A selection of images taken by the amazing Bobby Talamine, Rock and Roll Photographer.
The March Violets – headlining at Convergence XX, Chicago, April 2014.
Rosie Garland with Si Denbigh, Tom Ashton & William Faith.
Shots include soundcheck, backstage (with Mars Williams of the Psychedelic Furs, guest sax) and concert shots of Rosie singing with The March Violets. The Bottom Lounge, Chicago.
All enquiries should be sent directly to Bobby Talamine. He’s a great guy.
Welcome to Convergence Twenty Chicago! We are extremely honored, dark denizens of the Internet, that our city has again been chosen to continue the fine once-a-decade tradition of being your hosts for a weekend you'll never forget! Sincere thanks to all who voted for Convergence Twenty Chicago.
The March Violets are one of those bands.
Formed in Leeds in the post punk era at the very start of the 80s, they were one of the 4 dark Northern Bands that are often blamed for starting the Gothic scene, The Danse Society, The Sisters of Mercy, The March Violets, and The Southern Death Cult. The Violets released a series of singles that still fill the darker dance floors around the world, the most played being "Snakedance" and "Walk into the Sun."
Three original members reformed in 2008 for a reunion, and since then the Violets have done a few rare concerts, headlined some festivals, and finally managed to write and record their first proper album.
They will be playing some old classics and some new ones from the Made Glorious album. Strangely enough, people who have seen The March Violets in this century say they sound exactly the same as they did back in the early 80's, the Violets agree.
The March Violets' appearance at C20 (their first C*) will mark their first time in the U.S. since 1987, and the first time ever with all three original members -- promising a rare performance from a legendary band that has actually managed to evolve, yet retain their original dark brilliance.
"Play Loud, Play Purple."
WEBPAGE: Click link for Convergence website
TICKETS & ENQUIRIES: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thrilled that 'Now that you are not-you' is Guardian Poem of the Week!
"A very modern, secular kind of elegy reflects on death with a surprising lightness" - Carol Rumens
"This week’s poem is from What Girls Do in the Dark, the latest collection by the multi-talented Rosie Garland. It stands alone, while extending the narrative of the short poem that immediately precedes it, Stargazer. The setting of Stargazer is a hospital bedside, where the dying patient’s visitor must navigate “the vertigo tilt / of old words like spread, outlook, time.” That poem ends with the metaphors that will be reconfigured in Now that you are not-you. “Doctors / murmur the names of new constellations / - astrocyte, hippocampus, glioblastoma – and calculate / the growth of nebulae; this rising tide of cells that climbs / the Milky Way of the spine to flood your head with light.”
Read the whole article here...
7.30pm GMT
Join us to celebrate the launch of What Girls Do in the Dark by Rosie Garland, with guests Tania Hershman & Ian Humphreys
About this Event
Join Rosie Garland, plus guest writers Tania Hershman & Ian Humphreys to celebrate the publication of Rosie's new poetry collection What Girls Do in the Dark.
Thursday 12th November 7.30pm (GMT)
This event will be streamed live & can be viewed now, through the Nine Arches Press YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Z7yq1Ey_U&feature=youtu.be
I thought it wasn't possible to feel any more thrilled about joining Nine Arches Press
- then I see the stunning cover of my new poetry collection, 'What Girls Do In The Dark'.
Out October 2020
https://www.ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/what-girls-do-in-the-dark.html
Dystopian classics to modern crime - Nine must-read Manchester novels
“Fantasy, romance, sci-fi, comedy…we’ve got a genre for everyone
There’s a very good reason Manchester is a UNESCO City of Literature, as we highlighted before its bid to join the prestigious network in 2017. Innovative publishers, diverse bookshops and a lively events scene make it an unrivalled literary melting pot.
Rosie Garland’s The Night Brother is our historical highlight
Ever the entertainer, Rosie Garland sung in post-punk band The March Violets and now performs ‘twisted cabaret’ as Rosie Lugosi the Vampire Queen. But she’s also a literary maverick with an array of essays, short stories and poetry to her name (much of which she also reads at spoken words events citywide) and three acclaimed novels. Her latest, The Night Brother, navigates themes of gender and identity through two siblings in Victorian Manchester. Rich and Gothic, it’s a must for fans of Angela Carter.”
https://confidentials.com/manchester/dystopian-classics-to-modern-crime-nine-must-read-manchester-novels
An unexpected & encouraging piece of news!
Northern Soul has selected 'The Night Brother' as a Best Northern Read
Desmond Bullen, Northern Soul writer
“In days that can seem desolate and uncertain, there’s a lot to be said for windows into a better world and, ultimately, joyfully, that is exactly the view that The Night Brother by Rosie Garland affords. Not that its window seat is cheaply achieved. Far from it.
Rooted with disbelief-suspending specificity in Manchester at the end of the 19th century, Garland’s novel blossoms compellingly from the exquisite simplicity of its central conceit, one which owes the tiniest debt to the 1971 horror film Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde. Edie and her brother Gnome are joined in a very particular symbiosis, so that their singular sibling rivalry threatens to be the undoing of both. Themes that could be leaden in other hands emerge from the premise with a beautiful lightness of touch, developing into a persuasive fable of inclusivity and self-acceptance. This is a book that sings a rainbow at its end.”
https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/books-best-northern-reads-part-one/