Novel Voices online with Ellah Wakatama

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Book now

Novel Voices- Natasha Brown and Jarred McGinnis in Conversation with Ellah Wakatama

12-26 April 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Author Jarred McGinnis
Author Jarred McGinnis.
Book now

Novel Voices, the five-part online series featuring Ellah Wakatama in conversation with 10 debut authors helping to shape 2021’s literary landscape, continues afoot: Cherie Jones and Nekesa Afia are in the hot seat on 12 April followed by Natasha Brown and Jarred McGinnis on 26 April. The writers will discuss their craft and the journey to shaping their first, published full body of work. Chosen from big and indie publishing houses alike, the writers in the series have been paired together based on thematic similarities in their work, and for each event they are invited to explore the influences, experiences and structures that helped in the shaping of their narrative tone, voice and approach.

Cherie Jones and Nekesa Afia are in the hot seat on 12 April followed by Natasha Brown and Jarred McGinnis on 26 April. The writers will discuss their craft and the journey to shaping their first, published full body of work.

Since February, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing and Editor-at-Large at Canongate Books Ellah Wakatama has welcomed Meng Jin, author of Little Gods (HarperCollins), and JA Mensah (Castles From Cobwebs, on Salford’s Saraband), US-based authors Namina Forna (The Gilded Ones) and Justin Deabler (Lone Stars), and scientists Catherine Menon, whose debut Fragile Monsters is out on 8 April with Viking and already garnering rave reviews, and Victoria Princewill, publishing In The Palace Of Flowers in paperback this May.

Next up is twenty-four-year-old Canadian author Nekesa Afia, a publishing student who has just finished her undergraduate degree in journalism and English. Her debut novel, Dead Dead Girls, is set in 1920s Harlem and features Louise Lloyd, a young black woman caught up in a series of murders. It marks the start of annew historical mystery series, and Nekesa says: “I’m obsessed with history, with special attention to the golden age of Hollywood (along with just before and after), and the prohibition era.”

She’s joined by Barbados-based lawyer and writer Cherie Jones, whose debut How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House follows in the tradition of Zadie Smith and Marlon James, and is described by The Guardian as “intensely compelling”. Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, it follows four people in the Caribbean each desperate to escape their legacy of violence in “paradise”, and Waterstone’s calls it “a multi-generational novel of rare skill and precision”. Cherie studied Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University in 2015, winning prizes for her collection of inter-connected stories set in a small community in Barbados, Water For The End Of The World, and her story ‘Bride’, which took first prize in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition.

The final Novel Voices this spring sees Ellah Wakatama chatting to writers Natasha Brown and Jarred McGinnis. Described by Booker Prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other author Bernardine Evaristo as “a stunning new writer”, Natasha Brown developed her novel Assembly after receiving a 2019 London Writers Award in the literary fiction category. Having studied Maths at Cambridge University, she has spent a decade working in financial services and now her debut is out at the start of June with Hamish Hamilton. Described in the blurb as “blistering, fearless and unforgettable, a literary debut from an astonishing new talent in British fiction, for fans of Raven Leilani, Claudia Rankine and Jenny Offill”, Assembly is “a story about the stories we live within – those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life”.

Jarred McGinnis has also been showered with celebrity praise: Irvine Welsh says of his debut, The Coward, “You won’t find a more uplifting read in these dark times.” Published by Canongate in July, The Coward is “a compelling and darkly humorous exploration of what it means to come to terms with a broken body, rebuild a broken relationship and find love when it seems like there is no hope” and is “about how the world treats disabled people”. Based in London, American Jarred McGinnis has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4 and his fiction has appeared in journals in the UK, USA, Canada and Ireland. He has been associate writer for writer development agency Spread The Word, a mentor for The Word Factory, a fellow of the London Library’s T S Eliot Emerging Writer Programme, a Writer-in-Residence for First Story and co-founder of The Special Relationship literary evenings series.

The Novel Voices events are presented in partnership with Creative Manchester and the Centre for New Writing, in association with Blackwell’s Bookshop. Tickets are £3 or free for students and you will be sent a link to join the online events when ticket sales end at 5.30pm on the day.

Where to go near Novel Voices online with Ellah Wakatama

Morning Glory - Coffee Cup
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Morning Glory

Morning Glory positions itself as a grab-and-go spot, with just 12 seats inside serving coffee, bagels and sweet treats.

The Warehouse In Holbeck
Leeds
Event venue
The Warehouse In Holbeck

Run by acclaimed theatre company Slung Low, The Warehouse in Holbeck is home to boundary-pushing performance and community projects.

Leeds
Event venue
The Attic

Tucked away above the bustle of Merrion Street, The Attic is one of Leeds’ most distinctive small venues – intimate, unpretentious, and steeped in DIY spirit.

The Chevin is a great place for visitors to do lots of different activities and is open all year round with 5 free car parks. To help you find out whatís best for you we have divided this section up into some of these different activities.Please be aware that The Chevin is a working estate so you may see vehicles including timber-extraction lorries using some of the tracks.Self-guided WalksThe Chevin is a big place and there is a good network of paths to make your own circular walk, but if you want to follow a themed trail there is a Geology Trail, Heritage Time Trail and a route for Tree Spotters.Bikes & HorsesThere is an extensive bridleway network on the eastern parts of The Chevin that caters for a range of abilities.Orienteering and GeocachingTwo orienteering courses and a number of geocache sites are waiting to be discovered.Climbing & BoulderingThere are many fantastic crags for climbing and boulders for bouldering.Mobility Scooters & Wheelchairs
Leeds
Restaurant
Oporto

For many years, Oporto has been a beacon of alternative energy on Leeds’ Call Lane – serving up great food and drink alongside resident DJs and live music.

Manchester
Gallery
Black Redstart Gallery

Black Redstart Gallery is located in the Northern Quarter and runs a busy programme of exhibitions from emerging and established artists.

RJC Dance Xmas Show
Leeds
RJC Dance

RJC Dance, based in Chapeltown, Leeds, champions youth and education, leading inclusive Black dance in the North through national partnerships.

What's on: Literature

Lorna Goodison
LiteratureManchester
Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation

Poets & Players is a must-go for lovers of words and music, presenting poets established and emerging, with the autumn season kicking off with headline poet Lorna Goodison.

Free entry
LiteratureManchester
Nikita Gill at Feel Good Club

Enter the Underworld with internationally bestselling poet Nikita Gill as she discusses her “propulsive, electrifying and enraging” new book Hekate.

From £18.99
Dan Coxon.
LiteratureLiverpool
Writing The Magic launch at Dead Ink Bookshop

Writing the Magic (Essays on Crafting Fantasy Fiction) is the fourth in Liverpool-based publisher Dead Ink Books’ award-winning series of guides, and this launch event hears from editor Dan Coxon.

From £5.00
LiteratureManchester
Manchester Poets at Chorlton Library

This autumn Manchester Poets returns to its usual home of Chorlton Library, following its exile to Withington while renovations took place at the Carnegie HQ.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Detail of an abstract sculpture, with burned materials and rusty chicken wire at the centre, with rusted metal bars bent around it.
Exhibitions in the North

Chocolate fountains, beautiful batiks and medieval marginalia - this month's supersized Exhibitions Guide has it all.

Literature Events in the North

The autumn leaves might be falling already, but the harvest is plentiful as the live literature scene gets back into the swing of things after a summer break...

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

This season’s theatre is gloriously eclectic: from radical cabaret and reinvented classics to new musicals and boundary-pushing performance.

Cinema in the North

This month we recommend a season of Film noir, cult Australian movies and a huge celebration of DIY community cinema.