An appropriate new publication for May Day

Northern ReSisters: Conversations with Radical Women

by Bernadette Hyland    Publication date 1 May 2015

Published by the Mary Quaile Club  ISBN 987-0-9932247-0-6    £5.95

In the first part of this book Bernadette speaks to nine women from Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds who have been active in radical  movements over the past forty years, including trade unionism, Ireland,  Women’s  Liberation, radical  bookselling,  anti-racism and  the peace movement. 

Bernadette says: “In this book I ask the question; what does it mean to be an activist; how does it affect your life and how do people keep going in the face of adversity?  My conversations with these women tell their story of involvement in many of  the important social and political issues of the post-war era. They have been chosen by me because their stories have gone untold.”

The women include Betty Tebbs, from Bury,  aged 97, a trade unionist and peace campaigner since the 1940s who recently appeared on television with Maxine Peake; Mandy Vere , from Liverpool, who founded News From Nowhere bookshop in the 1970s and still works there;  Claire Mooney, from Manchester,  who is a singer-songwriter ; Honor Donnelly, from Manchester; who campaigns against the Bedrroom Tax,  and Alice Nutter, from Leeds, formerly in the band Chumbawamba, who  now writes drama for theatre, radio and television. 

In the second part of the book Bernadette has selected a number of her articles previously published between 1988 and 2014. These include an article from 1988 on 2nd-generation Irish  identity in Britain, an interview in 1991 with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, and discussion in 2014  with writers Cathy Crabb, Alice Nutter, Maxine Peake and Sally Wainwright (writer ofLast Tango in Halifax)  on whether there is such a thing as a “northern writer”.

Bernadette Hyland is a writer and   journalist. She grew up in East Manchester in a working class Irish family.  In the 1980s she was National Chair of the Irish in Britain Representation Group.  Her articles have appeared in the Irish Post,  Guardian Northerner, Morning Star, The Big Issue in the North, Contributoria and other publications.  She also writes a popular  blog,  Lipstick Socialist.  Bernadette is a member of the National Union of Journalists.

This book  will not be sold on Amazon. It  can only be purchased online from News from Nowhere (the “real Amazons”). Full details on how to buy the book can be found at https://maryquaileclub.wordpress.com/publications/

Online Northern Resisters can be purchased online from News From Nowhere

By post  Please send orders to Mary Quaile Club, 6 Andrew Street Mossley Lancashire OL5 0DN. The cost is £6.95 including p&p. Please make cheques payable to BFC Hyland.

Article by author in Morning Star, 1-5-15, here.