Were You There? The Story of Manchester Free Trade Hall.
2021-09-29 18:00 - 19:30 UTC | 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.

Crime Central: A New Crime Club at Central Library!
2022-04-28 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Crime Central is a new monthly event at Manchester Central Library, featuring the best and brightest crime writing talent both locally and from around the country. Showcasing blockbuster bestsellers, emerging talent and industry insiders, Crime Central will share the real story of what goes on in the crime world. There’ll be giveaways, audience interaction, book signings, the chance to ask questions and more – while bringing a crime fiction buzz back to this great northern city.
Thursday 28 April 6pm. Hosted by Rob Parker.
‘Can writing murder ever really be ‘cosy’? With Janice Hallett, Jonathan Whitelaw and Sean Coleman!
Rob Parker is a married father of three, who lives in Warrington, UK. The author of the Ben Bracken thrillers, Crook’s Hollow and the Audible bestseller Far From The Tree, he enjoys a rural life, writing horrible things between school runs. He spends a lot of time in schools across the North, encouraging literacy, story-telling and creative-writing, and somehow squeezes in time to co-host the For Your Reconsideration film podcast, appear regularly on The Blood Brothers Crime Podcast and the Really, 007! Podcast, and is a member of the Northern Crime Syndicate.
Janice Hallett studied English at UCL and worked as a magazine editor, winning two awards for journalism. After gaining an MA in Screenwriting at Royal Holloway, she co-wrote the feature film Retreat. Her debut novel, The Appeal, was a Sunday Times bestseller, the Sunday Times crime book of the year, and shortlisted for Waterstones book of the year. Her second novel, The Twyford Code, is a Times and Sunday Times bestseller.
Jonathan Whitelaw is an author, award-winning journalist and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism. Subjects he has covered have varied from breaking news, the arts, culture and sport to fashion, music and even radioactive waste — with everything in between. His work has appeared in The Sun, Daily Mail, Scotsman, STV and The Scots Magazine as well as numerous international newspapers and websites. He’s also a regular reviewer on the BBC – specifically for arts reviews on The Afternoon Show on BBC Radio Scotland.
Sean Coleman began his writing career as a scriptwriter for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Online. Since then he has written and produced shows for MSN, O2, Sony Pictures International, Fox, the BBC and Channel 4, for which he has won multiple awards. He is also the founder and Publishing Director of Red Dog Press, and is the author of the Alex Ripley mysteries, and the Soho Noir series, writing as T.S. Hunter. Sean lives with his girlfriend and family (including the Red Dogs) on the edge of the Peak District, where they often head out on epic walks.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
The next ‘Crime Central’ event will be on Thursday 26 May 6pm. ‘Past, Present, Future’. How ‘time’ in our books is so important, and how we can play with it. More details about the authors attending very soon!

Devolved Vision: Granada TV and the Future of British TV
2022-05-18 16:00 - 17:30 | Performance Space
Granada TV has a very significant place in British television history and still holds a powerful place in the cultural memory of northerners. Once described as the ‘greatest television company in the world’, it was founded by Sidney Bernstein in 1954 and began broadcasting to the North in May 1956, when independent television was born. Granada produced many path-breaking programmes, including Coronation Street, World In Action, Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel In The Crown, Seven Up and Disappearing World.
Today’s television landscape looks very different: the number of TV channels has proliferated, global broadcasters, streaming services and social media compete for audiences and public broadcasters face significant political threats, as do those in the devolved nations. In response, the BBC and Channel 4 have made strategic investments outside London to show that they reflect the whole of the country by creating outposts in Bristol, Salford and Leeds, and at the same time, small, independent programme makers are producing some of the most exciting and innovative TV.
Hannah Barker, Professor of British History at The University of Manchester and Director of the John Rylands Research Institute will introduce the event.
This roundtable discussion, ‘Devolved Vision: Granada TV and the Future of British TV’, asks: Will be ever see another Granada TV? What is the future for British TV?
Dorothy Byrne is President of Murray Edward College, Cambridge. She began her television career at Granada as a producer on World in Action and became Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 in 2003, before moving to a role as Editor-at-Large for the company until recently. She was made a Fellow of The Royal Television Society for her Outstanding Contribution to Television and won the RTS Journalism award for Outstanding Contribution to Television Journalism. She is the author of Trust Me, I’m Not A Politician: A Simple Guide to Saving Democracy, and an alumna of the University of Manchester.
David Olusoga OBE is a historian, writer, broadcaster, presenter and film-maker from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, now based in Bristol. His recent work includes the multi-series A House Through Time, Our NHS: A Hidden History, and the BAFTA award-winning Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners. He is Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester and recently appeared as an expert witness in the trail of the ‘Colston four’.
Liza Williams is the BAFTA award-winning television film-maker responsible for the critically acclaimed BBC series The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story. She has an impressive track record as a producer and director of programmes including Catching A Predator (BBC 2) Stacey Dooley Investigates and Panorama. An alumna of the University of Manchester, she still lives and works in the city.
This event marks the return of the Granada TV Archive to Manchester as part of the British Pop Archive at the John Ryland’s Research Institute and Library.
The British Pop Archive is a national collection dedicated to the preservation and research of popular culture. The collection will launch on 19 May 2022 with an exhibition featuring highlights from the collection.
Photo: Historic shot of Granada credit Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, m06286 791.41, Granada Television, Offices, 1960 H. Milligan
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Confucius Institute Talk: The portrayal of gay characters in Chinese cinema
2022-05-24 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
This talk will introduce the audience to the changing representations of gay characters in films from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The films that will be explored include, but are not limited to, East Palace, West Palace (Zhang Yuan, 1996), Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997), and The River (Tsai Ming-liang, 1997).
About the speaker:
MaoHui Deng is Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Manchester. His research is interested in the ways in which film about dementia and ageing can further and/or complicate our understanding of time in cinema, gerontology and the wider society. His essay, ‘Singapore as Non-Place: National Cinema through the Lens of Temporal Heterogeneity’, published in Asian Cinema, was awarded the Best Doctoral Student Article by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies in 2021. His monograph, Ageing, Dementia and Time in Film: Temporal Performances will be published by Edinburgh University Press in January 2023.
Free – booking required

David Adetayo Olusoga OBE
2022-06-10 13:30 - 14:30 | Performance Space
On Sunday 7 June 2020, protestors marching to support the Black Lives Matter movement in Bristol tore down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston and threw it in the city’s harbour. This dramatic action thrust the city onto the global stage and put it at the forefront of an ongoing and bitter culture war. Broadcaster and historian David Olusoga will explore how the commemoration of individuals from our historical past remains a matter of continued and highly contested importance.
Free – booking required

Create Your Own Climate Cartoon
2022-06-11 10:00 - 23:30
A short, illustrated behind the scenes talk by professional cartoonist Polyp, revealing what goes into creating one of his climate cartoons, followed by a hands on workshop session helping aspiring artists create their very own climate cartoon!
Free – booking required

Inspired By Libraries with Lemn Sissay
2022-06-16 18:30 - 19:30 | Performance Space
As part of the Festival of Libraries, join poet Lemn Sissay OBE for an exciting talk for young people on how libraries have inspired him in his life. Lemn says: “A library is the loudest place on the high street, because books are bursting with very loud ideas! Yet it is where you can go for peace and quiet; among all that is happening in our world, peace and quiet has great value. Libraries change the world because people who use libraries change the world.”
Ages: young people / all ages welcome
Pay what you can – £2, £6 or £10

Crime Central with Russ Thomas, Lesley Kara and Stephanie Sowden!
2022-06-30 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
Joining Rob Parker this month is Lesley Kara, Sunday Times Top Ten author of ‘The Rumour’, Stephanie Sowden, Manchester based debut author of ‘After Everything You Did’ and Russ Thomas, Sunday Times bestselling author of the DS Adam Tyler series.
Lesley Kara’s debut ‘The Rumour’ was a Sunday Times bestseller and has been published in 18 countries and optioned for TV. ‘The Rumour’ was the highest selling crime fiction debut of 2019 in the UK and a Kindle No. 1 bestseller. Her second novel, ‘Who Did You Tell?’ was also a Sunday Times bestseller. Her third novel, ‘The Dare’ is out now and her fourth, ‘The Apartment Upstairs’ will be published in June 2022.Lesley worked for many years as a lecturer and manager in a large college of further education in London. She now lives in Suffolk and writes full-time.
A real page turner. An engrossing and suspenseful tale with absorbing characters and plenty of shocking twists. Susan Lewis.
Stephanie Sowden grew up in Manchester. While studying History and Politics at Durham University, she focused her degree on America in the 20th Century and has always found it an irresistible setting when writing. A fascination with the psychology behind crime and why people do bad things is also a driving nature in her work and her debut novel, After Everything You Did, was published by Canelo in 2022, exploring the question of whether killers are born or made.
An Incredible debut. Mel Sherratt.
Russ Thomas was born in Essex and now lives in Sheffield. After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer, optician’s receptionist and supermarket warehouse operative) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. His highly-acclaimed debut novel, Firewatching, was the first in the DS Adam Tyler series. His brilliant third DS Adam Tyler novel, Cold Reckoning was published last month.
A rollercoaster ride of a thriller . . . will keep you hanging on by your fingertips until the tense final moments. Peter Robinson.
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis. They range from £2 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.
All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.

Crime Central
2022-09-01 18:00 - 19:30
We’re back! Thursday 1st September at 6pm!

Crime Central returns with three more fantastic authors. Joining our host Rob Parker this month will be the author Adam Simcox, who’s novels combine murder mysteries with the supernatural. Joining him will be bestselling local author Paul Finch, who’s well known for his brilliant crime and horror novels. We’re also very excited to welcome Miranda Dickinson, who’s swapped her contemporary novel hat for the darker world of crime!

We can’t wait!

Adam Simcox, author of The Dying Squad series.
When Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang; instead, he discovers his own body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May. She’s there to enlist him to The Dying Squad, a spectral police force who solve crimes their flesh and blood counterparts cannot.

Miranda Dickinson (M J White) author of the Dr Cora Lael novels.
MJ White is the pen name of million-copy selling Sunday Times bestselling author, Miranda Dickinson. Her debut crime series featuring Dr Cora Lael begins with The Secret Voices. A huge fan of crime fiction and particularly police procedurals, Miranda wrote The Secret Voices largely in secret and is chuffed now to finally share Cora, Acting DS Rob Minshull and the detectives of South Suffolk CID with the world!

Paul Finch, author of the DS Mark Heckenburg and DC Lucy Clayburn novels.
Paul Finch is a former cop and journalist now turned best-selling crime and thriller writer, and is the author of the very popular DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg and DC Lucy Clayburn novels. Paul first cut his literary teeth penning episodes of the British TV crime drama, The Bill, and has written extensively in horror, fantasy and science-fiction, including for Dr Who.

PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis. They range from £0 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.

All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.

Kit de Waal
2022-10-09 16:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
‘I live with the dread that one day when my young muscles rebel, can take no more stillness and the brutal confinement of my very self, I will stand and strip naked and burst out of my skin.’ Without Warning and Only Sometimes is Kit de Waal’s memoir of a childhood of opposites and extremes. Raised in Moseley, Birmingham, with her siblings, food was scarce. Their Irish mother worked multiple jobs and believed the world would end in 1975. Their Caribbean father’s paradise was home – St Kitts – and when he wasn’t splurging on fancy clothes and a car, he was saving to build his dream house there. Eventually teenage Kit found a route that led to her becoming an award-winning writer.
Kit is the author of three previous books. My Name Is Leon won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the year, was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and has been adapted for TV by Lenny Henry’s production company. The Trick to Time was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Hosted by broadcaster and Literary Editor Ellah P. Wakatama. Presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.

Tickets £10 / £8. Book on 0343 208 0500 or via ‘Book Now’ link below

Paterson Joseph in Conversation
2022-10-09 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
It’s 1746 and Georgian London is not a safe place for a young Black man, especially one who has escaped slavery. So how does Charles Ignatius Sancho meet the King, write and play highly acclaimed music, become the first Black person to vote in Britain and lead the fight to end slavery? In his captivating debut novel, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, much-loved actor Paterson Joseph tells a story hidden for 300 years. An attempt ‘to correct the colour-balance that has allowed an historical distortion of British history to exist’ and ‘to add to the growing canon of Black Historical Fiction’ as entertaining as any of the revered classics.
A star of stage and screen, Paterson is best known for his roles in Casualty, Peep Show and Green Wing amongst many others. He recently appeared in the BBC series Vigil and as Kamal Hadley in the adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts + Crosses. Hosted by broadcaster and Literary Editor Ellah P. Wakatama.
Tickets £12 / £10. Book on 0343 208 0500 or via ‘Book Now’ link below

Damon Galgut in Conversation
2022-10-10 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
One family, four decades, four funerals, one unfulfilled promise. Winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, Damon Galgut joins us to discuss his masterpiece The Promise, a gripping, beautifully written family saga based around a farm in South Africa. Through the members of the Swart family, Damon explores personal and political change as the family splinters and apartheid ends, questioning whether reparations for Black South Africans can ever be sufficient. The Promise was a Book of the Year in The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times and the New Statesman. Author of nine novels and four plays, Damon was previously twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize with The Good Doctor and In a Strange Room. Hosted by broadcaster and Observer critic Alex Clark and presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.
This event will be BSL interpreted
Tickets £12 / £10. Book on 0343 208 0500 or via ‘Book Now’ link below

Monica Ali
2022-10-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
The bestselling and much-loved author of Brick Lane, Monica Ali visits MLF to celebrate her brilliant new novel Love Marriage, her first book in a decade. Yasmin’s engaged to fellow Junior Doctor Joe, but when they bring the two families together – one love-matched, long-married Bengali immigrants who thrive on home cooking and the other a single white middle-class feminist academic writing on porn who gets the caterers in for parties – cracks appear in everyone’s lives and stories that have long been told have to be rewritten with significant consequences.
Monica Ali is the author of five novels which have been translated into 26 languages. Her debut, Brick Lane, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and led to her being chosen as one of Granta’s 2003 Best of Young British Novelists. A television adaptation of Love Marriage is in development.
Tickets £12 / £10. Book on 0343 208 0500

Nihal Arthanayake: Let’s Talk
2022-10-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Award-winning BBC broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake brings a defibrillator to our ailing ability to connect through conversation. In Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations, Nihal considers what’s happened to discourse, both public and private, over recent years. How Brexit, lockdown and social media have led to division, monologues, and a lack of in-person discussions. Through skills honed by his career on radio and, ultimately, the beauty of connection shown to him by his mother, Nihal shares with us all how we can become better conversationalists, bridge divides, and become less lonely.
Nihal has built a platform of 1.2 million listeners a week on BBC Radio 5 Live who regard him as one of the best people of his generation at having public conversations. He is the winner of two Sony Gold Awards, a BBC Radio and Music Award for Interview of the Year and was inducted into the Radio Academy’s Hall of Fame in his 40s. Hosted by poet and writer Andrew McMillan.
Tickets £10 / £8. Book on 0343 208 0500

Nick Hornby: Dickens & Prince
2022-10-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
At first glance, it seems unlikely that the white English Victorian writer Charles Dickens and the Black American musician Prince Rogers Nelson have anything in common. But as two of Nick Hornby’s ‘artists who have shaped me, inspired me, made me think about my own work’ he set out to see whether there was anything he could learn from these two great artists and their prolific bodies of work. What did they do with their phenomenal talent? Did it damage them in some way, personally, professionally? Is there any way of knowing where it came from? Did it kill them?
With wit, curiosity and deep admiration Nick Hornby traces their extraordinary lives – from their difficult beginnings to the women they fell for to their limitless energy for work, to their money and the movies – and brilliantly illuminates their very particular kind of genius. Come along and find out more. Nick is the bestselling author of eight novels including Just Like You, High Fidelity and About a Boy and several works of nonfiction including Fever Pitch. He has also written several award-winning screenplays including Brooklyn, Wild and State of the Union. Nick will be in conversation with broadcaster and Observer critic Alex Clark. This event is sponsored by Weightmans.
Book on 0343 208 0500 or ‘book now’ link below

After Sylvia
2022-10-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
With Moniza Alvi, Romalyn Ante, Rebecca Goss, Ian Humphreys & Carola Luther
One of the most dynamic and admired American writers of the 20th Century, Sylvia Plath’s legacy as a fiercely intelligent, confessional feminist poet and novelist continues to inspire generation after generation. After Sylvia: Poems & Essays in Celebration of Sylvia Plath marks the 90th anniversary of Sylvia Plath’s birth. At this special event, poets Moniza Alvi, Romalyn Ante, Rebecca Goss, Ian Humphreys & Carola Luther will perform new work inspired by and responding to Sylvia Plath’s work and legacy, drawing on the themes of Rebirth, Womanhood, Magic, Mothers & Fathers and Nature.
Moniza Alvi has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize three times with her collections The Country at My Shoulder, Europa and At the Time of Partition. Romalyn Ante is the author of Antiemetic for Homesickness which was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Rebecca Goss is the author of four poetry collections. Her Birth was shortlisted for the 2013 Forward Prize for Best Collection. She is winner of the Sylvia Plath Prize 2022.  Carola Luther is the author of three poetry collections. Her most recent collection On the Way to Jerusalem Farm is shortlisted for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry. Ian Humphreys is a writer and editor. His debut collection Zebra was nominated for the Portico Prize and his work has been highly commended in the Forward Prizes for Poetry. He is the producer and co-editor of After Sylvia.
Presented in partnership with Manchester Poetry Library.
This event will be BSL interpreted
Book on 0343 208 0500 or ‘book now’ link below

Mariana Enriquez & Max Porter in Conversation
2022-10-20 19:00 | Performance Space
‘“Is it true?” Gaspar had asked. “Is it true that the dead travel fast?” His father had finally looked up and said, simply: “Some do.”’ Argentinian mistress of dark literature, Mariana Enriquez joins us in Manchester to discuss her superb, brutal novel Our Share of Night (translated by Megan McDowell). Gaspar is six years old when the Order first come for him. For years, they have exploited his father’s ability to commune with the dead and the demonic, presiding over macabre rituals where the unwanted and the disappeared are tortured and executed, sacrificed to the Darkness. Now they want a successor. The novel spans the brutal decades of Argentina’s military dictatorship and its aftermath, offering a critique of its rule.
Mariana is the author of the short story collections Things We Lost in the Fire and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (also translated by Megan McDowell), which was shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize. Our Share of Night was awarded the prestigious Premio Herralde de Novela. Mariana will be in conversation with Max Porter, award-winning writer of Lanny and Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. Presented in partnership with Instituto Cervantes.
Book on 0343 208 0500 or ‘book now’ link below

Susanna Clarke & Max Porter in Conversation
2022-10-21 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Piranesi lives in the House. Having no memory of how he arrived or even who he is, Piranesi keeps careful records of the labyrinth of halls, the many statues and the weather. Once a week he meets his friend the Other, but he has no contact with any other living person until someone begins to leave him messages and the possibility arises that this perfectly constructed existence could crumble from within.
Piranesi won the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021, the Red Tentacle prize at the Kitschies and was declared a Book of the Year in numerous publications. Susanna Clarke’s bestselling debut Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell won the British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award. It was turned into an acclaimed BBC television series. Susanna will be in conversation with Max Porter, award-winning writer of Lanny and Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, for her only in-person event this Autumn. Presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.
Book on 0343 208 0500 or ‘book now’ link below

Natalie Haynes
2022-10-23 14:00 - 15:00 | Performance Space
Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes’ latest feminist mythological retelling, is the story of how a young woman became a monster. And how she was never really a monster at all. It’s the story of Medusa, the mortal raised by her Gorgon sisters, mistreated by Poseidon, and hunted by Perseus. It’s a version that sheds light on who’s really angry, who’s privileged, who’s wronged, who’s content, and who’s an arrogant brat; turning the story you think you know on its snake covered head.
Natalie is the author of three previous novels, The Amber Fury, shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize; The Children of Jocasta and A Thousand Ships, and non-fiction books The Ancient Guide to Modern Life and Pandora’s Jar. She is the writer and performer of the BBC Radio 4 show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics. In 2015, she was awarded the Classical Association Prize for her work in bringing Classics to a wider audience. Hosted by Naomi Frisby, writer and co-host of Late To It podcast.
Book on 0343 208 0500 or ‘book now’ link below

George Saunders in Conversation
2022-10-23 16:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
‘The best short story writer in English – not “one of”, not “arguably”, but the best’ – Time. In his latest short story collection, Liberation Day, George Saunders considers what it means to be human and a member of communities whose actions impact each other. Through inventive scenarios including an underground amusement park and a household with reprogrammed humans, George comments on current society, questioning whether this is the right way to live. Join us for what promises to be an unmissable conversation with a master of short stories on his first visit to the UK in five years, and his only event outside of London. George is the author of ten books including the Booker Prize winning Lincoln in the Bardo, Tenth of December and his recent exploration of Russian short stories, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. Hosted by writer Kate Feld.
Book on 0343 208 0500 or ‘book now’ link below

Male beauty vlogging in China: a masculinities perspective
2022-11-22 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Male beauty vlogging is flourishing in China despite fears of a masculinity ‘crisis’, sissyphobia and LGBT crackdowns. Key questions arise: To what extent does male beauty vlogging challenge the notion of a crisis of masculinity and offer new, positive gender expressions for men? To what extent does it reinforce hierarchical and oppressive formations of gender and sexuality? This talk, part of a series of talks from the Confucius Institute at the University of Manchester, analyses three male beauty vloggers’ promotion of a ‘fake-natural look for straight men’ involving non-visible makeup and examines another vlogger’s critique of the feminization of visible makeup-wearing men.
Free – book here

In the City Exhibition – Talk by Richard Davis
2023-02-01 18:15 - 19:30 | Performance Space
In The City is a collection of Manchester images taken by photographer Richard Davis over the last 35 Years. Join Richard for this talk about the exhibtion that centres around Richard’s love of art, music, culture and football. From the heady days of Madchester, right through to the dynamism of the present day, the excitement and diversity of city life helping to inspire and motivate his work. Hulme plays a major role throughout the exhibition; it’s where Richard set up a studio and darkroom in his Charles Barry Crescent flat during the late 1980’s. The area became a rich source of creativity and a backdrop for many of his photographs. The exhibition also highlights the many books, records and films that influenced his approach to photography.
About Richard Davis…
Richard Davis (born 1965) is a British, social documentary and portrait photographer, based in North West England. His work has been promoted and exhibited by the British Culture Archive and renowned photography publishers, Café Royal Books. A series of Davis’ photographs of Hulme Crescents, from the 1980’s are currently held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library which is part of the University of Manchester.
This talk is free (‘book now’ below), but please consider making a donation to support our Library Live programme if you can, either online, or at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in Central Library

Conserving Manchester Town Hall's Heritage: Mosaic Restoration
2023-02-15 11:00 | Performance Space
WEDNESDAY 15TH FEBRUARY AT CENTRAL LIBRARY
Manchester Town Hall has been closed since January 2018 for an extensive restoration programme that will repair and upgrade the building to modern standards. The work will include the conservation of many heritage features.
Our series of Heritage Lectures aims to shine a light on some of the fascinating work that’s been going on behind the scenes. We’ve already heard about the work of Hirst Conservation, who are working on our paintings and now we’ll be taking a closer look at the mosaic flooring.
Featuring experts from Mosaic Restoration, the specialist mosaic restorers and conservators will describe the work they’ve done to date on site, including the preservation and safeguarding of the many corridors of mosaic flooring and – of course – the iconic Bees Landing.
Join us in Central Library for a chance to hear direct from the Mosaic Restoration experts and find out just what it’s like to bring 21st century conservation skills to the Our Town Hall Project.
The lecture is free to attend.
Session 1: 12.30pm arrival for a 1pm start and 2.15pm finish
Session 2: 5pm arrival for a 5.30pm start and 6.45pm finish

Crime Central
2023-02-16 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Crime Central is back with a bang on Thursday 16th February!
Joining your wonderful host Rob Parker will be…
Lia Middleton, author of the massive debut thriller ‘When They Find Her’. Her new novel ‘Your Word or Mine’ came out in September 2022 to more rave reviews!
Elliot Sweeney, who’s debut novel is entitled ‘The Next to Die’. The first in an intended series, narrated by ex-copper turned P.I. Dylan Kasper.
Sam Tobin, grew up in Manchester and quickly came to realise he was living in the best city in the world. His second novel in the ‘Manchester Underworld’ series: ‘Pay The Price’ was published in January 2023.
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis. They range from £2 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.
All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.
Signed books will be available to purchase after the event.

Section 28 - 35 years on in Manchester
2023-02-20 17:00 | Performance Space
This year marks 35 years since the protest against Section 28 in Manchester. Join organisers and attendees from the time to hear more. The event forms part of LGBT History month 2023. It aims to provide insight into a specific period of LGBT history (1987-2003) in which the demonstration in Manchester was highly significant, and which gained national recognition at the time. It will be an opportunity for those who were there organising the demonstration in 1988 to talk about the climate and their experience. There will be an introductory presentation on Section 28, covering the build up to its inception, and why it caused so much controversy and protest. This element recognises that the legislation has been off the statute books for a generation now, and so an explanation will both help to understand the clause as well as the impact it had. There will also be an opportunity for questions from the audience to the speakers, and a closing section focusing on the future.
Free – book via link below

Crime Central April 2023
2023-04-27 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis.They range from £2 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.
All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.
Signed books will be available to purchase after the event.
