Joint Manchester book launches in Feb

MCRJourno

Authors Gaia Holmes and Jane Rogers head to Blackwell's Manchester to discuss their short story collections He Used To Do Dangerous Things and Fire Ready.

Gaia and Jane will be in conversation with founder of literary agents Comma Press, Ra Page.

The event takes place on Monday 24th February from 6:30pm and costs £4 or free entry with the purchase of either book.

About the books

He Used To Do Dangerous Things -

The characters in Gaia Holmes' debut fiction collection adopt complex mechanisms for processing a world that is at once too close and too far removed, needing to feel the presence of others, whilst also being overwhelmed by it.

Whether it's the trauma of the pandemic and its many isolations, or the chaotic, draining lives of loved ones or neighbours, these stories explore the ingenuity of people striving to rebuild themselves, fortify their defences and, most courageously, connect.

Fire Ready -

The stories in Jane Rogers' much-awaited second collection shine an unflinching light on the future health of the planet, and the prospects for its primary tenants, us.

Her characters find themselves simultaneously battling their own demons, the ravages of age, growing social isolation, and hostilities between communities, while being forced to take a personal stand on the oncoming climate crisis.

About the authors

Gaia Holmes is an award-winning freelance writer and creative writing tutor who works with schools, universities, libraries and other community groups throughout the West Yorkshire region.

She has had three full length poetry collections published by Comma Press: Dr James Graham’s Celestial Bed (2006) Lifting the Piano with One Hand (2013), Where The Road Runs Out (2018), along with Tales from the Tachograph, a collaborative work with Winston Plowes (Calder Valley Poetry, 2017).

Comma Press said: "Events are a brilliant opportunity to discover new books, meet authors and likeminded readers and learn something new. Support your local bookshop and help us keep the Manchester literary scene vibrant and exciting."

Jane Rogers, FRSL, has written 10 novels, radio drama and stories with The Testament of Jessie Lamb winning the Arthur C Clarke Award as well as being longlisted for the Man-Booker Prize.

Jane’s first collection of stories, Hitting Trees with Sticks, was shortlisted for the Edgehill Award, and the title story was a BBC National short story competition finalist.

Earlier novels won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Writers Guild Best Fiction Book Award, and she has twice been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.