Not Part Of: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

The folk at For Books’ Sake bought their own brand of literary mayhem to Nexus Art Café in Manchester, to round off Not Part Of festival in style with their Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Hosted by Alex Herod (Mad Hatter) and Jane Bradley (Cheshire Cat), the event featured readings by local authors, raffles, drawing contests, poetry, an appearance from the Travelling Suitcase Library and Nexus’s usual fine range of teas and cakes.




The event offered a more communal feel than many of the Not Part Of shows, as the audience milled around happily whilst waiting for the festivities to begin. At half past eight, the Mad Hatter stepped up to the microphone, and welcomed us to the event with a reading from Jeff Noon’s Automated Alice, a modern, Mancunian update of Lewis Carroll’s classic. This reading set the theme for the evening, as the For Books’ Sake editors used Alice in Wonderland as a starting point from which to present modern, magical tales, firmly rooted in the North West.

The first reader of the night was Claire Massey, an acclaimed local short-story writer. Her first story told the tale of a woman who chose to remain in her village after it was flooded to make way for a dam; the narrative is beautifully understated, and the subject matter fits the event superbly, as Ms Massey takes her audience on a journey down below the world we normally inhabit into a surreal, buried habitat, where everyday tasks are fraught with practical complexities.



This reading is followed by a performance by Sarah Thomasin. Ms Thomasin performs a series of short poems mainly on feminist themes, in an engagingly clumsy and humorous way. Her words never come across as bitter or spiteful, and draw her audience in, as does her between poem banter.

After a break, during which we were invited to draw our own rendering of a Jabberwocky, the raffle prizes were announced, and Jane Bradley made a second reading from Automated Alice, drawing laughs from the listeners with its references to rainy, gloomy Manchester. After this, Claire Massey returned for a second reading, enrapturing the crowd with her magical realist stories, set in decaying Lancashire towns. We meet supernatural creatures such as ethereal women clothed in grass, and the story creates a fairy-tale atmosphere.

Our final reader was Emma Jane Unsworth, reading from her newly-published novel Hungry, The Stars and Everything. The novel is narrated by a food critic who uses the memory of tastes as a springboard for reflections on the major events of her life. In the passages she presents tonight, Ms Unsworth shows she is well capable of creating deeply evocative prose, and she presents an interesting account of coming of age. Again, we have touches of magical realism, as the devil crops up, described in an entirely matter of fact manner, and again there is a strong North Western identity, as the book is rooted in the old, dull Manchester.




It is to the organisers’ credit that they were able to use the event to present two such talented and well-suited authors, whilst remaining true to the theme of the evening. Each reading took listeners on a surreal journey, and each had a strong sense of location, in a faded memory of Manchester, pre-IRA bombing and reconstruction. For Books’ Sake has done excellent work promoting female writing, and this event is another success for them. The evening was friendly and warm, and the organisers’ enthusiasm was obvious. Guests were showered with free books and prizes, and responded by showing great warmth and appreciation to the performers. A fine way to round off Not Part Of 2011.