Jacob Polley at The Brewery Arts Centre

The first of a new series of free author events at The Brewery has Jacob Polley read and discuss his debut novel Talk of The Town in the Warehouse café.  Set in Polley’s native Carlisle in 1986, the book covers a day at the end of the school holidays in which young Chris looks for his missing friend Arthur.

Those who saw Polley read at the opening of The Storey a few weeks back will know how his work resounds with the voice of Carlisle, fleshing Chris out by his surroundings, giving him context.  This is intentional, the author says, making place almost a character in itself.

Talk Of the Town took Jacob polley several years to write, beginning as an experiment writing something different to re-start his poetry.  Then, he said, he kept writing ‘to see what happened, to find out just what was wrong with Chris.’  The thirty or so people in The Warehouse felt that too, leaving eager to read more of what seems to be an interesting and well-written first novel.

They will also have enjoyed an entertaining evening in its own right I think.  Jacob reads well, is charming and witty as well as informative on his writing processes as poet and novelist.  For their first attempt to reclaim an area The Brewery has lately been weaker on they couldn’t have picked a more engaging guest.  Lets hope they can build on this.