Burgess Foundation Events in March 2024
Find out what's happening at the Burgess Foundation and beyond in March 2024.
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Unboxing Anthony Burgess | 23 April 2024, 1pm, Free
Explore the life and work of Anthony Burgess in this special gathering at the author’s archive in Manchester. Burgess was a prolific novelist, composer, journalist and playwright. He grew up above a pub in Manchester, then travelled the world as a solider and teacher before publishing his first novel at the age of 39. He was a larger-than-life character, his reputation boosted by regular TV appearances and reactions to his famous novel, A Clockwork Orange.
The archive at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation tells the story of a writer who never stopped working, despite illness and controversy. As he writes in his autobiography, Little Wilson and Big God: ‘Wedged as we are between two eternities of idleness, there is no excuse for being idle now.’
The Foundation holds manuscripts, photographs, typewriters, vinyl records, notebooks, wine bottles, pianos, a clay bust of his head, and a seemingly endless collection of literary and artistic paraphernalia. Come and be surprised.
We are offering two ‘Unboxing Anthony Burgess’ events in the current series. Each event is themed according to its date.
📦 Tuesday 23 April 2024 is the birthday of Burgess’s literary hero, Shakespeare.
📦 Saturday 22 June 2024 falls in the same week as Bloomsday, a day celebrating the works of his other artistic hero, James Joyce.
Both events start at 1:00 pm. Tickets are free, but numbers for each event are limited, to allow close-up access to the artefacts. Therefore booking is essential.
Events at the Burgess Foundation
Concert: The Duchess of Padua | 3 March 2024, 4:00pm, £10 | Oscar Wilde’s epic tragedy of revenge and passion turned into a compact opera. With arias, choruses, a love-duet and a death scene, a quartet of fine singers brings to life the first performances of this ‘Italian-style’ opera for intimate spaces (more information).
Comedy: Γιώργος Χατζηπαύλου (Cypriot-Greek language) | 4 March 2024, 8:00pm, £23 | Μια παράσταση stand-up comedy: Για τα μοναδικά 15 λεπτά που ένας άντρας μπορεί να σκεφτεί καθαρά. Για το καλύτερο χρονικό σημείο κάθε σχέσης. Τη μονόπολη, τα παζλ και τους παραδοσιακούς χορούς (more information).
Talks: The Sex Lectures | 6 March 2024, 7:00pm, £15.50 | In these intimate and connecting evenings, speakers with unique and cutting-edge views will share their ideas in six thought-provoking 12-minute talks. The talks range from modern sex education to musings on the intimacy of erotic encounters (more information).
Talk: Manchester Lit & Phil – Getting Medieval with Stranger Things | 7 March 2024, 6:30pm, £15.00 | Dr Cynthia Johnston discusses the connections between the Netflix series Stranger Things and the Medieval world. She will share images from medieval manuscripts, including the Hart Collection in Blackburn Museum, that link these seeming very different worlds (more information).
Concert: Empower – Manchester | 9 March 2024, 6:30pm, Free | A series of short musical performances, from piano trio to jazz ensemble and saxophone and marimba duo, showcasing the finest music by female composers of the past, present and future, including premieres of new works (more information).
Talk: Manchester Lit & Phil – How can we best help those in need during and after a Humanitarian Crisis? | 12 March 2024, 6:30pm, £15.00 | Drawing on over 30 years’ experience of responding to global humanitarian crises, Tony Redmond will talk about the improvements that have been made in the international response, and how we can continue to ensure the assistance provided is both effective and focused on those most in need (more information).
Talk: Newcomen Society – The Side-Lever Steam Engine: An Engineering Story | 19 March 2024, 6:30pm, Free | Ian Hoose tells the story of how the side-lever steam engine transformed commercial and naval shipping in the nineteenth century (more information).
Concert: TAK Ensemble/Distractfold | 29 March 2024, 7:30pm, £20 | TAK Ensemble’s Manchester debut is a collaboration with the globally renowned collective Distractfold. The programme includes work by Golnaz Shariatzadeh, Eric Wubblels, Tyshawn Sorey, Erin Gee, Ashkan Behzadi, Zeynep Toraman, and Hanna Hartman (more information).
The Burgess Foundation Online
For those who can’t make it to Manchester, we have plenty of other cultural activities, accessible in the virtual space.
The Ninety-Nine Novels Podcast | The podcast celebrating Anthony Burgess’s favourite novels of the twentieth century is now in its third series, with episodes on writers such as Evelyn Waugh, Alasdair Gray, Christopher Isherwood and Ralph Ellison. Available wherever you prefer to get podcasts (more information).
The Burgess Foundation Podcast | This podcast illuminates Anthony Burgess’s life and work, with episodes examining his fiction and non-fiction, his work in the film industry, his music, and his experiences traveling the world (more information).
Exhibition: Anthony Burgess and Shakespeare | The Foundation’s website has a series of online exhibitions, including an exploration of Burgess’s relationship with Shakespeare, featuring in-depth assessments of Burgess’s novels and non-fiction works inspired by Britain’s most famous writer (more information).