Reading The Other at The Old Monkey

Reading The Other, 12 January 2023, free entry

Writers of poetry, prose fiction, flash fiction, drama, non-fiction, essays, journalism, biography – anything that is their own writing – are paired up and swap sets to read each other’s work.

Now this literary night with a twist is going regular in real life and it’s definitely worth a look-in, giving a new slant to voices you may have heard in other contexts.

It’s been part of Didsbury Arts Festival, it’s been in the Northern Quarter, it’s popped up at Victoria Baths, it’s been on tour to Wigan, Warrington and Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery, heck, The Other has even gone virtual… and now this literary night with a twist is going regular in real life and it’s definitely worth a look-in, giving a new slant to voices you may have heard in other contexts.

Planned to take place every two months upstairs at The Old Monkey in Manchester city centre, The Other is free and you’re invited to email in advance to bagsy a tag team slot. Readers are given their texts in advance to get some practice in, and hosting duties are shared between Warrington-based photographer Eli Regan and her poet pal Michael Conley, from Manchester.

Michael’s poetry has appeared in magazines including Rialto, Magma, Butcher’s Dog, Strix and The Interpreter’s House. His first pamphlet, Aquarium, was published by Flarestack; his second, These are Not My Dreams and Anyway Nothing Here is Purple, is out with Nine Pens Press. His poetry has been Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes, while his prose has been shortlisted for the Manchester Fiction Prize, and his collection of short stories, Flare and Falter, was published by Splice in 2019 and longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.

Tonight, expect that he’ll be joined by various luminaries of Manchester’s vibrant literary community. Previous readers have included The Real Story’s Kate Feld, Speakeasy’s Dave Hartley and Steve Smythe, First Draft’s Abi Hynes, queen of flash fiction Tania Hershman, Manc poet Lou Mach and Fly On The Wall-published Louise Finnigan.