‘There’s no point in not being friends with someone if you want to be friends with them.’ It’s a mantra I first spotted on Facebook, and I assumed it was a campaign against denying friend requests on various social networking sites. Hey, maybe it is?

Either way, it’s also the fullest name of No Point in Not Being Friends, a monthly literature (that’s poetry and prose) event that takes place at the Deaf Institute. Here’s more about the 23 September event, tomorrow:

The third night is in the Upstairs Music Hall of the Deaf Institute (new Trof), off Oxford Road. Joe Stretch, David Gaffney, John McAuliffe, and Jenn Ashworth will be reading, along with lots of other scheduled and open-mic readers, and the American writer Tao Lin will be doing the ‘video reading’.

Stretch – singer in local electro band Performance and writer-in-residence at Manchester University’s Centre for New Writing – has had plenty of exposure lately, and Lin’s video reading should be interesting.

The event is inspired by New York’s underground literature scene and there’s a big lit-blog connection too – including through organisers Sally Cook and Chris Killen, Ashworth, who reviewed July’s event, and the event’s own dedicated blog. It’s also on MySpace, so practically every base is covered.

No Point in Not Being Friends kicks off at 8pm and is free. Check out Katie Popperwell’s article on the new-look CityLife website for more information and an interview with Cook.

And while we’re on the subject of Manchester lit, today’s Metro flagged up a free showcase of work by the Centre for New Writing’s PhD students, which takes place in the Committee Room of the Central Library at 1pm on Wednesday 24 September.