Mike Harding: Launch of new short story collection

Mike Harding launches his latest collection of stories as a fundraiser for Portico Reunited and to bring some Christmas cheer. Event starts at 6.30pm. Seven short stories that examine the interface between the traveler and the host country, between different cultures and between some that seem, on the surface at least to be not so different. From a story told in France by a survivor of the Third Reich to a life possibly ruined in Lahore, and from an English poet in the Appalachians to an old man trekking to Everest Base Camp the stories are nothing if not adventurous. The Irish folk singer Christy Moore said of Mike Harding’s last collection, Jockey - A Book Of Irish Tales…I find your stories to be very visual and emotional, they carry me right in to the heart of the narrative, ….I find them remarkable. Mike Harding was born in Crumpsall, Manchester, in 1944, into a working-class Irish-Catholic family. His father was killed returning from a bombing mission just 4 weeks before Mike was born. This had a profound effect on his childhood and later life, and provided the inspiration for his haunting song Bombers’ Moon. Much of the inspiration for his writing comes from his early years growing up in Manchester. Folk singer, broadcaster, writer and keen fell walker, Mike is also a member of the Portico Library and has championed its storytelling and programming. Tonight’s event is a fundraiser for Portico Reunited.