Artistic Convictions - a new book is out now. Chris Wallis reflects on the work of an artist he first met 60 years ago.

She promptly conjured up the era-defining songs Doin’ the Do and Where Are You Baby? – still thrilling blasts of pure fizzy ...

It is often said that La Bohéme is the perfect ‘first opera’ to see. The Lowry’s website recommends it to seasoned ...

Opened in May 2024, Tom Barnes’ new Manchester gaff has already won a slew of awards. It received a Michelin star within a year of opening and was named best restaurant in Britain by the AA Rosette ...

I usually write theatre reviews the minute I walk through the door. It’s all still there in my head, sharp and bright, every detail could make it into the copy. This time, however, I had to decompress ...

As a student of literature picking up a modern novel involving interwar lavish consumerism in the West, I’m bracing myself for something rigidly estranged from the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

It smells the same, but looks different. The famous Power Hall at Manchester’s Science & Industry Museum – that warehouse of steam-powered engines, heaving hydraulics and giant trains – has reopened, ...

At any time of day or night, the skyline of Media City is shattered by a geometry of lights, lines, and colours. Now, thrusting along the water, its bold shapes find echoes in the vibrant new artwork ...

Walking into How I Am Monument feels like entering the excavation site of a 21st-century technocratic pharaoh. In the soft golden light, mud and bronze sculptures are backlit by expansive screens ...

For anyone wondering whether there is any humanity left in this troubled world, I am delighted to confirm that there is – I have just found it in the form of Flapjack Press’s new release, The First ...

Living in Manchester city centre affords glimpses into the habits of modern Britain. On my daily shop to the local supermarket, I watch the lunch choices of office workers as they queue. Sandwich, ...

Author Sue Reed writes for Northern Soul about her inspirations, literary passions, and becoming a published writer. I have always wanted to be a writer. At the age of six, I would sew pages together ...