tales can get busy spinning some yarns and the Spread Eagle will be holding the festival's first-ever quiz night, with prizes and everything!

Chorlton Library also plays a big part, hosting readings by Manchester-based crime writer (and former Chorlton schools inspector) Bill Rogers and novelist (and Bob The Builder scriptwriter) Ruth Estevez, talks by local historians Chris Makepeace and Christopher Hall, and the monthly Manky Poets get-together with MC copland smith and guest poet Melanie Rees.

As well as the literati, Chorlton Book Festival will feature the Twitterati, and, as a blogger, I can't miss the workshop on social media for writers by Manchester Digital Development Agency's Adrian Slatcher. I'll also be timing my book returns for the Sunday, when complimentary coffee and cakes are on the menu to promote the new weekend opening hours.

To get the young'uns into reading, there's a family fun day all about pirates, a chance to hear Elaine Bousfield read from her magical fantasy The Jewel Keepers, and a teen slam contest, judged by street poet Mike Garry and with £50 up for grabs.

See, I told you there was something for everyone...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clare Conlon is a freelance writer, editor and press officer. Her blog, Words & Fixtures, won Best New Blog in the 2009 Manchester Blog Awards.