Manchester Literature Festival 2026
Manchester Literature Festival brings another blockbuster programme of events to Library Live at Central Library this October, showcasing over 120 authors, poets, and thinkers from across the globe. In this National Year of Reading, it’s especially timely to be spreading the joy of reading and celebrating storytelling – bringing families, friends and strangers together to listen, learn, reflect, laugh, engage and discover new ways to navigate our turbulent times.
We’re delighted to be hosting 17 of the 50+ events at Central Library this year. Whether you’re passionate about women’s rights or climate change, dystopian fiction or epic poetry, want to change the world or simply entertain the kids, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Here’s some of the highlights:
FICTION:
Emily St. John Mandel (10 Oct): Canadian author of Station Eleven discusses her electrifying new novel Exit Party – a haunting mystery set across two parallel words.
Louise Kennedy & Wendy Erskine (15 Oct): Two of Northern Ireland’s most acclaimed contemporary writers discuss their new novels Stations and The Benefactors with BBC 6 Music’s Deb Grant.
Brutalist Ghost Stories (17 Oct): Northern novelists Jenn Ashworth, Nicholas Royle, David Gaffney and Beth Barker read from an anthology turning Britain’s post-war architecture into the uncanny.
Willy Vlautin (19 Oct): American musician and novelist Willy Vlautin discusses The Left and the Lucky, his moving new novel of unlikely friendship and working-class life in America.
M. John Harrison (20 Oct): One of Britain’s most influential writers and Booker Prize 2026 nominee discusses The End of Everything – a darkly funny, unsettling novel of a fractured near future.
Hernan Diaz (22 Oct): The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Trust introduces Ply, a wildly original thriller of technology, capitalism and shifting identity set centuries from now.
CULTURE:
Frank Cottrell-Boyce (13 Oct): Beloved children’s’ author discusses A British Childhood, his warm, urgent reflection on books, imagination and the realities of childhood in Britain today.
Natasha Walter (18 Oct): The campaigner and author explores Feminism for a World on Fire, connecting women’s rights, social justice and climate action.
Lady Hale & Lara Feigel (21 Oct): The UK’s first female Supreme Court President and writer Lara Feigel come together to explore law, motherhood and power; a rare, candid look at how justice is experienced by families.
POETRY:
Ian McMillan (12 Oct): Host of Radio 4’s The Verb launches Red River Valley, a funny, poignant new collection drawn from family life and South Yorkshire.
Carolyn Forché & Kwame Dawes (16 Oct): US ‘poet of witness’ Carolyn Forché and Jamaica’s Poet Laureate Kwame Dawes share five decades of testimony, survival and political engagement in verse.
Simon Armitage (18 Oct): The Poet Laureate returns with an exhilarating new verse translation of Gilgamesh, the oldest surviving epic in world literature, brought thrillingly to life for a modern audience.
FAMILIES:
Little Reads Family Day (24 Oct): Families are invited to take part in a joyful day of stories, theatre, music, dancing and crafts. Help create some magical shoes with The Elves and the Shoemaker in an interactive show from Peoplescape Theatre, packed with music, puppetry, clowning and storytelling. Strut your stuff with author and West End musical theatre star Robert Tregoning in a confidence-boosting event inspired by his latest picture book Dylan, Daisy and the Disco Ball and explore storytelling through movement with dancer Magdalen Bartlett.
You can check out the full programme, download a copy of the Festival brochure and book tickets on the Manchester Literature Festival website.
We advise you to book early as many events sell out in advance!
