Transition Festival in Bury
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Bury Light Night has transformed into Transition Festival, taking in not just light but also, now, sound. Sound takes in live literature and this is going to be encapsulated in a giant, purpose-built Bakelite radio in Kay Gardens. Giant Bakelite radio. We got you there, right? We’re after the spoken word, but, hey, there’s also live music, art workshops, sound sculptures, and food and drink, over two nights and one day (Friday 18 and Saturday 19 November), across various sites in the cultural quarter of Bury town centre.
Hey, but back to the giant Bakelite radio! This will host popular Fallowfield-based live literature night Verbose, which brings words to the ’burbs. From 7pm, take a deckchair and enjoy a special line-up of eight critically acclaimed and award-winning writers – all champions of the flash fiction form – from around the region: Billy Cowan, Nija Dalal-Small, Joe Daly, Kate Feld, David Gaffney, Tamsin Macdonald and Fat Roland. And your fair editor. Expect tiny tales that pack a killer punch. And, if you’re so inclined, learn the art of flash or micro fiction, short-short stories, sudden, smoke long, ultra, from one of the UK’s leading exponents of the short form David Gaffney, in the workshop Keep It Down At The Back, at 6pm. One final treat, to round things off: a bedtime story performance by the inimitable and ace Dominic Berry. The giant Bakelite radio will be in Kay Gardens, sandwiched between the Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre and the world-famous Bury Market. Turn on, tune in. Oh, and wrap up warm.
