Crime Central with Russ Thomas, Lesley Kara and Stephanie Sowden!
2022-06-30 18:00 - 19:30 UTC | 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.

Photographing the Invisible with Jill Furmanovsky & Jon Savage
2023-05-09 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Join Jill in this special talk with Professor Jon Savage from the British Pop Archive, talking archives, curating Photographing the Invisible and the difficulty of choosing what to leave out.
Professor of Popular Culture at the University of Manchester, Jon Savage is is an award winning author and film writer. His books include England’s Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock and This Searing Light: The Oral History of Joy Division. Films include the BAFTA winning The Brian Epstein Story, Teenage and Joy Division.
For the last 50 years, Jill Furmanovsky has been photographing music’s greatest icons. Covering live performance to location and studio her subjects have ranged from a pre-teen Michael Jackson to Billie Eilish on the Glastonbury stage. Jill’s retrospective Photographing the Invisible’, here at Central Library until 24 June, displays some of her most famous works and hidden gems from her extensive archive.
Attendees will be invited to look around the exhibition, on the first floor, following the talk before the library closes at 8pm.
Free – booking required – please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in the venue, or online

Conserving Manchester Town Hall's heritage: Restoring the Town Hall Clock. Afternoon Session.
2023-05-30 13:00 - 14:15 | Performance Space
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 on our paintings and mosaic flooring; now it’s time to turn our attention to the magnificent clock that has kept time above the city since New Year’s Day in 1879.
Having maintained our timepiece for over 25 years, the Cumbria Clock Co have gathered a wealth of history about it. They’ll describe the work they’ve done to date and how they removed the mechanics to their workshops for repair, conservation, and precision monitoring. The repair of the carillon is already underway, and they’ll include some detail about that too.
Join us in Central Library for a chance to hear direct from the Cumbria Clocks team 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 but please book your place.
AFTERNOON SESSION AT 1PM

Conserving Manchester Town Hall’s heritage: Restoring the Town Hall Clock. Evening Session
2023-05-30 17:30 - 18:45 | Performance Space
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 on our paintings and mosaic flooring; now it’s time to turn our attention to the magnificent clock that has kept time above the city since New Year’s Day in 1879.
Having maintained our timepiece for over 25 years, the Cumbria Clock Co have gathered a wealth of history about it. They’ll describe the work they’ve done to date and how they removed the mechanics to their workshops for repair, conservation, and precision monitoring. The repair of the carillon is already underway, and they’ll include some detail about that too.
Join us in Central Library for a chance to hear direct from the Cumbria Clocks team 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 but please book your place.
EVENING SESSION AT 5.30PM

Inspired by Libraries: Linda Brogan
2023-06-10 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Join us for this in conversation event with award winning playwright and artist, Linda Brogan. Linda will be discussing how her pursuit of memories led to the excavation of the Reno Club, renowned in the 1970s for being the best soul and funk club in Manchester and a space for young mixed-race Mancunians who often weren’t welcome elsewhere; an exhibition at The Whitworth; and now a book, 12 Words, published by Bluemoose Books. Authors Carmen, Tia and Catherine were part of the 2016 Reno excavation that took place 30 years after the club was demolished and have written 12 Words alongside Linda, in the process unlocking truths, secrets and confessions.
Please note that these tickets are available on a Pay What You Can basis, either £2/6/10 ticket options are available

Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, History and Preservation
2023-07-19 10:30 - 17:00 | Performance Space
We are delighted to welcome Paul Hindle to talk to us again. This time Paul’s talk will take us through the history and restoration of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal which, like most canals, fell into disuse some years ago. The building of the canal would have been a great achievement in its time, involved a huge workforce and probably required some ingenious engineering solutions along the way. Any restoration must have been equally difficult and required considerable funds and many manhours. Join us on this Wednesday morning to hear the full story.

Urmston, Flixton and Davyhulme: A Postcard Heritage
2023-07-19 13:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
Postcard collecting is still a popular hobby or a means of finding out more about a locality, but it is probably rare, these days, to receive a postcard through the post. Indeed, we could argue that postcard-news would be old news by time we received it, these days. However, many of us might have noticed postcards amongst house clearances, and they are just as likely to say ‘see you tomorrow’ as ‘wish you were here’. Some of us might remember when postcard postage was less than letter postage. Speaker, Michael Billington, seems to have a hoard postcards, so join us on this Wednesday afterrnon to hear all about them.

Crime Central
2023-07-27 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space

Elizabeth Raffald - England's Most Influential Housekeeper
2023-09-13 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
Manchester-based historian Neil Buttery presents a talk about the rise & fall of one of Britain’s most influential cookery writers, Elizabeth Raffald.
Join historian Neil to explore the life, times and legend of the great Elizabeth Raffald of Manchester. Elizabeth was once a household name, and her list of accomplishments would make even the highest of achievers feel suddenly impotent. After becoming the housekeeper at Arley Hall in Cheshire at age twenty-five, she married and moved to Manchester, transforming the Manchester food scene and business community, writing the first A to Z directory and creating the first domestic servant’s registry office, the first temping agency if you will. Not only that, she set up a cookery school and ran a high-class tavern attracting both gentry and nobility. She reputedly gave birth to sixteen daughters, wrote a book on midwifery and was an effective exorciser of evil spirits.
These achievements gave her notoriety and standing in Manchester, but they all pale in comparison to her biggest achievement; her cookery book The Experienced English Housekeeper. Published in 1769, it ran to over twenty editions and brought her fame and fortune. But her great rise was followed by a tumultuous fall, dying at the age of 46. Her book, however, lived on. Influential and often imitated (but never bettered), it became the must-have volume for any kitchen, shaping our modern food culture.
Alongside the talk, there will be an opportunity to view some of the library’s Elizabeth Raffald archive, including that famous book of hers.
Free – booking required

Crime Central
2023-09-28 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
As the nights get darker, Crime Central returns with three amazing authors and three new books to chill your bones. Rob Parker welcomes Fiona Erskine, Luca Veste and Neil Broadfoot to Central Library!

Fiona Erskine
Engineer by day, writer by night.
Fiona was born in Edinburgh, and grew up playing guitar, riding motorbikes and jumping into cold water. After studying Chemical Engineering at University she learned to weld, cast and machine with apprentices in Paisley before working internationally as a professional engineer. She is now based in the north east of England.
Her latest novel, Phosphate Rocks: A Death in Ten Objects is published by Sandstone Press in June 2021.
Fiona’s debut novel, The Chemical Detective (2019), was shortlisted for the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award. Her second thriller in the Jaq Silver series, The Chemical Reaction (2020), was shortlisted for the Staunch Prize.

Luca Veste
Luca Veste is a writer of Italian and Liverpudlian heritage, married with two young daughters, and one of nine children. He studied psychology and criminology at university in Liverpool. He is the author of the Murphy and Rossi series, which includes DEAD GONE, THE DYING PLACE, BLOODSTREAM, and THEN SHE WAS GONE.
Part psychological thriller, part police procedural, his books follow the detective pairing of DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi. The novels are set in Liverpool, bringing the city to life in a dark and terrifying manner…with just a splash of Scouse humour.
“Astringent and artfully constructed.” The Financial Times
“A darkly impressive novel… disturbing and intelligent.” The Times
“A chilling début from a writer to watch…” Mark Billingham
“Gripping, unpredictable, genuinely shocking and impossible to put down, Dead Gone is a remarkable début.” Steve Mosby
“A twisty, psychological crime debut in a gritty setting: a new favourite for police procedural lovers” Clare Mackintosh
“Tense and darkly playful.” Chris Ewan
He is a former civil servant, actor, singer and guitarist (although he still picks it up now and again), and now a full-time writer.

Neil Broadfoot
“Neil should be better known and more widely read. A true rising star of crime fiction.”
– Ian Rankin
Neil Broadfoot worked as a journalist for 15 years at both national and local newspapers, including The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Evening News, covering some of the biggest stories of the day.
Falling Fast, which was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize, is the first in the Edinburgh-set McGregor and Drummond series of thrillers.
His Stirling-set series, which begins with No Man’s Land and features close protection expert Connor Fraser, has been hailed as “tense, fast moving and bloody” and “atmospheric, twisty and explosive” with a “complex cast of characters and a compelling hero”. No Man’s Land was longlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney Award.

Behind The Scenes Tours at Manchester Central Library
2023-10-26 18:00 - 2023-11-23 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.
The dates for the next tours are –
Thursday 26th October 2023
Thursday 23rd November 2023
Places are strictly limited so please book early.
Please meet in the main entrance (Shakespeare Hall) of Central Library from 5.45pm. The tour starts at 6pm.

How Manchester Made Shakespeare Modern – Rosa Grindon, the Suffragist Shakespearean Scholar
2023-11-08 18:00 - 19:00
With Dr. Monika Smialkowska and Dr. Ian Nickson.
Never previously recounted, Dr. Monika Smialkowska and Dr. Ian Nickson chart Rosa Grindon’s journey from modest beginnings in a Derbyshire village to becoming a leading figure in literary and theatrical circles in Manchester, a ground-breaking Shakespearean scholar and, as a Suffragist, an outspoken champion of women’s rights. For example, her response to women being forbidden membership of many of the city’s societies, was to resurrect Lydia Becker’s Manchester Ladies Literary Society to which she invited the leading Shakespearean actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry to speak.
Grindon was a bold and innovative scholar who challenged the largely male-dominated interpretations of female figures in Shakespeare’s plays and pioneered theatrical outreach by delivering lectures in association with Richard Flanagan’s Shakespearean revivals at the Prince’s Theatre. Such was her standing that she was the first woman to be invited to speak at the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford-in-Avon.
After the First World War, she led the preparations for Manchester’s Shakespeare Tercentenary Celebrations in 1916 and funded the Shakespeare Window in the Central Library via a bequest in her Will.
