You’ve probably seen it advertised around town, but the deadline for this year’s Best of Manchester Awards is fast approaching so its organisers are making one last push for entries.

The annual competition, hosted by Urbis, ‘celebrates innovation in art, music and fashion’. This deliberately broad scope means art, for example, can include illustration, photography, graphic design as well as fine art and sculpture.

There are also apparently ‘no age limits, no hype and no rules’, so any creative professional living or working in Manchester can enter. Prizes include professional career development, an exhibition in Urbis and a one-off cash prize.

Susie Stubbs, who’s helping to promote the event, has been in touch with an update about this year’s competition:

It’s early days yet as the deadline isn’t until the end of the month, but we’ve already had around 100 entries. Some of the work that’s come in so far is fantastic - the judges are going to have their work cut out.

And the judging panel itself makes for impressive reading: chaired by designer Peter Saville and including Caroline Elleray (head of A&R at Universal Publishing), Miranda Sawyer (Guardian/Observer writer and broadcaster), Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly), Justin Crawford (The Unabombers/Electriks), Tim Thomas (Blueprint Studios), Claire Lomax (Flux) and Kwong Lee (Castlefield Gallery).

The deadline for entries is 30 June and you can follow the latest from the awards camp at their blog, http://bestofmanchester.wordpress.com/. For more information on entering visit the Best of Manchester section on the Urbis website.

A few interesting things are building up again so here’s a quick link dump…

One for you literary types first: Ar’ Back Yard is a triology of books by Anwar Dharma, giving a fictional account of 1980s Manchester. Or at least it will be when it’s published in the next few months. For now, however, you can read extracts - uploaded monthly - on the book’s very stylish website.

And here’s one for you history buffs: Ciara Leeming wrote an article for the MEN about this book by Keith Warrender. It’s fascinating stuff - a theme I’ve touched on before here, here and here - and the book already has plenty of fans here. Definitely one for the Amazon wishlist…

Finally, The Rehearsal, which I saw and actively participated in at the Temple of Convenience during Manchester International Festival, is showing at the Library Theatre tomorrow, Wedneday, at 7pm. Highly recommended if you’re looking for something to do.

The first Saturday in ages that I haven’t bought a Guardian and I end up being featured in it! Well, by featured I mean a five-line mention in the Guide’s blog column - but it’s much better than nothing. I think I’ll continue not to buy it in the hope of further recognition.

So a warm welcome to my fellow Guardian readers - feel free to subscribe by email or leave a comment if you like the place. And regular Mancubist readers, check out the other sites to be blogrolled here.

Meanwhile, back to the usual Manchester miscellany: someone on urban exporation website 28dayslater.co.uk has done a recce of what they call ‘Manchester Underground’ - a series of air raid shelters under the city, accord to this poster:

There are 17 shelters in all and most of them have sub sections A. B. C etc… these are joined by one long corridor… there are numerous blocked up exits and stair wells… but the most jaw dropping feature was the toilets, the whole place was maze of small wonders…

Check out the rest of these excellent photos here.

Unless you walk around Manchester with your eyes fixed firmly on the floor - or sky - you’ll probably have noticed a series of plain white posters, each containing a poem and little else.

It’s all the work of one Norris Necante, who I’m led to believe is Stretford-based poet Mike Fitzgerald. He’s part of York Road Chorlton, a collective of three artists and creative types who are looking for ‘more talented people with similar interests’.

Always quick off the mark, Manchester’s Flickr community has photographed a few of Norris’/Mike’s poems - Ten a penny Jenny is particularly entertaining.

See Norris’ Myspace blog for a few more prime examples.

James over at Yer Mam! has accidentally organised a Manchester blogmeet. It begins at 3pm in the delightful Hare & Hound pub in Shudehill (that’s the edge of the Northern Quarter, for those with blank expressions) on Saturday 7 April.

These things always become fun some time after you’ve finished trading inquisitive glances, trying to work out who people are, and the beer usually sorts the bloggers out from the, er, non-bloggers. Something like that anyway. If you’re not away for the weekend do go along.

But, what’s this, at 3pm on Saturday 7 April there’s a rival geek-meet? Manchester’s Flickr users, you say? Congregating in Piccadilly Gardens and almost certainly heading for pubs in the Northern Quarter?

What happens if the two groups collide? Will there be a horrible mash of broken cameras, laptops and pint glasses? Watch this space from Saturday afternoon to find out.