Name: An Evening with James Alistair Henry at Waterstones Manchester, Deansgate
Start: 2026-02-11T18:30:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-11T20:30:00+00:00
Location: Waterstones

An Evening with James Alistair Henry at Waterstones Manchester, Deansgate

Deansgate welcomes acclaimed screenwriter James Alistair Henry, celebrating the release of his first novel: Pagans.
About this Event

We are delighted to welcome screenwriter and editor James Alistair Henry to Deansgate, celebrating the release of his first novel: Pagans.

Henry's beguiling historical fantasy tells tale of the brutal M**der of a Celtic diplomat, and the subsequent trouble that stirs in an alternate twenty-first-century London. Set in a world that’s far from our own and yet captivatingly familiar, Pagans explores contemporary themes of religious conflict, nationalism, prejudice... and the delicate internal politics of the office coffee round.

James joins us to discuss his compelling debut novel and answer audience questions, followed by a signing. Doors at 6pm.
About Pagans

21st Century London.
The Norman conquest never happened.
The ancient tribes of Britain remain undefeated.
But murders still have to be solved.

The small, mostly unimportant, island of Britain is inhabited by an uneasy alliance of tribes – the dominant Saxon East, the beleaguered Celtic West, and an independent Nordic Scotland – and tensions are increasing by the second. Supermarket warpaint sales are at an all- time high, mead abuse shortens the lives of thousands, and social media is abuzz with conspiracy theories suggesting the High Table’s putting GPS trackers in the honeycakes.

Amid this febrile atmosphere, the capital is set to play host to the Unification Summit, which aims to join together the various tribes into one ‘united kingdom’. But when a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, his body nailed to an ancient oak, the fragile peace is threatened. Captain Aedith Mercia, daughter of a powerful Saxon leader, must join forces with Celtic Tribal Detective Inspector Drustan to solve the M**der – and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.

But is this an isolated incident? Or are Aedith and Drustan facing a serial killer with a decades-old grudge? To find out, they must delve into their own murky pasts and tackle forces that go deeper than they ever could have imagined.
About the author

Screenwriter and editor JAMES ALISTAIR HENRY first started writing while working as a Bookseller at Waterstones Canterbury.He joined the writing team for Channel 4’s Smack the Pony and went on to write the BAFTA award winning Green Wing, ITV comedy Delivery Man and cult hit Campus as well as episodes for smash-hit children’s television shows Bob The Builder and Hey Duggee.

His Radio 4 sketch show, Wosson Cornwall, was selected as BBC Radio 4 Comedy of the Week and his newest ITV sitcom, Piglets, received rave reviews.James lives in Cornwall with his wife, a writer and medieval historian, and their two children. Pagans is his first novel.