Salt Publishing double book launch at Blackwell’s

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Book now

Best British Short Stories 2022 and Salt Modern Stories Series book launch

13 December 2022

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

Writer Nicholas Royle. Photo by Zoe McLean
Writer Nicholas Royle. Photo by Zoe McLean.
Book now

It’s like all your Christmasses have come at once at Blackwell’s this December, as the bookshop hosts a two-for-one Salt Publishing special, launching both the Best British Short Stories 2022 anthology and the brand-new Modern Stories series.

The evening will be hosted by Nicholas Royle and feature readings from himself as well as Neil Campbell and Alison Moore, from their Modern Stories releases, and Sara Sherwood from Best British Short Stories 2022.

The evening will be hosted by Nicholas Royle and feature readings from himself as well as Neil Campbell and Alison Moore, from their Modern Stories releases, and Sara Sherwood from Best British Short Stories 2022; Sara has previously been highly commended in the prestigious Bridport Prize and her story How To Find Yourself featured in Test Signal, an anthology of northern writing published by Liverpool’s Dead Ink Books in 2021.

Nicholas Royle is the series editor of Best British Short Stories, the critically acclaimed annual guide to the short story, now in its twelfth year. Including these 12 volumes, he has edited more than 25 anthologies of short stories in total, and he is also an author in his own right. His seven novels include The Director’s Cut and First Novel, and his five short story collections are Mortality, Ornithology and The Dummy & Other Uncanny Stories, plus the first two in a trilogy, London Gothic and Manchester Uncanny, just out with Manchester’s Confingo Publishing. Also with Confingo, he has published his translation, from the French, of Vincent de Swarte’s novel Pharricide, and with Salt Publishing he published non-fiction book, White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector last year. He also runs Nightjar Press, publishing short stories as signed, limited-edition chapbooks. Manchester Review of Books called him a “master of the uncanny”.

The Modern Stories series is Salt’s showcase of contemporary short story writers born, or working in, the British Isles. The books are pocket editions, in A format paperback with classic Salt covers, perfect for story enthusiasts and book collectors alike. The first set of six titles are Jane Fraser’s Connective Tissue, Andrew Hook’s Candescent Blooms, Brian Howell’s The Man Who Loves Kuras and Other Stories and Giselle Leeb’s Mammals, I Think We Are Called.

Reading tonight from Licensed Premises is Manchester-based Neil Campbell and from Eastmouth and Other Stories is Manchester-born Alison Moore. Alison Moore’s short stories have been included in previous Best British Short Stories and Best British Horror and broadcast on BBC Radio. Her first novel, The Lighthouse, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Awards, winning the McKitterick Prize. Both The Lighthouse and her second novel, He Wants, were Observer Books of the Year. She recently published her fifth novel, The Retreat, and a trilogy for children, beginning with Sunny and the Ghosts, and she has another collection, The Pre-War House and Other Stories, whose title story won the New Writer Novella Prize.

Tickets are £3 or free when purchasing a copy of Best British Short Stories 2022. The anthology and all six titles in the Salt Modern Stories series will also be available to purchase on the night.

Best British Short Stories 2022
Best British Short Stories 2022
Jenn Ashworth at Blackwell's Manchester
LiteratureManchester
Jenn Ashworth at Blackwells

Jenn Ashworth is back at Blackwells bookshop for the Manchester launch of her latest work, reading extracts and chatting to Helen Mort about how The Parallel Path came about.

From £4.00

Where to go near Salt Publishing double book launch at Blackwell’s

The Manchester Museum on Oxford Road Manchester
Manchester
Gallery
The Study
at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum opened The Study on 11 September 2015. A reworking of the entire top floor of its historic Grade II*-listed building, The Study has been reimagined as a space designed to spark wonder, curiosity and a passion for research in all of its visitors.

Manchester Museum Tours at Manchester Museum
Manchester
Museum
Manchester Museum

The Manchester Museum isn’t one of the UK’s leading university museums for nothing – it has six million objects in its stores, including a full size T-Rex skeleton, and that’s just for starters.

Utility Gift Shop
Manchester
Shop
Utility Gift Shop

Utility Gift Shop on Oxford Road is all about products that are new, unique, quirky and cool. High street shopping at its best.

Manchester
Restaurant
San Carlo Fumo

San Carlo Fumo is a sun trap on St Peter’s Square, serving up traditional Italian food at its best

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Kro Bar

Kro Bar, Manchester is an independent pub and music venue housed (somewhat ironically) in the former Temperance Society building.

Universally Manchester Festival 6-9 June 2024
Manchester
The University of Manchester

Celebrating its 200th year in 2024, The University of Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK, and boasts come incredible cultural institutions, found on campus, across Manchester and…

Manchester
Shop
Want Not Waste

Want Not Waste is a student-run, not-for-profit zero waste shop operating out of Academy 1 at the University of Manchester Students’ Union.

What's on: Literature

Jenn Ashworth at Blackwell's Manchester
LiteratureManchester
Jenn Ashworth at Blackwells

Jenn Ashworth is back at Blackwells bookshop for the Manchester launch of her latest work, reading extracts and chatting to Helen Mort about how The Parallel Path came about.

From £4.00
LiteratureLeeds
Chemistry at The Chemic

Leeds live literature regular Chemistry offers an exciting mix of open mic acts and invited poets – this month the headliners include Rosie Garland.

Free entry
Poet Mike Garry. Photo Paul Wolfgang Webster
LiteratureManchester
Word Central at Central Library

Word Central is a long-standing live literature favourite at Central Library and features open mic performers and a special guest, brought to you by Manchester Libraries and Flapjack Press.

Free entry
Cover of a book with a canal boat on it saying boater by Jo Bell
LiteratureManchester
Jo Bell at The Portico Library

Poet and now memoirist Jo Bell invites you to join her “for a friendly evening” at The Portico Library when she’ll be talking about her new “smart, funny” memoir Boater.

From £6.00

Culture Guides

Star Nhà Ease
Cinema in the North

July's cinema highlights include spotlights on international cinema, a new cult classic, plus a visit from one of our favourite directors.

Exhibitions in the North

Captivating, urgent and intimate - we bring you our top exhibition picks, with even more art festivals, artist-led shows and new venues.

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre in the North

Summer signals theatre festivals, world premieres and open-air spectacle - from MIF25 to comedy, outdoor circus and beyond, here’s what we’re looking forward to.

European Poetry Festival European Camarade
Literature Events in the North

From tongue-twisters to twisty page-turners, we have all kinds of spoken word surprises in the latest literature round-up.