Bristol author launches Miscellany on line
Bristol author Michael Manson will launch the first in a series of collectable books about the city with an online event on Wednesday March 24.
Manson’s Bristol Miscellany has just been published and promises to be an indispensable treasure trove of fascinating discoveries from the city’s rich, diverse and controversial history.
The author will be talking about how he went in search of the soul of the city and some of the interesting facts, curious stories and hidden treasures he uncovered. Self isolation during lockdown gave him the impetus to make sense of all the information he had already gathered.
The first volume is a selection box of his discoveries and covers subjects as diverse as slavery, prisons, hidden rivers, public health, unique plants, Holy wells and coal mining.
He has already collected enough material for a second volume and local publishers Bristol Books and Tangent Books are working together on the material, which they expect to build into a powerful history of Bristol in all its diversity.
Michael Manson said: “Unfortunately the book shops are still closed so we are launching it online with a webinar. It began as a compendium of random facts and I wrote it as a literary “curiosity shop” of bitesize pieces of Bristol’s past.
“Most people will find things that they know, some things they ought to know and a lot they will be delighted to find out about our city.”
Manson has lived in Bristol for 45 years and has previously had history books on the Bristol Bridge Massacre of 1793; the Hidden History of St Andrew’s and the history of Old Market as well as a number of novels.
His debut work of fiction, the Bristol-based Where’s My Money?, which was published in 2008, was selected by BBC TV as one of their ‘Books That Made Britain’. He is also co-founder of the Bristol Short Story Prize.
The virtual book launch will be on Wednesday 24 March at 12.30pm. Bookings can be made through Eventbrite and searching for “Manson’s Bristol Miscellany book launch”.
Manson’s Bristol Miscellany is available to pre-order now from the Bristol Books website, www.bristolbooks.org priced £18.
