Peterloo Now: Is Devolution the Way to a Healthier Democracy?
2019-07-02 17:30 - 19:00 UTC | Performance Space
In partnership with the University of Manchester and the Guardian, join our panel chaired by Guardian northern editor Helen Pidd and including Professor Andy Westwood and Lisa Nandy MP, as they discuss the devolution of government and its impact on the future of our democracy.
In 2018, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said, “Devolution is not just a series of technical changes to the machinery of government. It has had a profoundly positive effect on the culture of our city-region. It has created a new energy; a sense of possibility; a shaft of light in an otherwise gloomy political sense.”
Is it true that devolution, as Burnham suggests, has invigorated our democracy and led to a more representative and represented Manchester? Or is it a project that is merely papering over the cracks of a deeply divided Britain?
This event is part of a series called Peterloo Now. Other events in this series:

Tuesday 11 June: The roots of protest in 2019
Tuesday 18 June: The gaps in representation
Tuesday 25 June: AI and the fourth industrial revolution

Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP)TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Prostest in the Surveillance State: The East German Jewish Dissident Stefan Heym
2019-07-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
This talk traces strategies of civil disobedience in Cold War Eastern Germany through the case of the German Jewish dissident Stefan Heym. Born into a German-Jewish family in Chemnitz (now notorious for its recent outbreaks of Far Right violence) in 1913, Heym was an early sympathiser of the Communist Party. He fled from Nazi Germany in 1933 and spent his year’s of exile in Czechoslovakia and the US, serving during WWII as a US Army intelligence officer. He settled in East Germany in 1952, where he witnessed the unfolding of the antisemitic Stalinist show trials in Prague and East Berlin, and subsequently became disenchanted with state socialism (but never the communist idea itself). As well as being an internationally renowned writer, Heym was a life-long advocate of social justice and personal freedom and witness of the 20th struggle for these ideals.

Ballads and Songs of Peterloo, with Dr Alison Morgan
2019-07-12 14:00 - 15:00 | Performance Space
Ballads and Songs of Peterloo by Dr Alison Morgan is based on her unique collection of more than seventy poems and ballads which highlight the outrage, grief, defiance and resolution felt by labouring-class people in the immediate aftermath of the Peterloo Massacre in which eighteen people were killed and more than 600 injured as they listened to the radical Henry Hunt speak on the need for electoral reform.
Alison’s talk focuses on a selection of these poems and songs which were circulated in radical journals and performed at markets and in taverns, highlighting how they aimed to keep a true record of the day in the public consciousness and counter the official government narrative. The talk will be illustrated by audio recordings from musicians who have worked with Alison to bring these important and entertaining songs to life once more.
Free – please drop in

Queer
2019-07-16 16:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Histories are proud to present “Queer”, a platform showcasing some of the ways that LGBT+ communities and their allies have stood strong for protest, democracy and freedom of speech. We invite you to: hear the story of Manchester’s Clause 28 protest march, the history of one of the most important queer publications in Manchester, discover how archivists and activists have been using historical material to share LGBT+ heritage and much more.
Free – booking recommended

Peterloo: Witnesses to a Massacre
2019-07-19 15:30 - 16:30 | Performance Space
Join the authors of the verbatim graphic novel ‘PETERLOO: Witnesses to a Massacre’ for an illustrated, behind the scenes look into the research, writing and art that went into this historically accurate and visually vivid account of the 1819 massacre of pro democracy reformers from around the Greater Manchester region.
‘This amazing artwork makes a powerful testimony’ Maxine Peake
‘A vivid and poignant retelling’ Tony Robinson
Free – pleae drop in

In Conversation with Carolyn O’Brien
2019-08-10 14:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
Carolyn O’Brien’s novel, The Song of Peterloo tells the powerful story of Manchester mill-worker, Nancy Kay. Desperate to provide for her ailing mother and sensitive son, Nancy is drawn into the agitation for reform. But as she risks everything to attend a great assembly on St Peter’s Field, Nancy is unaware the day will go down in history not as triumph, but as tragedy; the Peterloo massacre.
Carolyn will be in conversation explaining her inspiration for the novel and exploring its central theme of change, as well as taking questions and book-signing.
Carolyn was born and brought up in Manchester and studied English at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge before qualifying as a solicitor. Her short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, magazines and on-line. The Song of Peterloo is her debut novel. It is published by Legend Press on 1 August 2019.

Peterloo Page and Screen. Professor John Belcham and Dr Jacqueline Riding In Conversation
2019-08-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Historians Jacqueline Riding and John Belchem explore the events and characters behind Mike Leigh’s epic feature film ‘Peterloo’ and the process of transferring history from books and archives to the big screen.

Jacqueline Riding was the production historian and head of research on Mike Leigh’s ‘Peterloo’ (2018) and author of the highly acclaimed tie-in narrative history ‘Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre’ (hardback 2018, paperback May 2019) described by The Guardian as “Gripping … quite simply magnificent: splendidly researched, thoroughly well written, and very difficult to put down.” She is also the author of the award-winning ‘Jacobites: A New History of the ’45 Rebellion’ (Bloomsbury 2016) and is currently writing a biography of William Hogarth.
John Belchem is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Liverpool, chair of the Society for the Study of Labour History and a member of the Mayor’s Task Force for the Liverpool World Heritage Site. He has published and broadcast extensively on the history, culture and character of his adopted city where he aspires to the title of honorary scouser. The bicentenary of Peterloo, however, has prompted him to return to his initial area of research expertise: popular radicalism in the early 19th century. His biography of ‘Orator’ Hunt: Henry Hunt and English working-class radicalism, first published in 1985, was reprinted in 2012. For those prepared to sit through to the bitter end, you will notice his name in the credits for Mike Leigh’s ‘Peterloo’.
Image: Jacqueline Riding speaking to the “Manchester Female Reformers” during filming of ‘Peterloo’. Photo: Simon Mein © Thin Man Films
Free – booking required

Queer August - remarkable stories that made Manchester and Global Pride possible
2019-08-23 18:00 - 20:00
Queer August – remarkable stories that made Manchester and G Pride possible
The huge, inclusive success of the global Gay Pride was made possible by extra-ordinary people standing-up and being counted in the ongoing struggle for fairness and truth that is the human rights movement. Those extra-ordinary people are rarely acknowledged then and especially now that the political, legislative and cultural momentum has picked-up. Those inspirational queer pioneers now marginalised by professional politicians seeking popularity, powerful commercial interests carving-up their shares of the ‘pink pound’, all falling over each other to jump on the ‘respectable’ parts of the queer bandwagon. A deliberate silence has fallen on the courageous journey and stories of those extra-ordinary people and their/our supporters.
Queer August on the eve of Manchester Pride is an attempt to shine light and provide insights into the remarkable history that got us here: a celebration of our still hidden queer past. Paul Fairweather a pioneer of Gay Politics in the city from the 1970s will give a short introduction to the hard-fought campaigns to get the first local government funded Gay Centre built in All Saints, Manchester.
The second speaker will chart the journey within her workplace and trade union to get employers and her union (UNITE the Union) to recognising and now increasingly embracing the Trans agenda.
After a short break Inkbrew Productions, will present a read-through of “The Lesbian Liberator” a dramatisation of when in 1978 the Burnley bus driver Mary Winter was sacked for wearing a Lesbian Liberator badge at work. The play looks at the reactions to the sacking and the role of the emerging women’s movement in supporting the reinstatement campaign.
By showcasing this brief insight into the extra-ordinariness of the remarkable stories that made Manchester and Global Pride possible the hope is that more people will better understand the wonderful, remarkable and sheer hard work over decades that made it all possible.
Manchester Central Library, St Peters Square, City Centre, M2 5PD
Friday 23rd August 2019
Doors Open and light refreshments served 6pm
Start 6:15 pm
Finished time to 7:45pm
Ticketed seats can only be held until 10 minutes before the commencement of the event. Any unclaimed ticketed places will be offered to the last minutes unticketed.

Colson Whitehead
2019-08-28 19:00 - 20:15 | Performance Space
‘You can change the law but you can’t change people and how they treat each other.’ American author Colson Whitehead won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Underground Railroad. We’re thrilled to welcome him with Manchester Literature Festival to discuss his stunning new novel The Nickel Boys. In Jim Crow era Florida, teenager Elwood Curtis is about to start taking advance classes at college when he’s prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit. Sent to Nickel Academy reform school, Elwood tries to hold on to the words of Martin Luther King, but soon he has to learn how to survive in a school that’s trying to break him. Colson Whitehead will be in conversation with author Dave Haslam.
Image copyright: Chris Close

Treasures of Manchester Central Library: two Nuremberg Chronicles (1493) and their early modern readers’.
2019-09-09 13:00 - 14:00 | Seminar Suite, Floor Two
Dr Nina Adamova presents ‘Treasures of Manchester Central Library: two Nuremberg Chronicles (1493) and their early modern readers’.
The talk will explore the most famous early-printed world chronicle – the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel (1493). The presentation will focus on how the Nuremberg Chronicle was read and perceived in Europe in the age of Reformation, featuring two copies held by Manchester Central Library. The both books bear the marks of being read and used by several readers, representing different reading practices in early modern Europe.
Dr Nina Adamova is an Associate Professor at St Petersburg State University and a Visiting Fellow of the British Academy at Manchester Metropolitan University. She specialises in early modern cultural and religious history, with a special focus on the book history and reading. Her current research project ‘Reading sacred history in Reformation Europe’ explores how people in early modern Europe used to read and interpret the books on church history.

Banned Books Week: Walled In
2019-09-23 19:00 - 20:30 | Seminar Suite, Floor Two
THIS IS A LIVE SCREENING FROM THE BRITISH LIBRARY
Writers consider walls in literature and in our lives
With David Hare and Ben Okri. Chaired by Samira Ahmed.
David Hare is a playwright and film-maker. He has written over thirty plays which include Plenty, Racing Demon and Skylight. His many screenplays include The Hours, The Reader and the Worricker trilogy.
Ben Okri is a poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer and playwright. His novels include the Booker Prize-winning The Famished Road, the first in a trilogy, and The Freedom Artist, published in 2019.
Samira Ahmed is a freelance journalist, writer and broadcaster at the BBC, where she has presented Radio 3’s Night Waves and Radio 4’s PM, The World Tonight, and Front Row. She presents the Intelligence Squared podcast ‘How I Found My Voice’.
This is a Banned Books Week event in partnership with the British Library, English PEN, Free Word, Hachette UK, Index on Censorship, Islington Council’s Library and Heritage Service, Libraries Connected, Media Diversified and The Publisher’s Association.

Down and Out in Scotland
2019-10-19 02:00 - 16:00 | Meeting Room 1
Dr Chris Paton explores some of the areas of ancestral hardship, to allow us to truly understand the situations that our forebears had to endure and overcome. An Anglo-Scottish Family History Society event.

She Kreativ
2019-10-24 17:30 - 19:30 | Performance Space
European expat women share their experience of being a woman, an immigrant, and a business leader in creative industries.
We will welcome 4 European expat women who run a creative business in Manchester to share their experience of being a woman, an immigrant, and a leader in creative industries.
Our speakers will present a range of art disciplines as well as stages in career. The event will start with short presentations about their creative projects followed by a panel discussion with audience questions moderated by Ruta Skudraite, co-founder of Europia Art Collective.
Speakers:
Baiba Auria, digital portrait artists and owner of Egoiste Gallery
Ina Colizza, contemporary dancer and director of Matrafisc Dance Company
Sara Riccardi, art historian and founder of Art Across
Marija Girdzijauskaite, founder of techno music label Marge Powerhouse
Sponsors: Fred Aldous. Polish Village Bakery

Made In Manchester: In Conversation with Malcolm Garrett
2019-11-11 17:30 - 18:30 | Seminar Suite, Floor Two
As a graphic designer, Malcolm Garrett’s work for bands such as Buzzcocks and Duran Duran established him as one of the most influential figures of the 80s. He was one of the first graphic designers to recognise the potential of digital media and he has been at the forefront of exploring its frontiers ever since. In 2000, he was the first Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in the field of interactive media.

Capturing the Crescents
2019-11-16 13:00 - 14:00 | Performance Space
A Photographic Journey through Hulme in the 1980’s – 90’s, and how I survived and thrived by Richard Davis
A talk and book signing by photographer Richard Davis….
‘I arrived in Hulme in 1988, having left behind Birmingham so I could study Photography at Manchester Polytechnic. For the next five years Hulme was Home and I loved every single second of it. Talk about Right Place, Right Time, – Manchester, or should I say Madchester, felt like the centre of the universe and Hulme even more so. There wasn’t really a plan to document my time there via Photography, it just sort of naturally happened and years on, I’m so glad I did…….this is my story.’
Free – please drop in

Prostheses in Antiquity: Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know
2019-11-27 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
A variety of different types of prostheses were used by the Greeks and Romans to replace various missing body parts. In this talk, we shall consider the following questions: How common – or uncommon – were prostheses in classical antiquity? Who made them? How and why did they make them? Who used them? How and why did they use them? And how were they – and their prostheses – viewed by other members of ancient society as a result?
The Manchester Classical Association presents Dr Jane Draycott (University of Glasgow), expert on disease, disabilties and prosthetics in the ancient world. Dr Draycott will give an illustrated presentation followed by discussion with the Manchester Classical Association Chair, Dr April Pudsey of Manchester Metropolitan University.
All talks in this series are free and open to the public. Please join us for light refreshments from 5.30pm, and take the opportunity to speak with members of the Manchester Classical Association, and find out more about our work promoting Classics and Ancient History around the region. https://www.manchesterca.org.uk/
This talk will be jointly hosted with the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
Refreshments from 5.30pm. Dr Draycott’s talk begins at 6pm and will be followed by discussion, and an informal Q&A with the audience

An Evening with Tom Kerridge
2020-01-10 19:00 - 21:00
Start the new year in great shape and join us for an evening with Michelin-starred chef, bestselling author and BBC presenter Tom Kerridge as we celebrate the launch of his latest cookbook LOSE WEIGHT AND GET FIT. Tom will be chatting to Emily Heward (Food, drink and events editor at Manchester Evening News and City Life Manchester) about his life and career and how he managed to get fit and loose weight without compromising in the kitchen. Tom will also be talking about the recent opening of his new restaurant THE BULL AND BEAR in the Stock Exchange Hotel.
Doors 18.30 for a 19.00 start. Tom and Emily will be talking for approx 50 minutes before an audience Q&A and book signing.
About the book:
Following on from the No.1 bestseller Lose Weight for Good, top chef Tom Kerridge shows you how to shed the pounds and kick-start a more active lifestyle with ALL of the maximum-taste, lower-calorie recipes from his upcoming BBC2 TV series.
Having lost more than 12 stone in the last five years, Tom knows from experience how important it is to motivate yourself to start dieting and exercising – and to stay on track.
‘When I first set out to lose weight, I concentrated mainly on what I was eating,’ he says. ‘But now I know that it’s to do with fitness as well: the two working together is the winning formula for getting maximum results and maintaining those results long term. And the number one rule when it comes to eating well on a diet is to keep food interesting! Every recipe in this book not only sustains you through the day, but provides fantastic tastes and textures with each mouthful.’
With light bites and veggie feasts, meal-prep to see you through the week and tasty sweet treats, Tom has got it covered. The focus is on BOLD FLAVOURS and BIG PORTION SIZES, so you’ll never go hungry and you’ll always feel satisfied. Recipes include Quick black dhal; Steak tacos with burnt corn salsa; Charred mackerel and potato salad; Lamb bhuna; blueberry meringue sundaes and many more.
At the back of the book, you’ll find a fantastic bonus chapter with a workout that will help you get started with a healthier lifestyle, no matter where you’re at now. It’s all about taking control of your life in a positive way, so get ready to EAT better, DO more and LOSE WEIGHT with Tom Kerridge!
About the author:
Tom Kerridge worked as a chef in restaurants across Britain before deciding to set out on his own and take over a rundown pub in the quiet Buckinghamshire town of Marlow. He opened The Hand & Flowers with his wife Beth in 2005, and it went on to become the first (and only) pub in the world to acquire two Michelin stars. In 2014 he opened a second pub in Marlow, The Coach, which was followed by The Butcher’s Tap. Most recently, he and his core team launched Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, which is housed in Corinthia London. His previous books include the bestselling Proper Pub Food, Tom Kerridge’s Best Ever Dishes, Tom’s Table, Tom Kerridge’s Dopamine Diet, Lose Weight for Good and Tom Kerridge’s Fresh Start.

Behind The Scenes at Manchester Central Library
2020-02-13 18:00 - 19:30
What do George V, Gypsy Rose Lee and Bernard Bresslaw have in common?
Which musician was once thrown out of the Language and Literature Library?
What would you find now in the space where Patrick Stewart and Helen Mirren – amongst many others – played their first roles?
All these questions – and many more – are answered on a tour of Manchester Central Library which will take you to all the areas not normally accessible to the general public and tell the story of this iconic building. Tours last around 90 minutes and include the chance to see some of our rarest treasures and archives.
Places are strictly limited so please book early.
Please meet in the main entrance (Shakespeare Hall) of Central Library from 5.30pm. The tour starts at 6pm.

Unspeakable: John Bercow - In Conversation
2020-02-18 19:00 - 21:00
Blackwell’s Manchester and Manchester Libraries are honoured to be hosting JOHN BERCOW at Manchester Central Library on Tuesday 18th February. The former Speaker of the House of Commons will be talking about his new biography Unspeakable.
About the book:
Unspeakable is John Bercow’s characteristically forthright and incisive account of his unique vantagepoint into British politics. Containing verdicts on many of the leading figures of this era, from Tony Blair to David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson, Bercow explores and explains the ways in which he has sought to democratise the business of Parliament, using the Speakership to champion the rights of backbench MPs and hold the government to account.
In his own words, “I made friends and enemies alike, but from start to finish I sought to do the right, rather than the convenient, thing and to be a decent public servant.” From the start, Bercow tackles head-on his regretted fascination with definably right-wing attitudes and describes his inexorable march to more progressive thinking since his election as Member of Parliament for Buckingham in 1997. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the business of politics and how our democracy is – or should be – run, with fascinating insights into Bercow’s family background and early interest in politics.
When Bercow retired as Speaker of the House of Commons on 31st October, he had become one of the most recognisable and iconoclastic figures in British politics, and had created a vacancy of huge importance. As Speaker since 2009 he had a ringside seat during one of the most febrile periods in modern British history, presiding over the Commons while it had to contend with key issues such as austerity in the light of the financial crisis; the coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats; and of course the most intractable problem of all – how to deliver on the 2016 referendum decision that Britain should leave the EU.
About the author:
John Bercow was elected as Member of Parliament for Buckingham on behalf of the Conservative Party in 1997. He was elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons in June 2009 and retired on 31st October 2019. He is married with three children.
Tickets for this event are £8 or £25 for a book and ticket bundle (plus booking fee). Doors open at 6.30pm and seating is unallocated. For more information please contact the shop on 0161 274 3331 or email: manchester@blackwell.co.uk.

Xian Xinghai: The People’s Composer
2020-03-16 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Xian Xinghai (1905-1945) is one of the most famous Chinese composers of the 20th century. Thanks to his hardworking nature and international education, he composed numerous music pieces ranging from mass songs to more complex music formats, such as his most notable work ‘The Yellow River Cantata’. This talk aims to outline Xian’s life and his educational background, which is mainly characterised by missionary schools in China and Paris conservatory in France.
The speaker Laura Mazuchova, a recent Chinese Studies MA graduate will also briefly outline the Second Sino-Japanese War, as it is the period of his highest productivity. She will attempt to raise some questions about his musical ambitions on national and international level, his connection with the Chinese Communist Party and his overall contribution to Chinese musical heritage.

Refugee Voices: Virtual Refugee Conversation with Guy from Burundi
2020-06-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
Online event

A chance to hear first hand Guy’s account of conflict and displacement…

As part of Refugee Week, Manchester Libraries & Manchester City of Sanctuary have been successful in obtaining funding from Ben and Jerry’s, the ice cream people, to facilitate a virtual Refugee Voices conversation session via NaTakallam (We Speak in Arabic).
Refugee Voices are open conversations with professional refugee Conversation Partners from around the world, who share their personal stories, the context that forced them to leave and the challenges of rebuilding a life. These onine conversations will be hosted by our Libraries of Sanctuary hubs, Central Library, North City Library, Wythenshawe Forum and Longsight Library.
You will be emailed a zoom link to join the conversation the day before.

Refugee Voices: Virtual Refugee Conversation with Shadi from Syria
2020-06-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
Online event

Music teacher Shadi, who was forced to leave Syria and relocate in Iraq, shares his passion for reading and teaching music…

As part of Refugee Week, Manchester Libraries & Manchester City of Sanctuary have been successful in obtaining funding from Ben and Jerry’s, the ice cream people, to facilitate a virtual Refugee Voices conversation session via NaTakallam (We Speak in Arabic).
Refugee Voices are open conversations with professional refugee Conversation Partners from around the world, who share their personal stories, the context that forced them to leave and the challenges of rebuilding a life. These onine conversations will be hosted by our Libraries of Sanctuary hubs, Central Library, North City Library, Wythenshawe Forum and Longsight Library.

Refugee Voices: Virtual Refugee Conversation with S. Khaled from Syria
2020-06-30 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
Online event
S. Khaled, who was forced to leave Syria and relocate in Iraq, shares his personal narrative of displacement…
As part of Refugee Week, Manchester Libraries & Manchester City of Sanctuary have been successful in obtaining funding from Ben and Jerry’s, the ice cream people, to facilitate a virtual Refugee Voices conversation session via NaTakallam (We Speak in Arabic).
Refugee Voices are open conversations with professional refugee Conversation Partners from around the world, who share their personal stories, the context that forced them to leave and the challenges of rebuilding a life. These onine conversations will be hosted by our Libraries of Sanctuary hubs, Central Library, North City Library, Wythenshawe Forum and Longsight Library.

Refugee Voices: Virtual Refugee Conversation with Asalah from Syria
2020-07-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
Online event
Asalah is in her thirties and is originally from Syria. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economy and E-Marketing. In Syria, she worked as a middle school teacher, before moving due to the conflict. After spending a few years in Lebanon, she has been resettled in Italy. She loves teaching.
As part of Refugee Week, Manchester Libraries & Manchester City of Sanctuary have been successful in obtaining funding from Ben and Jerry’s, the ice cream people, to facilitate a virtual Refugee Voices conversation session via NaTakallam (We Speak in Arabic).
Refugee Voices are open conversations with professional refugee Conversation Partners from around the world, who share their personal stories, the context that forced them to leave and the challenges of rebuilding a life. These onine conversations will be hosted by our Libraries of Sanctuary hubs, Central Library, North City Library, Wythenshawe Forum and Longsight Library.

Dave Haslam 'All You Need is Dynamite' Book Launch
2021-09-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
In ‘All You Need Is Dynamite: Acid, the Angry Brigade, and the End of the Sixties’ – the latest in his Art Decades series of small format books – Dave Haslam explores the fading of Sixties dreams of peace and love, and the emergence of urban terrorist groups, particularly the Angry Brigade who carried out dozens of bomb attacks in Britain. Haslam tracks the political campaigns, the police repression, and Angry Brigade links to Manchester and the city’s underground paper ‘Mole Express’ (a bible for local acid-freaks, and fans of the Weather Underground and the Edgar Broughton Band); he uncovers a heady mix of left-wing politics, psychedelic music, police raids and political violence.
At this launch event Dave Haslam will be discussing this new book, and welcoming special guest Bruce Mitchell; a renowned musician who played regularly at venues including Roger Eagle’s club the Magic Village (1968-1970). Copies of the book will for sale; a book signing will conclude the event.
The event will also mark the launch the Manchester Digital Music Archive online exhibition of back issues of ‘Mole Express’.
Although Covid regulations have been relaxed, we have cut the capacity of the venue by 40% to allow more social distancing, and we would ask attendees to wear a mask at least on arrival at the Library.
Tickets are £6 (£3 concessions for unwaged, low-waged and NHS staff)

Were You There? The Story of Manchester Free Trade Hall.
2021-09-29 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
THE FREE TRADE HALL – THE MOST IMPORTANT POPULAR MUSIC VENUE IN GREAT BRITAIN BETWEEN 1951 AND 1996

Richard Lysons, author of ‘Were You There? Popular Music At Manchester’s Free Trade Hall 1951-1996’ will talk to veteran Manchester music writer, Mick Middles about his widely acclaimed book.

Manchester’s Free Trade Hall was arguably the most important popular music venue in Great Britain between 1951 and 1996. After several incarnations, the building was re-constructed and opened in 1951 as the new home of the Halle Orchestra. Yet it was popular music which would secure the venue its fame as it responded to each wave of popular music from jazz and skiffle through rock ‘n’ roll and folk to prog, punk and heavy metal.
From Billie Holiday to Blondie, Duke Ellington to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd to Happy Mondays, Rolling Stones to The Beach Boys, David Bowie to Suede, just about everyone who mattered played there. The Free Trade Hall was also the venue for incendiary gigs by Bob Dylan in 1966 and the Sex Pistols a decade later which changed the course of music history.
Richard Lysons’ ‘meticulously researched tome’ will be of interest to anyone who ever attended a concert at the venue or has an interest in the history of popular music in Britain’s most musically important city. Alongside his own expert commentary on every headline act, he gives the reader a sense of what was going on at other venues in Manchester.
Richard’s book was published at the end of last year in the middle of lock-down(s). It has received overwhelmingly positive reaction in the press, from fellow music writers and from musicians.
There will be a Q & A session during the evening. Copies of Were You There? will be on sale at the event and Richard is happy to sign copies of the book that people already own.

And We Rise; Together. Performance and Protest Poetry
2021-10-28 13:30 - 17:00 | Performance Space
And We Rise; Together. Performance and Protest Poetry
A Young Identity curated event of poetry and readings from material gathered from workshops with community groups based in Moss Side.

1.30 pm-3.30 pm: A Young Identity curated event where material gathered from community workshops are woven together to produce spoken word and poetry performances by the co-facilitators. There will be readings and new works by produced by the artists that will be shared at the event and an interactive element where the audience can join in and create their own protest poetry.
3.30 pm -5.00 pm: ‘I Predict a Riot’ two-part documentary film screening in partnership with Northwest Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University. Both films will be shown on a rotation. Throughout the afternoon there will be a book display, archive handling, a documentary screening and space for conversation.
Where: Performance Space
When: 28 Oct 1.30 – 5.00 pm
Cost: Free

Nathan Geering’s Award Winning Film Screening ‘Still a Slave' And Lecture
2021-10-28 17:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Nathan Geering’s critically acclaimed and award winning short film screening ‘Still a Slave’, plus a lecture delivered by Nathan and an audience Q&A.
The film is a powerful and artistic response to the social media comments that undermined the Black Lives Matter movement. It illustrates the many ways black people are still bound by society metaphorically and physically.
During his lecture Nathan will explore his reasons for producing the film and discuss its impact on the wider cultural sector.
Where: Performance Space
When: 28 Oct 5.00 pm
Cost: Free

In conversation with Sir Richard Leese
2021-11-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Performance Space
This is a live audience event. The booking includes access to post-event networking where drinks will be served.

Sir Richard Leese, the Leader of Manchester City Council, is stepping down in December after 25 years at the helm, overseeing a redevelopment of the city centre after the 1996 IRA bomb, followed by an extensive regeneration and reimagining of Manchester.

In this event at the Central Library, Design Manchester’s Kasper de Graaf will ask Richard about his vision and the outcomes, looking at Richard’s stewardship of the city through a design lens. How does the development help deliver the inclusive, sustainable and equitable city envisaged in the Our Manchester strategy? Is the process of cooperation and development across the city-region changing as a result of the devolution that Richard has done so much to bring about? What scope does he envisage in the future for artists, creative start-ups and communities to co-design the city?

In conversation with Sir Richard Leese is produced by Design Manchester in partnership with the Business & IP Centre Greater Manchester as a special edition in their regular series of Scale-up Sessions, and with Manchester Central Library.

¡No Pasarán! – North West International Brigade Memorial Group
2022-02-12 11:30 - 16:00 | Performance Space
North West International Brigade Memorial Group invite you to join us for ¡No Pasarán!, a day of commemoration of those Greater Manchester men and women who fought against Franco, Hitler and Mussolini in the Spanish Civil War.
11.30- 1PM 85th anniversary commemoration of the battle of Jarama.
In February 1937 around 500 men of the British Battalion of the International Brigades went into their first military battle in defence of the Spanish Republican government at Jarama near Madrid. In the next three days over a third were killed and many were wounded but although driven from the field they re-grouped and stopped the Fascist attempt to cut the only supply road to Madrid and prevented the city from starving. In this battle 14 local men were killed.
To commemorate and celebrate this event there will be songs, poetry and prose from the period and an exhibition of the North West’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War.
Rob Hargreaves author of ‘Beyond Peterloo’ and forthcoming book on Oldham’s Clem Beckett a local speedway star, ‘Clem Beckett: motorcycle legend and war hero’, will speak about the death of Clem Beckett at Jarama.
The morning will end with the laying of wreaths at the memorial to the local International Brigaders in Central Library.
1-2 Break for Lunch.
2-4 ‘Lillian and Madge the stories of two remarkable women: resisting Fascism in Spain and World War II’
A lecture by Chris Hall author of ‘The Nurse who became a Spy’: Madge Addy’s war against fascism’
After the lecture there will be a chance to ask questions, buy a copy of Chris Hall’s book, speak to members of the North West International Brigades Group and look at the exhibition on the Spanish Civil War.
Find out more information about the International Brigade Memorial Group here.
