GHOST SIGNS: Poverty and the Pandemic - Stu Hennigan in conversation.

Join us for the Manchester launch of GHOST SIGNS: Poverty and the Pandemic by Stu Hennigan. Stu will be talking to host Terri White about how the book came to be written and his experiences on the frontline as a keyworker in a city of 800,000 people at a time when the majority of the population was being forced to stay at home.

About the book

The first non-fiction title from Bluemoose Books, GHOST SIGNS is an eyewitness account of the Stu Hennigan's experiences delivering essential food and medicine to some of Leeds' most vulnerable communities in the early stages of the pandemic during the first lockdown in 2020. It's a timely reminder of how life was for most of us during those unprecedented times, and paints a blistering portrait of the hardships being endured by deprived communities even before the current cost of living crisis hit. It's a visceral piece of reportage that is already drawing comparisons with George Orwell's classic work The Road To Wigan Pier.

About the author

Stu Hennigan is a writer, poet and musician from the north of England, currently based in Leeds. His short fiction has appeared in Lune Journal and the anthology The Middle Of A Sentence, and his poetry has been published in multiple places online, including at Visual Verse. He is currently working on a new novel as well as several other shorter creative projects. Ghost Signs is his first full-length published work. He also works as the Senior Librarian For Stock and Reader Development at Leeds Libraries.

Terri White was Editor-in-Chief of Empire magazine, having previously edited some of the most read titles in the UK and US, including Time Out New York and Shortlist, where she was named Men's Magazine Editor of the Year. She has also written for the Guardian and The Pool. Her first book Coming Undone was published by Canongate in 2021.

Doors: 6.30, event starts: 6.45

Tickets are free but do please register your interest in advance. Copies of Ghost Signs will be available to purchase on the night and Stu will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please contact us on 0161 274 3331 or [email protected] and we can arrange this for you.

Host or Publisher Blackwell's Bookshop Manchester