THE FIRST chapter of John Banville's new novel, The Sinking City, has been made available to read for free online.
This is the first novel from the Irish writer since he won the Man Booker Prize in 2005 with The Sea.
The chapter from the eagerly awaited new novel can be viewed as part of a new literary journal published online by the University of Manchester, and the work is described as "a novel in progress" on the site.
As well as Banville's chapter, the Manchester Review's first issue features new work by writers Ali Smith, Medbh McGuckian, Paul Muldoon, MJ Hyland and Bill Manhire.
John McAuliffe, co-director of the Centre for New Writing at the university, said Manchester and the University of Manchester had been home to some of the UK's most innovative 20th-century literary journals, including Brian Cox's Critical Quarterlyand Michael Schmidt's PN Review.
"The Manchester Reviewtakes its cue from their proactive promotion of new writing, but uses online media to show and sponsor the interplay of poetry, fiction, music, visual art and essays by new and established practitioners.
"We hope that it will find new readers and audiences for exciting and innovative creative work, which is steeped in traditional virtues."
This would be accompanied by the review's critical blog, which would reflect on and analyse the contemporary arts in the UK and beyond, he said.
The new Banville chapter can be viewed at www.themanchesterreview.co.uk
