Rosie Garland as part of Gothic Manchester Festival at John Rylands Library

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

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Rosie Garland – The Night Brother

27 October 2017

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

Poet Rosie Garland. Credit Absolut Queer Photography.
Poet Rosie Garland. Credit Absolut Queer Photography.
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Take a pew in the suitably atmosphere-sodden Historic Reading Room of John Rylands Library and prepare for some spooky goings-on courtesy Rosie Garland’s latest novel, The Night Brother, out now on HarperCollins.

The award-winning author, poet, singer with post-punksters The March Violets and one half of The Time-Travelling Suffragettes will be reading from the book and chatting about gothic style as part of this year’s Gothic Manchester Festival, “the strange offspring of The Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies at Manchester Met”.

Set in late nineteenth-century Manchester, and with echoes of Orlando and Jekyll & HydeThe Night Brother explores questions of identity and follows the fates of sister and brother Edie and Gnome. Says the blurb: “Gnome […] revels in the night-time, while Edie wakes exhausted each morning, unable to quell a sickening sense of unease, with only a dim memory of the dark hours.”

Says The Times: “A rich and ambitious tale set in late Victorian Manchester… Garland’s prose is a delight: playful and exuberant. There are shades of Angela Carter in the mad world she creates… Full marks.”

Mslexia Novel Competition winner Rosie’s earlier novels, The Palace of Curiosities and Vixen, and her poetry collections, including As In Judy, released earlier this year on Flapjack Press, have all met with critical acclaim, and she’s been nominated for the respected Green Carnation, Desmond Elliott and the Polari First Book Prizes. Well worth catching!

Where to go near Rosie Garland as part of Gothic Manchester Festival at John Rylands Library

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This burger joint focuses on high-quality burgers and sides, homemade using local produce. After a series of pop-ups they’ve found a permanent home on Bridge Street in the centre of Manchester.

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