A.L. Kennedy's 'Day' in Manchester
Costa Book Award winner A.L. Kennedy provided a highly entertaining finale to our spring season of Literature Live events on 16 March, when she visited the Centre for an MA workshop and reading.
The multi-talented writer also managed to squeeze in an interview with local TV station Channel M, before reading extracts from her new short story collection and her prize-winning novel Day, and chatting with Centre lecturer and Kennedy expert Kaye Mitchell.
A.L. began by reading a complete short story from the forthcoming What Becomes, entitled 'The Story of My Life'. For its main character, the cycle of life is characterised by a series of invasive dental treatments; including childhood extractions, a failed anaesthetic for the removal of a wisdom tooth at 25, a confused, chemically-sedated date at 35 and, at 45, an anaesthetic so strong that a local homeless person gives her a donation, a sweet and a kiss!
Kaye Mitchell then led a lively question and answer session, which touched on such topics as the differences between writing historical and contemporary fiction, and the perceived obligation to be an authority on a subject before writing about it. A.L. revealed that she has little time for the literary world and its demands, simply writing about the ideas which come to her.
In fact, she positively advocates the practice of "going to places you don't know," and sees writing as a unique way of getting to be someone and do things one would otherwise be unable to. In this and many other ways she sees language as an extremely powerful force, with its ability to change people's views, feelings, and - in the case of Shakespearian actors - even physical shape.
To take pleasure in their work, for her, writers must refute commercial pressures and regain a child's energy and perspective - perhaps a tip for novelist Colm Toibin who described how little he enjoys putting pen to paper in the current issue of our journal The Manchester Review .
Such energy was certainly in evidence as A.L. rounded up the event with two powerful readings from Day, in which protagonist Alfred first meets members of his air crew and, later, laments their deaths. Despite her busy afternoon she was then happy to sign books for a large crowd of admirers in the foyer - many of whom will be at the front of the queue when What Becomes is published in August.