Manchester Literature Festival & Jodrell Bank

Manchester Literature Festival is planning a number of exciting new projects with Jodrell Bank over the next couple of years. We hope to launch the first of these in the autumn – more details to follow soon. In the meantime, please check out Jodrell’s summer Literary Festival to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lovell Telescope:

First Move Literary Festival 15 – 17 Jun

The Hot Spot, Jodrell Bank’s very own ‘Summer Pavilion’ hosts the First Move Literary Festival to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the first move of the Lovell Telescope under power. The programme is now finalised and is as follows :

Sat 26^th May

National Poetry Competition Run by The Times (see the Books Section and Times Online), leading poetry publishers Carcanet and Jodrell Bank in order to find a poem to send to the moon on June 17^th.

Fri 15th June

10.30am to 2pm Talking to the Moon. Schools poetry workshops writing poems destined to be sent to the moon and back on Sun 17 Jun. (Attendance arranged by Cheshire Education Authority).

7.30pm Alan Garner. The award-winning author speaks about his sense of time and place. Introduction by Erica Wagner, Literary Editor of The Times. Book signing to follow.

9.15pm Jodrell at 50. Astromomer Ian Morrison introduces Jodrell Bank and the Lovell Telescope. Tickets for the evening are £6.00 for adults and £5.00 for concessions. Tel: 01477 571 339 or 01477 571 321 or email: thehotspot@jb.man.ac.uk

Sat 16th June

2pm It Dances – An Interpreted Move. The Jodrell Bank Observatory is delighted to invite you to a celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Lovell Telescope’s First Move. Come and be talked through the moves the Telescope makes as it points across space and time to observe the universe. Cream teas available on the lawn.

7.30pm Jeanette Winterson. The stellar author of Tanglewreck, Gut Symmetries, The Passion and Oranges are not the Only Fruit. Introduction by Erica Wagner, Literary Editor of The Times. Book signing to follow.

9.15pm Moving through Space & Time. Astronomer Tim O’Brien explains our view of the Universe.Tickets for the evening are £6.00 for adults and £5.00 for concessions. Tel : 01477 571 339 or 01477 571 321or email: thehotspot@jb.man.ac.uk

Sun 17th June

2pm Moonbounce. The poem written by the winner of the national competition run jointly by Jodrell Bank and The Times will be read out, transmitted to the moon, bounced off its surface and its echo picked up by the Lovell Telescope. Poems written by children at the workshop on Fri 15 Jun will also be moonbounced. Tickets are £6.00 for adults and £5.00 for children. Tel : 01477 571 339 or 01477 571 321 or email: thehotspot@jb.man.ac.uk

7.30pm The Space Race - Jed Mercurio and Alastair Gunn. The author of Bodies, currently working on a new TV adaptation of Frankenstein, discusses his most recent book Ascent, a fictional account of a Soviet manned mission to the Moon prior to the launch of Apollo 11. Alastair Gunn, an astromomer at Jodrell Bank, sets the discussion in the context of Jodrell Bank's contribution to the space race. Introduction by Erica Wagner, Literary Editor of The Times. Book signing to follow. Tickets are £6.00 for adults and £5.00 for concessions. Tel : 01477 571 339 or 01477 571 321 or email: thehotspot@jb.man.ac.uk