Tonight, Manchester literary group Bad Language are hosting event at the city's Castle Hotel, bringing together some of the first wordsmiths in the North West.

Among them will be Quietus editor John Doran, who'll be building on a recent appearance at a Red Army Fiction night in London and endeavouring to nail the perfect opening sentence for his debut novel.

Say Bad Language: "Recently on his 42nd birthday Quietus Editor and VICE columnist John Doran decided that he was going to write a novel. Not being schooled in these matters he decided to start from the beginning and set about starting with a world-beating first sentence. After studying the opening words of literature’s great tomes, he devised a scientific formula to construct an opening line so powerful it would literally make your tits fall off if you heard it unprepared. So there you have it… come and hear John Doran read the first sentence of his debut novel. It will make you weep like a child. And if it doesn’t, he’ll repeat it until it does."

Events begin at 7.30pm and entry is free; head over to Bad Language's website for full details.