Library Live

Word Central with special guest Joe Williams
2024-03-05 18:00 - 19:30 UTC | Performance Space
Word Central open mic poetry and spoken word.
Presented by Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries.
Hosted by Tony Curry.
A free event every month at Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD.
Next event: Tuesday 5th March, 6.00pm – 7.45pm (doors open 5.40pm).
With special guest Joe Williams.
Joe Williams is the founder and host of Chemistry in Leeds and Words on the Wall in Hexham. His latest book, The Taking Part [Maytree Press], is a short collection of poems on the theme of sport and games. His other work includes This is Virus, a sequence of erasure poems made from Boris Johnson’s letter to the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the verse novella An Otley Run, which was shortlisted in the 2019 Saboteur Awards. Despite all of that, he is probably most widely read thanks to his contributions to Viz.
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tues 20th February via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer – it is essential that you stay within this timeframe.
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking time.
If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.

Word Central
2024-07-30 18:00 - 19:00
Word Central hosted by Tony Curry.
Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word Presented by Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries.
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tuesday 16th July via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer – it is essential that you stay within this timeframe.
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking time. If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.
Our special guest for July is Dave Morgan, a writer, community educator, and arts organiser in the North-West of England. He co-founded the performance poetry organisation Write Out Loud, and curates events for the Bolton-based arts collective Live from Worktown. Dave is co-author of China: an integrated study [George G.Harrap & Co Ltd, 1975], and has two poetry collections with Flapjack Press – Chuang Tse’s Caterpillar [2016], several poems from which have recently been translated into Tamil for South Asian journal Thalam Quarterly, and On Not Being Observed, which was published earlier this year.
Event host Tony Curry is a poet, playwright, and workshop facilitator who runs literature-in-the-community projects with a specific leaning towards mental health and wellbeing. His work has been exhibited at Manchester’s museum and art galleries, and his play, The Teddy Bear, was staged at Contact Theatre. Tony’s solo spoken word shows include Brit Boy, Complicit Relations, Moving and The Odyssey, performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. In 2024 he will be touring his new show, Tall Tales for All Men, adapted from his collection Tall Tales for Tall Men Who Fall Well Short.

Word Central
2024-08-27 18:00 - 19:30
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tuesday 13th August via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer – it is essential that you stay within this timeframe.
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking time. If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.
August’s special guest is Cathy Crabb, a playwright, poet, screenwriter, journalist and lyricist from Oldham who has written more than thirty plays for the stage. Her works have run at theatres including HOMEmcr, Oldham Coliseum, Studio Salford and Manchester’s Library Theatre, where she was the last living playwright to have a production staged at its original venue. Her playwriting awards include the 24/7 Theatre Festival Manchester Evening News Theatre Award and the Buxton Festival Best Comedy Award, whilst her poetry features on sculptures by Emma Hunter at the former site of Elk Mill in Chadderton, the last mill to be built in Lancashire. Cathy’s Selected Plays was published in 2024 by Flapjack Press.
Event host Tony Curry is a poet, playwright, and workshop facilitator who runs literature-in-the-community projects with a specific leaning towards mental health and wellbeing. His work has been exhibited at Manchester’s museum and art galleries, and his play, The Teddy Bear, was staged at Contact Theatre. Tony’s solo spoken word shows include Brit Boy, Complicit Relations, Moving and The Odyssey, performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. In 2024 he will be touring his new show, Tall Tales for All Men, adapted from his collection Tall Tales for Tall Men Who Fall Well Short.

Word Central with Mike Garry!
2025-02-25 18:00 - 19:30
Word Central Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word.
Hosted by Tony Curry with special guest Mike Garry.
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tuesday 11th February via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer – it is essential that you stay within this timeframe.
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking time. If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.
February’s special guest Mike Garry is a poet, librarian, and Doctor of Education. He’s been writing poems from the age of 5 and reading them from the age of 35. He’s toured the world with John Cooper Clarke for 15 years, and worked with the likes of New Order, Philip Glass, Orbital and Joe Duddell. Mike’s performances are unforgettable. His voice is a musical instrument and his words are strings oscillating. He has worked with The Cassia String Quartet for 10 years and released their first album last year.
“A Genius” – Peter Saville
Presented by Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries.
Doors open 5.40pm and free entry.
Free – just drop in

Women's Community Festival 2025
2025-03-08 11:00 - 14:00
International Women’s Day (IWD) is returning to Manchester as a celebration of women’s empowerment, equality and contributions to the city at Manchester Central Library on Saturday 8 March.
Led and inspired by an already significant history of pioneering women, IWD 2025 is a chance for women across all generations and dedicated allies to come together in advancing women’s rights in Manchester and around the world.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Accelerate Action’, which calls on supporters of gender equality to act against systemic barriers women from all backgrounds face in their personal and professional environments.
In recent years, Manchester City Council has marked IWD with a dedicated ‘Walk for Women’ event. This year, however, the Council has joined forces with a diverse range of women-led community organisations to co-design a different approach.
Funding was made available for community organisations to host IWD events across the city through the annual IWD grants programme. A celebratory community-led programme of workshops, performances and discussions has also been planned for the day itself at Manchester Central Library based around the acronym HER: Heal Encourage, Revive.
The events for IWD 2025 are:
Heal – Performance Space
·  Flourish Together; Mindfulness Activity for relaxation and meditation, 11am-1pm
·  Equal Education Chances; letter writing and positive affirmations session, 11:20am-12:15pm
Encouraged – Performance Space 2 and 3
·    Community Thriving Together; sharing personal stories and overcoming challenges, 11am-11:50am
·   Trailblazers; Creating bookmarks and stitching
·   Young Identity with Shirley May; poetry performance by Young Identity members, 11:55am-12:15pm
·   Flourish Together; a 30-minute fireside chat chaired by Nickala Torkington about women changemakers, 12:20pm-12:50pm.
Revived – Performance Space 2 and 3
·     Bollyfit; an exercise class inspired by multicultural dance, 1pm-1:30pm
·     Councillor Ermina Bell will give a closing speech about the event, 1:35pm-1:45pm
·      DJ set to inspire and uplift
Glass Room/Sensory Space
·     Flourish Together; Bookable pop-up spa for treatments for 20 mins including Indian Head Massage in a clothed and seated setting, 11am-2pm
The events on the day will be accompanied by partner stalls of specialist community organisations including Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), Manchester Rape Crisis, Fikawele African and Caribbean Mental Health, Walksafe  and Ahmed Iqbal Ullah (AIU) RACE Centre who will be on hand to raise awareness and promote their services.
Councillor Erinma Bell, Lead Member for Women, said: “Manchester has long been a city that has championed and supported women in the fight for gender equality.
“It’s fantastic to see the range of creativity and innovation in the events this year for International Women’s Day with the aim of accelerating further action for women to thrive personally and professionally. “I would encourage women from all backgrounds and generations to get involved, because there is something for everyone and to advocate for more allies join in on the celebrations and inform our priorities for advancing women’s equality this year.”
For more information or to book your place visit Women’s Community Festival.

The Embassy of Utopia 2025
2025-06-04 11:00 - 19:00
The Embassy of Utopia came to Manchester Central Library in June 2024 as part of Festival of Libraries for its UK premiere, and was a collaboration between Manchester UNESCO City of Literature and Capital of Culture 2024 Tartu UNESCO City of Literature. Due to popular demand, we are running this event again for Festival of Libraries 2025.
Artist and writer David Hartley will host over 60 performances during this year’s Embassy of Utopia event, where bold individuals and community groups have been invited to share reflections on the theme of eco-futures and ecology in the broadest sense. Performances from members of Fuse Manchester and Muslim Social Justice Initiative, our very own multilingual city poet Nóra Blascsók, community members from the Let’s Talk Rochdale group, international artists from Quebec and Nanjing, and work developed via a special collaboration with the Sonder Radio Community will be programmed throughout the day. Expect storytelling, academic reflections, poetry, music, and more.
Please note that no hate speech will be tolerated and that there will be photography on the day.
Free – click ‘Book Now’ below or book here
Please consider making a donation to support our Library Live programme here or at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in Central Library

Word Central
2025-06-24 18:00 - 19:30
Word Central Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word.
Presented by Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries.
Hosted by Tony Curry with special guest Kim Moore.
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tuesday 10th June via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer – it is essential that you stay within this timeframe.
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis from the stated booking time. If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.
Our special guest Kim Moore is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and hosts a monthly reading series for Wordsworth Grasmere, as well as running regular writing workshops for young people and adults. She has won an Eric Gregory Award, the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, and the Ledbury Poetry Competition. Her first full length collection, The Art of Falling (Seren 2015), won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and her second collection, All the Men I Never Married (Seren, 2021), won the Forward Prize for Best Collection. Kim has also been a judge for the Forward Prize and the National Poetry Competition, and her work has been translated into many languages as part of the Versopolis project.
Event host Tony Curry is a performance poet, playwright and workshop facilitator. Raised in Crawley by English and South African parents, he has lived and worked in Manchester for three decades, running literature-in-the-community projects with a specific leaning towards mental health and wellbeing. His play, The Teddy Bear, was staged at Manchester’s Contact Theatre, whilst his solo spoken word shows include Brit Boy, Complicit Relations, Moving and The Odyssey, performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. Tony has recently toured his solo show Tall Tales for All Men, adapted from his collection Tall Tales for Tall Men Who Fall Well Short (Flapjack Press, 2012), at the Brighton Fringe and Chorlton Arts Festival.
@WordCentralMcr

Word Central 9th Birthday!!
2025-07-29 18:00 - 20:00
Word Central Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word.
Presented by Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries.
‘Now We Are Nine’ birthday celebration.
Tuesday 29th July, 6.00pm – 7.45pm, at Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD.
Doors open 5.40pm and free entry.
Hosted by Tony Curry with special guest Angela Smith.
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tuesday 15th July via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer – it is essential that you stay within this timeframe.
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis from the stated booking time. If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.
Our special guest Angela Smith is Welsh by birth but has lived in Hulme long enough to be a Mancunian by adoption, with her poetry influenced by both the Valleys and the city. She began writing at the age of 7, but stopped for decades when a burglar stole her notebooks and her Muse. Inspired to begin writing again by online friends and the welcoming Manchester poetry scene, she has poems in numerous anthologies and the published collection This Is the Me I Would Be If I Dared. Angela loves to play with form and style, as can be seen in her blog here.
Event host Tony Curry is a performance poet, playwright and workshop facilitator. Raised in Crawley by English and South African parents, he has lived and worked in Manchester for three decades, running literature-in-the-community projects with a specific leaning towards mental health and wellbeing. His play, The Teddy Bear, was staged at Manchester’s Contact Theatre, whilst his solo spoken word shows include Brit Boy, Complicit Relations, Moving and The Odyssey, performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. Tony has recently toured his solo show Tall Tales for All Men, adapted from his collection Tall Tales for Tall Men Who Fall Well Short (Flapjack Press, 2012), at the Brighton Fringe and Chorlton Arts festivals.
@WordCentralMcr

Cosy Reading Club
2026-02-23 17:30 - 19:30
Bring a book. Get cosy and read alongside other book fans. Take some time for yourself and escape into a story.
Join our Cosy Reading Club at Manchester Central Library, our new silent reading group, offering a relaxed, shared space to read in peace and quiet in the company of others.
This is no ordinary book club. There’s no pressured discussions, there’s no set text. Simply bring along something you’d like to read.
Not sure what to read? We’ve got you covered. Send us a message directly and we’ll connect you with our friendly library team who can help you find your next favourite book.
The evening is designed for anyone who enjoys reading, wants a gentle break from busy schedules or simply wants to avoid the rush hour home. Everyone is welcome in our space.
What to expect:1 hour – Quiet Reading
Quiet, individual reading in a shared space
A calm, welcoming environment with no pressure to speak
30 minutes – Optional Group Sharing
At the end of the session, there will be an opportunity to share about your reading experience with others, this is only an invite and there is no expectation to stay or take part
Free light refreshments are provided. Stay as long or as little as you like, this is your space to slow down, escape to a new literary world and find peace in the heart of the city.
Tickets are on a ‘pay what you can’ offer and can be booked here or from the link below.
Please note: this is a ticketed event and, while we will make every effort to welcome everyone to the event, there are a limited number of seats available. Please book your free ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.
