20th October 2016, 6.30pm
Manchester Central Library,
St Peter's Square, Manchester
I will be performing a live piece commissioned for this project:
I will be performing a live piece commissioned for this project:
Powerlines: New Stories From The Urban Edge
Some people struggle to get from one end of the day to the other – but their stories are not being told. Five artists have worked with people in Salford to explore the lives unfolding far beyond the aspirational city of artisan coffee shops and slick new builds. Join poet Jo Bell, graphic novelist Darryl Cunningham, sound artist Gary Fisher, short story writer David Gaffney and novelist Stephen May as they place these stories centre stage.
These stories will make you cry, laugh and shout with rage at inequalities perpetuated by a social security system that is no longer social or secure. Produced in partnership with Church Action on Poverty, Salford City Council Welfare Rights Service, and The University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing, Powerlines will shed light on some of the too-little considered realities of life in the Northern Powerhouse.
I was commissioned by one of the organisers of the Powerlines project- based in my home City of Salford- to produce a live sound piece based on short stories written by people from Salford about their experiences of having to live on welfare benefits. The group I worked with had some interesting, tragic, funny and very personal stories to tell. I have recorded each of them reading their own works and I am currently working on weaving their voices into a live soundscape performance with fragments of the stories filtering through like memories or disconnected pieces of dreams.
I also produced this preview trailer:
For booking and links to more info on the project, artists and the festival: http://www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/powerlines-new-stories-from-the-urban-edge-37253