Gillian Forrester spent much of her life in bars – Stable Bar in Wigan, Two Trees on Union St in Plymouth, Carlton Hotel on Guernsey, where she kissed Oliver Reed, and the Still and West in Old Portsmouth. After a motorbike *crash brought her back to Wigan she collected some late GCSE’s, acquired a BA (Hons) at Manchester Polytechnic, and wrote a collection of short stories – which is still available to buy. The last ten years has seen her setting up and then coordinating Wigan’s Words Literature Festival  but she stepped down in 2012 to await a new American kneecap*.