Three Come at Once, Just like Buses... By Maggie Hannan

Hull in Fiction: Christopher Peachment & Will Davenport 7th November 7.00pm - 8.30pm £3/£2 EICH Gallery, University of Lincoln Hull Campus, George Street, Hull Box Office 01482 223344

Following on from the Crap Towns debacle, my interest was caught by the fact that no fewer than three novelists have set novels in Hull in the past eighteen months. Just like buses, you wait for ages and then three come along at once. I'm not sure why this is - I mean there is a Manchester crime genre known as Manchester Noire, and then there's Scottish Noire, but until now, as far as I'm aware, Hull hasn't really appeared in recent fiction.

The three books are Cradle Song (Robert Edric), The Painter (Will Davenport) and The Green and the Gold (Christopher Peachment). Robert Edric came to Humber Mouth last year, so this year I've invited the other two to thrash it out with Local Studies expert David Smith. Neither of the writers come from Hull, and only Will Davenport visited the city to do any research. I want to know how Hull exists in the minds of the novelists and how much of a challenge the idea of Hull was to them. The two very different novelists will talk about the challenge of writing fiction; the battle between accuracy and imagination; and their impressions of modern day Hull; all the more interesting as Davenport was accused by one reviewer of writing in which 'even in the margins of life in Hull people are still defined by stereotypes'

The event takes place in the EICH Gallery on George Street which is currently showing 'Images of Hull', a photographic exhibition of winning entries to a competition judged by local author Daphne Glazer. It's a local event with a twist, I suppose, and a chance to argue against the common misperceptions of the city. Will Davenport's novel The Painter tells the story of a visit to Hull by artist Rembrandt as a stowaway in 1662, his battle of wits with Marvell and with a seductive housewife, Amelia Dahl. The novel also weaves in a tale of contemporary Hull, told through Amelia's descendent Amy, who is restoring the house Rembrandt stayed in three centuries earlier. Will Davenport is the pen name of former BBC correspondent James Long. This is his eighth novel and he visited Hull frequently to research The Painter. Davenport said 'I'm looking forward to seeing Hull again and I'm bringing my wife to show her around the city'

Christopher Peachment's novel The Green and the Gold is a subversive and humorous account of the life of poet Andrew Marvell. Author of the critically acclaimed Carravaggio, Peachment presents Marvell as a boisterous and lively character, although in fact little is known about the personal life of Marvell. This will be the author's first visit to Hull.

Continued on www.thisisull.com...... The Humber Mouth Homepage.

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