MON 17 JUN
Bertolt Brecht featuring David Constantine: Poet in the City
Poet in the City presents a special event exploring the life and work of Bertolt Brecht, one of the most important poetic voices of the 20th century. Known primarily as a playwright, Brecht’s plays have had a lasting impact on how we create and experience theatre. Less well known is his status as one of the greatest German language poets of the age, whose poems reflect in a distilled way his passionate, dark and unique vision. Featuring musical settings of Brecht poems by Kurt Weill, the event will also feature the acclaimed poet and translator, David Constantine.
Held in partnership with the Goethe Institute and the German Embassy, this important event takes us into the exciting and extraordinary poetic and political world of Bertolt Brecht and demonstrates his great and continuing relevance to contemporary world culture.
Hall One, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
7pm
£9.50. Book tickets here

SUN 30 JUN
Racing Time at Didsbury Arts Festival Short Film Screening
A special screening of hand-picked independent films made by some of the most talented independent film makers from across the region. Whether you want to watch horror, comedy, romance, drama or even something different- this is the festival for you.
Featuring Q & A sessions with the directors and cast.
Albert Tennis Club, Didsbury, Manchester.
7.30pm
More info about the festival here.

FRIDAY 26 JULY
Gaia Holmes at the Leeds Cross-Cultural Book Fair
Reading from and signing copies of her brand new poetry collection Lifting the Piano with One Hand.
11am (reading), 11.30am (signing).
St Johns Centre, Merrion Street, Leeds, LS2 8LQ.
More info here.

MON 12 AUGUST
Edinburgh International Book Festival featuring Adam Marek and Rodge Glass
Reading from their highly-acclaimed new books The Stone Thrower and LoveSexTravelMusik
Full schedule to be confirmed in June here

THU 26 - SUN 29 SSEP
Small Wonder Festival
Featuring appearances from Jane Rogers and Alison MacLeod
More details to follow.

TUE 15 OCT
Short Story and Research
Sara Maitland & Michelle Green
This autumn Comma launches two new collections borne out of different, but equally intense commitments to research. Sara Maitland’s Moss Witch features14 stories developed directly from conversations with leading scientists, each story fusing together cutting-edge research with ancient myth or literary realism. As the laboratory smoke settles, we meet witches that can outwit botanists, twins who fight every day for quantum mechanical reasons, and scientists who fall in love with the birds they study…
Michelle Green's debut collection, Jebel Marra, explores the complexities of the 2005 civil war in Darfur through the eyes of the many different individuals involved – aid workers, farmers, local politicians, even an archaeological research team working in the area. Green’s book is all the more extraordinary for being based, partly, on her own experiences as an aid worker caught up in the war.
International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester, M1 5BY.
Time tbc.
£6/£4.
Part of Manchester Literature Festival.

THU 17 OCT
The Art of the Short Story
Jane Rogers on Fyodor Dostoyevsky & Alison MacLeod on Katherine Mansfield
To celebrate the launch of Morphologies, a collection of essays by contemporary writers on past masters of the short form, Comma presents an evening of appreciation with two of the most important short story writers around. Jane Rogers is the author of the Edgehill Prize shortlisted, Hitting Trees With Sticks, and a previous winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award (for her novel The Testament of Jessie Lamb). Alison MacLeod's stories have been collected in Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction, and featured in Comma’s The New Uncanny and Litmus (a story which was shortlisted for the 2011 BBC National Short Story Award). Tonight, Jane and Alison will be attempt to unlock the wizardry of two of the greatest short story writers of all time, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Katherine Mansfield.
International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester, M1 5BY.
5.30pm.
£6/£4.
Part of Manchester Literature Festival.

WED 4 DEC
Thought X - Thought Experiments from Physics
Specially commissioned short stories from the cool, hard end of the science spectrum.
More information to follow.
Manchester Digital Laboratory, 36-450 Edge Street, Manchester M4 1HN.
7pm-9pm.

Watch this space for more information about other Comma events this year...

Info about upcoming Literature Northwest seminars to follow...

View Comma's previous events, 2002 to present: EVENTS ARCHIVE