This year’s Manchester Literature Festival launched yesterday and while my involvement, Rainy City Stories, is ticking along nicely (7,000 views and a very healthy number of stories submitted in its first seven days), there are of course plenty of real-life events worth checking out between now and 26 October:

Past Crimes – Historical crime writers Lee Jackson, Andrew Martin and Anne Perry talk about their work in the ‘suitably gothic’ surroundings of the John Ryland’s Library. Today, Friday, 7pm. Free

Between the Panels – An illustrated discuss with a panel of three graphic novelists. Whitworth Art Gallery, Sunday 19 October, 3pm. £4/£3

School of Manchester – A demonstration of the city’s strength in literature education, as three graduates – including Joe Stretch – talk about their debut novels. The Deaf Institute, Sunday 19 October, 7.30pm. £5/£3

Portico Prize Preview – Featuring shortlisted authors from the biennial Portico Prize for a book set mainly in northern England. Manchester Central Library (pity it’s not at the Portico library…), Wednesday 22 October, 1pm. Free

Manchester Blog Awards – The third annual blog awards, for which Mancubist is nominated, this year feature a new award, CityLife Blog of the Year. Matt & Phred’s Jazz Club, Wednesday 22 October, 7pm. Tickets £3/£2

Comma Film Premiere – Five new films adapted from short stories published in the North West, plus the film-makers and writers explaining the adaptation process. Cornerhouse, Thursday 23 October, 6.30pm. £4/£3

It looks like you’re writing a letter – Ross Sutherland and Tim Clare give a lecture on the relationship between language and mathematics, bizarrely. Followed by Tony Walsh’s Zeroes and Ones, which ‘compresses 14 billion years of science and philosophy into one byte-sized poem’. Museum of Science and Industry, Sunday 26 October, 2pm. £5/£3

And those are just select highlights! Pick up one of the ridiculously bright brochures – or visit the festival website – for the full programme. Well done to Cathy and Jon for putting such a substantial festival together, and for using more than just the usual venues.

At the weekend, a friend was telling me how he thought last year’s Manchester International Festival was an all-round disappointment. Without pausing, I jumped to its defence, listing all the events I enjoyed (The Pianist, Il Tempo del Postino, Manchester Dines, The Rehearsal, the Monkey opera…) and adding that, personally, I thought it was a big success. The reviews were generally favourable too – and an independent report declared that it exceeded expectations.

So how will the festival’s second coming in summer 2009 compare? If the first three commissions – announced last Thursday – are anything to go buy, the scope will be equally wide, with MIF again taking arts to the masses:

J S BACH/ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS – Zaha Hadid Architects create a unique environment within Manchester Art Gallery for Bach’s solo works for piano, violin and cello; sublime music in a sublime space. Soloists are Piotr Anderszewski (piano), Jean-Guihem Queyras (cello) and Alina Ibragimova (violin).

EVERYBODY LOVES A WINNER – A new theatrical experience created by acclaimed director Neil Bartlett with Simon Deacon and Struan Leslie. The Royal Exchange theatre becomes a Bingo hall, immediately familiar and strange. With added music, dancing and quite possibly a chance to win some cash…

PRIMA DONNA – Rufus Wainwright’s debut opera. A portrait of a fading opera singer; set in Paris and sung in French. Directed by Daniel Kramer, conducted by Pierre-Andre Valadé and designed by Antony McDonald. Soprano Janis Kelly takes the lead role, Madame.

The Wainwright opera was originally commissioned by New York’s Met Opera – but the partnership fell apart following his decision to write it in French and the company’s inability to schedule it during 2009. New York’s loss is clearly Manchester’s gain, and this promises to be one of MIF’s headline events.

It’s also great to see that the festival has ditched Ticketmaster and appointed The Lowry-based Quaytickets as its ticketing partner. All profits generated by Quaytickets go towards funding the venue, so at least those booking fees are staying in Greater Manchester this time round.

These three commissions are the first of 21, which will all premiere next summer. The rest of the programme will be announced in March 2009.

I haven’t unveiled the literature project I’m currently working on yet, partly because there’s so much happening in the city right now. More on that soon – but for now here are a couple of brand new things for those literary of heart.

Today Manchester University’s Centre for New Writing launches an online journal, The Manchester Review. As well as a cracking name, it’s got a great exclusive: the first chapter of Booker Prize-winner John Banville’s forthcoming novel The Sinking City. No wonder the Guardian’s Books section made it Site of the Week.

Issue one of the biannual journal features 16 pieces in total, from a short extract of one of Chris Killen’s poems to a video of RNCM composition teacher Larry Groves’ setting of a poem for contemporary music and theatre ensemble Psappha. And that’s not a one-off, with ‘a mix of new music, public debate, visual art and video as well as fiction and poetry’ promised for future issues.

Also at/near the university today, a poetry night called The Other Room is taking place in The Old Abbey Inn (the lesser-known Kro) on Pencroft Way from 7pm. It’s organised by the same people who run the Openned experimental poetry website, which I wrote about in January.

Tonight’s free event features David Annwn, Caroline Bergvall and Joy as Tiresome Vandalism.

While Manchester’s long-established music conference In The City is booking Jarvis Cocker to talk about lyrics in popular song, down the road in Salford a new music event is adding its own finishing touches.

With the tagline ‘Music and Pies’, Un-convention is evidently a two-day, three-night conference with a difference: it’s designed to debate the future of DIY labels, self-releasing bands, promoters, agents, entrepreneurs, innovators… basically all aspects of independent music.

But, before all non-industry types log off, it’s also complemented by a showcase of bands, with familiar names such as Down The Tiny Steps, Stranger Son of WB, Denis Jones, Sophie’s Pigeons, John Stammers, Cats in Paris and Toolshed scheduled to appear during the evening showcases at the ever-excellent Sacred Trinity Church on Chapel Street.

The daytime programme includes panels devoted to independent labels, live music, getting exposure and innovation. These two seven-hour sessions – also at the church – will be broken up by acoustic showcases featuring the likes of Magic Arm.

Those involved – either in organising, chairing panels or just attending – include Radio 1′s Huw Stephens, Red Deer Club’s Duncan Sime, BBC Manchester’s Chris Long, Melodic Records’ David Cooper, Switchflicker/Club Brenda’s Jayne Compton, Club Fandango’s Matt Johnson… something of a who’s who of the city’s independent music scene.

At its most DIY and independent level, the music industry – in Manchester at least – is very friendly. But it’s great to see that some locals are thinking about more than just their next show or release. The event runs from Sunday until Tuesday evening and ticket prices vary, from £7 for an evening showcase to £25 for a full pass. Check out the Un-convention blog for more information.