My Productive Life: John Rylands Elizabeth Gaskell Exhibition & Creative Tourist Writing Workshop

Having six weeks off is excellent and I'm not complaining, I'm really not. But. The problem with having six weeks off is that after it has whizzed by in a matter of seconds, people WILL keep asking what exactly you got up to in all that time off work; surely you must have achieved quite a number of worthwhile things? Going back to work is even worse, as you discover that your colleagues have apparently back-packed round Ecuador, written a best-selling novel, climbed a selection of very tall mountains, and founded several orphanages. And what have I done? Well, I, er, read some books, and went to the sea-side, and, erm, drank a lot of wine and watched lots of cricket on TV.

So this year is going to be different: I too am going to return to work having DONE STUFF. The good work began yesterday, with a visit to John Rylands Library on Deansgate to see the current exhibition in honour of Manchester-based novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. To be honest, it was a teensy bit disappointing: a small room which very quickly became crowded with ladies of a certain age talking loudly about how much they'd enjoyed watching Cranford on TV. No doubt this is entirely fitting for a popular novelist whose stories were often serialised for mass consumption, but still; if I was a writer of note who happened to have been born exactly 200 years ago, I would hope for a little more than a few letters on display in glass cases. The library itself is beautiful though, so you should go anyway.

Today I have also been gainfully occupied, on a writing workshop held by the marvellous people at Creative Tourist, an online arts magazine that everyone in Manchester (and beyond) should read. It's always a little scary to meet people in the flesh when you have previously only conversed via Twitter, but everyone was shiny and beautiful, and even looked a tiny bit like their avatars. Thanks to Kate, Susie and Shan for a great course; see how I have been inspired to write something already (please ignore the fact it's the same old stuff.)

Tomorrow, however, culture looks a little thin on the ground. I have created a monstrous husband (in my own image) who expects to celebrate his (non-milestone) birthday for the entire weekend, beginning tomorrow. So, I went to an exhibition, a writing workshop and I, er, drank wine...

- Elizabeth Gaskell: A Connected Life is on at John Rylands Library until 28 November 2010; full details at www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/exhibitions

- Creative Tourist can be found at www.creativetourist.com; go and see them now.

Elizabeth Gaskell Exhibition at John Rylands Library, Manchester

The John Rylands Library is surely one of Manchester's most unsung treasures. People who know about it tend to fall into just two categories: students at The University of Manchester (I was taken there during my undergraduate course, and all I remember about the visit is that I fainted - physically dropped to the floor - when we were shown a fragment of the Bible. I'm pretty sure my tutors regarded me as an excellent example of piety and devotion for the rest of my time at university, rather than considering the rather prosaic truth that it was simply too hot in the display room), or people who have stumbled across its gothic splendour whilst wandering down Deansgate in search of Evuna or Dimitris.

Anyway, this general ignorance is a crying shame, and suggests an apathy that I myself am also guilty of, not having visited the library since it reopened in 2007 after a huge restoration project. I intend to rectify this over the summer by going along to the Elizabeth Gaskell exhibition, which runs from 15th July to 28th November to honour the bicentenary of the novelist's birth. If your knowledge of Gaskell is largely centred around busybodies in bonnets squabbling over fabric for dresses in a variety of whimsically scenic locations, then don't be put off: Gaskell was a marvellous writer, genuinely concerned with the plight of the poor in her hometown of Manchester, and not shy of depicting the hardships of their lives in her work. And there is always the exciting possibility that I will be able to purchase an Elizabeth Gaskell pencil or mug in the shop afterwards.

As well as the exhibition, the Gaskell celebrations include three public lectures between August and October. I will certainly be attending at least two of these: the second lecturer, Jenny Uglow, wrote the Gaskell biography that helped steer me safely through the Victorian Novelists module of my degree, so I feel I owe her something; the third lecturer, Alan Shelston, is the very man who delivered the aforementioned Victorian Novelists module, and as he was advanced in years even then I am most keen to see how he is faring.

Elizabeth Gaskell: A Connected Life, is at The John Rylands Library from 15 July to 28 November 2010 and is free (hurrah - leaves more cash for the shop). Full details at www.manchester.ac.uk/library.