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The Manchester edition of Now Then is no longer publishing content. Visit the Sheffield edition.

Issue 18 April 2015

There’s never a deliberate theme to each issue here at Now Then, aside from Manchester-focused arts, culture, politics and trade, but it often transpires to be the case in small segments. For issue 18, one connection emerges in the form of new cafes with a twist – Amelia Bayliss describes her Ziferblat experience, while we chatted with the performance waitresses at Hunt & Darton before they set sail once more.

This month’s featured interviews set head scratchers in the directions of novelist and journalist George Monbiot on the topics of the political and environmental landscape, and Akala, who talks about the UK grime scene his various other projects. We also have a word with Alison Lambert, the charcoal portrait artist whose creations you’ll see behind each article page, and local garage rockers Los Trasgos Muertos fire replies back at Jacob Ormrod.

Tom Warman puts Cornelia Parker’s Whitworth Gallery exhibition under the Localcheck microscope, while other events with feature-length reviews include this year’s ¡VIVA! Film Festival (by Sara Louise Tonge), the film version of Maxine Peake’s Hamlet (by Sean Mason) and YGR Erskine’s food photography training day. Not forgetting all the usual reviews across music and stage, and the Word Life section, which this time showcases an illustrated comic collaboration between Julian Peters and John Philip Johnson.

Roll on the spring.

This month's articles

Akala Knowledge is Power

Always one to tackle a question head on, Akala took time out to discuss his new album, grime’s resurgence and politics in hip hop.