So, last Friday we went tumbling down the rabbit hole into Nexus Art Café in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, for our Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at Not Part Of Festival.

And in between our masked audience members, surreal storytelling, copious amounts of cake, prizes and playing card confetti, we definitely think it was an evening worthy of Wonderland.

After a reading by our own Alex Herod from Jeff Noon‘s Automated Alice, set in Manchester and inspired by the Lewis Carroll classic, author Claire Massey took to the stage to tell us a tale, followed by poetry from Sarah Thomasin and an extract from Emma Jane Unsworth‘s début novel, Hungry, The Stars and Everything.

The Travelling Suitcase Library was in attendance too, with our Jess Haigh recommending reads in between tokes of her hookah as our Smoking Caterpillar.

Last but not least, we awarded prizes aplenty in the raffle and to the most artistic members of the audiences for their Jabberwocky drawings.

Want to see more photos? These pictures are only the highlights, so head on over to Facebook to have a nosey through the full album. And you don’t just have to take our word that it was a wonderful night. Large Manchester gave us a glowing review which you can read here.

Thanks again to White Rabbit England, Oxford University Press, Quadrille, Hoolala, Truffle Shuffle and Judy Croome for our fabulous prizes, Anissa Lee for the bunting and confetti, Mamelok Press for the masks and Samantha Morris for the Eat Me/Drink Me labels.

Jane Bradley