Library Live

Drag Queen Bingo
2021-10-02 14:00 - 16:00 UTC | Performance Space
We’re celebrating Older People’s Day in style, with an afternoon of bingo.
But this is Manchester. We do things differently here!
Join the fabulous Angel Delight for a sparkling afternoon of fun, including stand up bingo, bongo bingo, singalongs and loads more.
Please phone 0161 234 1932 to book your FREE tickets.
Maximum of six people per table.
This event is aimed at over 50’s.
We’ve reduced the numbers of tickets to ensure there is still some social distancing. We are also asking that people wear face masks when they arrive. There will also be hand sanitisers available and track and trace.

Goalkeeper: Memoir of Peter Street Book Launch
2021-10-04 17:30 - 19:30 | Performance Space
Spondylux Press, Manchester Poetry Library and Manchester Libraries are proud to invite you to the book launch of ‘Goalkeeper’ The Memoir of poet Peter Street.
One ‘alone, but not lonely’ boy’s triumph over adversity, motivated by his dream of becoming a professional footballer and a longing for truth and connection.

Street’s childhood memoir is a sensitive and honest portrayal, through a poetic autistic lens, of growing up with undiagnosed autism and epilepsy in an unconventional family during the 1950s and 60s.
A unique and vivid social document of the period, highlighting much of the discrimination still faced by minority and disabled communities today.
“The most astonishing life story of anyone I have ever interviewed” John Harris – Guardian“
“…an often startling memory of things felt in a rather frightening, yet fascinating past” Alan Brownjohn – Poet/novelist
“A beautiful insight into growing up in a challenging world. A sensory delight, I lived every page!” Alan Gardner – The Autistic Gardner
About Peter Street
Peter Street is a British-Irish autistic author and poet, born in Wigan 1948. He has published five poetry collections, performing his work internationally and on television and radio―including BBC Manchester where he was poet in residence.
He won a National Poetry Society commission, and wrote a series of poems in collaboration with fine artist Tony Bevan.
Street was a Royal Literary Fund recipient and has been writer-in-residence in schools, colleges and prisons. He is also a qualified youth worker, and previously worked as a chef, head gardener, gravedigger and exhumer.
Peter was diagnosed epileptic at fifteen, and fifty years later, after returning from war torn Croatia with PTSD, received his formal autism diagnosis at the age of sixty-six. He lives with his wife Sandra, and has two children and six grandchildren.
www.spondyluxpress.com

Jeanette Winterson & Mark O’Connell
2021-10-09 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
‘How did we get here? Where might we go?’ Is the future ‘a screen onto which we project our fantasies and terrors’? What can the past tell us about the future? Are we all doomed? And what’s gender got to do with it? Jeanette Winterson’s latest book 12 Bytes considers our relationship with AI, how it might develop and what we need to know. In Notes from an Apocalypse Mark O’Connell (To Be a Machine) spends time with preppers, rewilders and people who want to colonise Mars. Join us for what’s sure to be a fascinating discussion about what humanity might do next. Jeanette is the author of 10 novels for adults, as well as children’s books, screenplays and non-fiction, including the bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Mark’s first book To Be a Machine won the Wellcome Book Prize in 2018.

Presented in partnership with Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester and hosted by writer Kate Feld.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

Monique Roffey & Ingrid Persaud
2021-10-10 14:00 - 15:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL

‘Later I saw that change came as change always comes, from a chain of events with a long history, too long to see from back to front, till it come.’ In The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey’s Costa Book of the Year winner, the life of David, one of the island’s fishermen, is disrupted when he saves Aycayia, a mermaid, from her captors. While in Ingrid Persaud’s Love After Love, Betty Ramdin invites Mr Chetan to lodge with her and her son Solo following the death of her husband/Solo’s father. The creation of a new, unconventional, family changes all of their lives.

Two award-winning Caribbean novelists join us to discuss determined women, magical writing, family and place. Monique Roffey is the author of seven books including The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, which was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize. Ingrid has won both the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. Hosted by writer Kate Feld.

Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

Elif Shafak in Conversation
2021-10-10 16:30 - 17:30 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
A fig tree with a tale to tell; a grieving teenage girl who wants to know her family’s story; two sets of lovers hiding from society. In her enchanting new novel, The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak considers how the story of humans and the natural world are entwined. Set in London and the island of Cyprus, Elif explores roots, trauma and how understanding ourselves and our history can be healing. Elif is a British-Turkish novelist, feminist and activist and we’re delighted to welcome her back to MLF. The author of 19 books, translated into 54 languages, Elif’s previous novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by the BBC as one of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World. Elif will be in conversation with Ellah P Wakatama.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

An Evening with Alan Johnson
2021-10-10 19:30 - 20:30 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
Much-loved former Labour MP Alan Johnson makes a welcome return to MLF. Following his series of successful memoirs – This Boy, In My Life, The Long and Winding Road and Please, Mr Postman, Alan has turned to fiction, joining us to discuss his thrilling debut novel The Late Train to Gypsy Hill. Featuring a Ukranian waitress mixed up in a poisoning plot and an administrator who finds himself on the run from Russian secret agents and the Met, it’s an enthralling, smartly written, page turner. Alan will discuss his passion for plot-twists, politics and writing with Ellah P Wakatama.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

Black Britain Writing Back: Bernardine Evaristo
2021-10-12 19:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
Celebrating a landmark new series curated by Booker Prize winning writer Bernardine Evaristo, Black Britain Writing Back re-introduces lost or hard-to-find books by Black writers who wrote about Black Britain and the diaspora across the Twentieth Century. Joining Bernardine is Jacqueline Roy whose novel The Fat Lady Sings tells the stories of Gloria and Merle, two women in adjacent beds in the ward of a mental hospital; Judith Bryan whose novel Bernard and the Cloth Monkey is a family psychodrama in which two sisters battle with a shared but suppressed history of secrets, tensions and betrayals that need reckoning; and Nicola Williams’ Without Prejudice, a thriller in which Lee Mitchell, a Black working class barrister, is succeeding against the odds.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

#Like Chopin – Mysterious Story in Manchester
2021-10-13 08:00 - 2021-12-31 17:00 | Henry Watson Music Library
#LikeChopin – The Mysterious Story of Chopin in Manchester
In August 1848 Fryderyk Chopin travelled to Britain.
During the visit he also gave a performance in Manchester.
The concert took place at the Manchester’s Gentleman Concert Hall on Peter Street. The Hall was demolished in 1887 and The Midland Hotel was built on the site. it is reported that his concert in Manchester was attended by the largest audience Chopin ever performed for!
Want to find out more? A brand new exhibition curated by the Polish Consulate is now on display at the Henry Watson Music Library in Manchester Central Library.
There is also an online exhibition celebrating Chopin’s visit to Manchester for you to view here.
“#LikeChopin concept has been devised to bring a closer look into the Fryderyk Chopin journey to The United Kingdom. By combining a plethora of interesting details associated with Chopin’s Manchester concert we have created an attractive visual identity which was applied both in online exhibition and to that which may be seen at Manchester Central Library. We are glad that so many people appreciated the concept and by the same token valued our creative approach. This means that creativity with a modicum of mystery is what binds us together around positive symbols..” Said. Patryk Gowin Vice Consul and Head of Public and Cultural Diplomacy Section at Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Manchester.

Spanish-Language Stories: Mateo García Elizondo, Valerie Miles & Cristina Morales
2021-10-14 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
Granta’s second selection of Best of Young Spanish Language Novelists showcases the work of 25 of the most exciting writers in the Spanish-speaking world. Valerie Miles, editor, writer, translator, co-founder of Granta’s literary journal in Spanish joins us to discuss the selection, which encompasses thirteen countries and territories. Two of the chosen authors will appear with Valerie; Mateo García Elizondo (Mexico), whose story Capsule (translated by Robin Myers) tells of a prisoner launched into space to see out his sentence, and Cristina Morales (Spain) whose admiration of fierce women and fury at their treatment by men drives her contribution Ode to Cristina Morales (translated by Kevin Gerry Dunn). Mateo García Elizondo was born in Mexico City. He wrote the film Desierto, and his first novel, Una cita con la Lady, won the City of Barcelona Award. Cristina Morales is from Granada, Spain and works with the contemporary dance company Iniciativa Sexual Femenina. She is the author of the novels Los combatientes, Últimas tardes con Teresa de Jesús, Terroristas modernos and Lectura fácil.
Hosted by Mariana Casale and presented in partnership with Instituto Cervantes.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.
Tickets are free but advance booking is advised
Book on 0343 208 0500

An Evening with Colm Tóibín
2021-10-14 20:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL

‘I can make no sense of the present. It is all confusion. I know nothing about the future.’ In his extraordinary new novel, The Magician, Colm Tóibín conjures up the past and the life of writer Thomas Mann. Against the backdrop of two world wars, Colm charts Mann’s rise to prominence and the story of his family life as he grapples with deep seated feelings about his homeland of Germany and his desire for young men. Colm is the award-winning Irish author of nine novels including Brooklyn, Nora Webster and The Testament of Mary. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times and has won both the Costa Novel Award and the International Dublin Literary Award. Colm will be in conversation with poet John McAuliffe.
Presented in partnership with Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

Book on 0343 208 0500

Little Reads Family Day with Chris Haughton & Daishu Ma
2021-10-16 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
Chris Haughton & Daishu Ma 10.00 – 10.45
Music & Drama Family Workshop 11.15 – 12.15
We are delighted to present a very special in person event with Chris Haughton, the acclaimed picture book creator of titles including Oh No George! and Shh! We Have a Plan for an action-packed family event celebrating his story Maybe… He will be joined by author and illustrator Daishu Ma who will translate the stories into Mandarin Chinese as well as introducing us to some of her own wonderful characters.
Families can then join a drama & music workshop by acclaimed Manchester artists Yemi Bolatiwa & Ged Mulherin as they respond to Chris’s naughty monkey characters and encounters with scary tigers.
Ged Mulherin is a renowned drama workshop leader, actor and co-founder of TripleC. TripleC design their workshops to be welcoming, inclusive and accessible. They encourage participants to create characters within role play and develop storytelling through imaginative play. Yemi Bolatiwa is a versatile contemporary soul and jazz singer and workshop leader. Featured on BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing and Kiss FM as a professional recording vocalist, she brings her experience to the community and family settings with big smiles and big energy.
Suitable for ages 2 – 6
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.
Book on 0343 208 0500

Superheroes: Inspiring Stories of Secret Strength
2021-10-16 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
What do you want to be when you grow up? Curated by Stormzy and the #Merky Books team, Superheroes is a new children’s book celebrating modern day heroes from across the worlds of sport, music, food, the arts and more. Join us to celebrate the launch with an interactive workshop run by performance poet Sophia Thakur and illustrator Denzell Dankwah. This will be a lively afternoon of drawing, poetry and writing to encourage and empower children to harness their power and become their own superhero.
This 2 hour workshop will finish at 4pm
Suitable for ages 9 – 12 yrs. A responsible adult must stay in the venue for the duration of the workshop.
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.
Book on 0343 208 0500

CANCELLED: Malika Booker, Vahni Capildeo & Jason Allen-Paisant
2021-10-17 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
Due to unforeseen circumstances this Manchester Literature Festival event is cancelled
Join us for an afternoon with three fabulous, inventive poets who raise questions about our relationships with language, landscape and identity. Vahni Capildeo’s Like a Tree, Walking explores ecopoetics and silence, with poems originating from nocturnes and lullabies in hilly Port of Spain to ‘stillness exercises’ recording micro-environments around English trees. Jason Allen-Paisant’s Thinking with Trees considers what it means to be Black in natural spaces usually considered the domain of white people. Linking Black history to present day events, he walks through the pandemic considering how the future could be. The founder of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, Malika Booker is a pioneer of the poetry scene and writes out of a passion for Caribbean culture, community and bearing witness. She will be reading new and recent poems.
Vahni Capildeo is a Trinidadian poet. Their collections include Venus as a Bear, which was the Poetry Book Society Summer Choice 2018 and was shortlisted for the 2018 Forward Prize, and Measures of Expatriation, awarded the Forward Best Collection Prize 2016. Jason Allen-Paisant is from a village called Coffee Grove in Manchester, Jamaica. At present, he’s a lecturer in Caribbean Poetry & Decolonial Thought in the School of English at the University of Leeds. Malika Booker is a British poet and theatre-maker of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage. Her poetry collection Pepper Seed was shortlisted for the OCM Botas prize and her poem The Little Miracles won the 2020 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.
Hosted by John McAuliffe and presented in partnership with Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. If you’d like to sit with friends, please book all seats together in the same transaction. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.

Venture Arts Presents - Completely A Hustling Place
2021-10-21 - 2021-12-31 | First Floor Exhibition Hall
Venture Arts Presents Full Studio Show – Completely A Hustling Place – With Work From 70 Artists
This autumn, one of Manchester’s leading visual art studios, Venture Arts, which supports learning disabled and neurodivergent artists to play an active role in the cultural sector, is presenting a thrilling full studio show where you can experience new work from 70 artists. A truly multimedia show, Completely A Hustling Place includes photography, ceramics, dreamy audio, textiles, real genies, illustration, the best TV channel ever, superheroes, projection mapping and much more, offering an exciting and immersive showcase of creativity and studio output over the past year.
A massive celebration of creative triumph through times of adversity, Completely A Hustling Place takes its name from a description of the vibrant and buzzing city of Manchester aptly described by artist, Justin Lees. Scenes of our city, as seen through the eyes of artist Terry Williams, whose haunting pictures taken on disposable cameras during lockdown are one of many highlights of the show. You will also encounter black superheroes brought to life by Leslie Thompson, bright cartoon characters from Jenny Franklin and embroidered bananas by Louise Hewitt, a radical new TV station presented in the video work of Michael Greave, a school desk installation by Caryn Egerton, glorious sunset pictures by Becky Hislop and projections by Amy Ellison. You can experience a unique, projection mapping collaboration by Malik Jama, Raven Keating and Fred Collins, screenings of film and animated work, an interactive sound and ceramic installation by Adam Crichton and Anthony Whitfield and embroidery cluster collaboration including work by Christine Blackburn.
There will be art to take away from the show, available on a first-come, first-served basis including zines, books and superhero images, plus most of the work presented will also be for sale.
Venture Arts Director, Amanda Sutton, comments: “We are incredibly excited to be able to present physical exhibitions again and to bring the work of our artists out of their homes and out of our studio, into such a prominent and important building in the heart of our city. It’s so wonderful to present the work of all the Venture Arts studio artists in one show right now. For us, and particularly for our artists, the last couple of years have been full of the most immense challenges, and we are so grateful to everyone who has helped us to adapt and continue our crucial work throughout. This show will shine a light on how creative practice has served to overcome so much for so many and most of all, showcase a vast array of wonderful, interesting, exciting, and truly individual new work. I would urge you all to go and see it!”
For further information, press images and interview requests please contact Matt Forbes-Dale on mattforbesdale@outlook.com / M: 07949 039715
Find out more about Venture Arts here.
ABOUT VENTURE ARTS:
Venture Arts is an award-winning charity based in Hulme, Manchester. Their vision is a world in which neurodivergent and learning disabled people are empowered, celebrated, included and valued in the arts, culture and society. Their mission is to shape a new cultural landscape where neurodivergent people with learning disabilities reach their potential.
Free entry – but please consider making a donation if you can either online or at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in Central Library

creative:connection
2021-10-22 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL
We are delighted to welcome national charity, Create, back to MLF. Create believe in the power of creativity to change lives. Their creative:connection project brings together disabled and non-disabled children to create, build connections and break down barriers around disability. This October children from four schools in Manchester and Salford (Chatsworth High School, Grange Academy, Loreto High School and New Park Academy) joined forces with professional musicians to create new pieces of music, which they will perform at this special celebration event.
Create (createarts.org.uk) runs dozens of projects like this across the UK, and are expanding in the North West. If you are an artist or a partner who would like to work with them, email hannah@createarts.org.uk
Please note: We have reduced the capacity at this venue to increase space between seats so everyone can enjoy the event safely. Although masks are no longer mandatory under Government guidance, we strongly encourage everyone to wear one when in close proximity to others, particularly when entering and leaving the event. We also encourage everyone to use the sanitation stations and sign in using track and trace when they arrive.
Tickets FREE – booking advised

ScienceX: A free family fun day 1
2021-10-23 10:00 - 16:00
A free, interactive festival of exploration and experiments and a great chance for kids to discover the fun behind science and engineering. ScienceX is a festival like no other: bursting with fun, exciting activities for children, and open to all. Discover what the world of science and engineering is really about as we focus this year on climate change and the environment around us. ScienceX is back for 2021, but with a new home. On 23 and 25 October, this free weekend-long science and engineering festival will be held at Manchester Central Library. At ScienceX, you can learn about all about climate, sustainability and the environment. There are plenty of opportunities for families to get hands-on with a whole host of experiments – make DNA bracelets, build your own electronic car motors, learn about how we design robots to keep humans safe or become a climate-friendly chef for the day. Come along with your climate questions and through the event, find out how you can make a positive difference in the world. Our friendly scientists and engineers will be there to excite and inspire young environmentalists, campaigners, creative minds and future scientists and engineers. For those wanting to learn at home, there is a whole host of online activities for all ages. Children and families can learn recipes for more sustainable baking, do hands-on experiments from home, or take part in our very own Escape Room. There’s a variety of videos, worksheets and other online resources so you can carry on learning about climate change and sustainability from wherever you are. Come along to ScienceX this October and find out how you and your family can make a difference to the world around us.

Free – please drop in

ScienceX: A free family fun day 2
2021-10-25 10:00 - 16:00

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

1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry
2021-10-30 - 2021-10-31 | Performance Space
1001 Inventions invites families in Greater Manchester to join us on a fascinating learning journey and to unravel some mysteries from the science of CHEMISTRY. Fun and educational sessions will bring the magic of wizards and potions to help cast a spell on children so that they fall in love with science!
Follow in the footsteps of 8th century pioneer Jabir ibn Hayyan through a short animated film screening, on-stage demonstrations and hands-on workshops. Excite budding scientists and help them understand the applications of chemistry and its importance to their daily lives. Introduce your children to the contributions made to science by lesser-known pioneers.
When? 30th & 31st October 2021
Who? Children aged 7-12 with their parent or responsible adult
Where? Manchester Central Library
Cost? FREE EVENT!
Saturday October 30th: 14:00-15:30pm and 16:00-17:30pm
Sunday October 31st; 10:00-11:30am 12:00-13:30pm · 14:30-16:00pm and 17:00-18:30pm

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.

Manchester Animation Festival (MAF): Animation Mixtape: 2020 Edition
2021-11-16 12:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) is the UK’s largest Animation Festival and is dedicated to the celebration of the animated art form. Hosted in the Manchester Central Library and at HOME, the festival is the UK’s biggest animation hub, inviting people from Manchester and beyond to share in all things animated. A hybrid festival for 2021, MAF will take place from 14-30 November, in person and online. Passes are available to purchase here.
Last year in 2020, the eclectic animated short films programme of Manchester Animation Festival found their home on the small screen online, but now we’re bringing them to the big screen where they rightfully belong! Come down to Manchester Central Library to watch these short films throughout the day in hourly screening slots. More details on the films and ticket information can be found on the MAF website. Tickets for this event are FREE, though advanced booking is strongly advised.
If you’re an organisation or group who would like to talk more about getting involved with MAF in the future, please contact MAF’s Audience Development Manager, Hannah at hannah@manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk
The films which will be screened are as follows:
Part 1 (12A): 12:00-13:00
Cosmonaut (Dir Kaspar Jancis/Estonia 2019/12 mins/No Dialogue)
The Quiet (Dir Radheya Jegatheva /Australia 2019 /10 mins /English)
Chant of The Printing Machine (Dir Patrcija Māra Vilsone /Latvia 2019 /2 mins/ No Dialogue)

The Quiet Power of Introverts (Dir Sofja Umarik /UK 2019/ 4 mins/ English)

Shadows (Dir Phoebe Halstead and Angie Phillips/ UK 2019/ 2 mins/ English)

Plan For Peace (Dir Leo Crane /UK 2020 / 3 mins/ English)

The Great Malaise (Dir Catherine Lepage /Canada 2019 /5 mins/Niihau Hawaiian with English subtitles)

Kapaemahu (Dir Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer Joe Wilson, Daniel Sousa /United States 2020 /9 mins /English)

The Rest of My Days (Dir Jack Antoine Charlot /France 2020 /4 mins /English)

The Last Train (Dir Ross Hogg /UK 2019 /2 mins /English)

My Favourite Hill (Dir Christopher Childs /UK 2020 /4 mins /English)
Part 2 (12A): 13:30 – 14:30
Pearl Diver (Dir Margrethe Danielsen/ Norway 2021/ 9 mins/ No Dialogue)
Songs of the City (Dir Adelina Court/ UK 2020/ 3 mins/ English)
LLS – Grace (Dir Natalie Labarre/ United States 2019/ 1 min/ English)
A dog by your side (Dir Selina Wagner/ UK 2019/ 2 mins/ English)
University of Tyumen: Becoming Bold (Dir Max Kulikov/ Russia 2020/ 1 min/ Russian).
Delphine: No Dogs (Dir Anayis N. Der Hakopian/ UK 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
Alex and Mr Fluffkins (Dir Adeena Grubb and Andy Biddle/ UK 2020/ 1 min/ English)
Tick (Dir Fabienne Priess & Levin Tamoj/ Germany 2019/ 5 mins/ No Dialogue)
Biplane Model Kit (Dir Tine Kluth/ UK 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
The Physics of Sorrow (Dir Theodore Ushev/ Canada 2019/ 27 mins/ English)
Part 3 (15): 15:00 – 15:30
The Passerby (Dir Pieter Coudyzer/ Belgium 2020/ 16 mins/ Dutch)
Fail in love – Berlin (Dir Cécile Rousset, Romain Blanc-Tailleur, Adrienne Nowak/ France 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
Kroger – Aerobics (Dir César Pelizer/ United States 2020/ 1 min/ English)
Gardener & Bumblebee (Dir Ignas Meilunas/ Lithuania 2020/ 1 min/ Lithuanian)
HerStory: Máire Ní Chinnéide (Dir Richard Keane/ Ireland 2020/ 2 mins/ English)
The Song Of A Lost Boy (Dir Daniel Quirke/ UK 2020/ 10 mins/ English)
Beyond Noh (Dir Patrick Smith/ United States 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
Genius Loci (Dir Adrien Mérigeau/ France 2019/ 16 mins/ French)
PANDICULATION (Dir Konrad Hjemli, Jakob Eiring/ Norway 2020/ 3 mins/ English)
Part 4 (15): 17:00 – 18:00
I, Barnabé (Dir Jean-François Lévesque/ Canada 2020/ 15 mins/ No Dialogue)
The Winter (Dir Xin Li/ Australia 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
The Guardians (Dir AgainstAllOdds/ France 2019/ 2 mins/ No Dialogue)
Ellie’s Story (Dir Claire Grey/ UK 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
Flesh (Dir Camilia Kater/ Spain 2019/ 12 mins/ Portuguese)
Yes-People (Dir Gísli Darri Halldórsson/ Iceland 2020/ 8 mins/ Icelandic)
The Last Mother (Dir Megan De Jong/ Netherlands 2020/ 3 mins/ No Dialogue)
Pearls (Dir Idan Barzilay/ Germany 2019/ 3 mins/ Music Video)
Hijack139 (Dir Joachim Berg & Sondre Johre/ Norway 2020/ 6 mins/ English)
Part 5 (18): 18:30 – 19:30
ALTÖTTING (Dir Andreas Hykade/ Germany 2020/ 11 mins/ English)
Brother Ezekiel (Dir Leon Elliot/ Ireland 2019/ 9 mins English)
100,000 Acres of Pine (Dir Jennifer Alice Wright/ France 2020/ 7 mins/ English)
Carrion (Launch Trailer) (Dir CRCR/ France 2020/ 2 mins/ English)
Habito – The Climb (Dir Andy Baker/ United States 2020/ 1 min/ English)
Big Fish (Dir Samantha Turner & Céline Ufenast/ UK 2020/ 2 mins/ No Dialogue)
My Dream, My Taste (Dir Emily Downe/ UK 2020/ 3 mins/ English)
And Something Else (Dir Olga Kłyszewicz/ Poland 2020/ 7 mins/ English)
Disorder (Dir Robert Grieves/ Australia 2020/ 4 mins/ English)
Brazen – Mae Jemison (Dir Charlotte Cambon & Mai Nguyen/ France 2019/ 3 mins/ English)
Washing Machine (Dir Alexandra Májová/ Czech Republic 2020/ 5 mins/ No Dialogue)
Clown Suit (Dir The Brothers Mcleod/ UK 2019/ 3 mins/ English)
Free – booking strongly advised

Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) Animasyros Presents: Contemporary Greek Animated Classics
2021-11-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Animation Festival (MAF) is the UK’s largest Animation Festival and is dedicated to the celebration of the animated art form. Hosted in the Manchester Central Library and at HOME, the festival is the UK’s biggest animation hub, inviting people from Manchester and beyond to share in all things animated. A hybrid festival for 2021, MAF will take place from 14-30 November, in person and online. Passes are available to purchase here.
We’re delighted to be shining the spotlight on Greece this year with the help of our friends Animasyros International Animation Festival who have gathered a selection of Greek speaking animated films that have stood out during the past 10 years of the Festival. Curated by Animasyros Festival Director Maria Anestopoulou, Contemporary Greek Animated Classics is sure to bring a little Greek sunshine to the rainy clouds of Manchester. More details on the films and information about Tickets for this event can be found on the MAF website.
If you’re an organisation or group who would like to talk more about getting involved with MAF in the future, please contact MAF’s Audience Development Manager, Hannah at hannah@manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk
The films which will be screened are as follows:
My Stuffed Granny (Dir Effie Pappa, Greece 2014, 10 min)
The Little Elephant (Dir Effie Pappa , Greece 2019, 2 min)
Heatwave (Dir Fokion Xenos, Greece 2019, 7 min)
Violent Equation (Dir Andonis Doussias , Greece 2019, 5 min)
Τhe Lazy Dragon (Dir Fokion Xenos, Joan Zhonga, Greece 2020, 3min)
The First Kiss (Dir Angelos Spartalis, Greece 2020, 4 min)
All You Can Eat (Dir Dimitris Armenakis, Greece 2019, 5 min)
Leaf of the Poplar (Dir Irini Vianelli, Greece 2015, 4 min)
Elevator Alone (Dir Anastasia Papadopoulou, Greece 2021, 4 min)
Icebergs (Dir Efthymis Filippou, Greece 2018, 9 min)
Apodemy (Dir Katerina Athanasopoulou, Greece 2012, 5 min)
My Mother’s Coat (Dir Marie Margot Tsakiris Scanatovits, Greece 2010, 6 min)
Severambes (Dir George Kontos, Greece 2020, 12 min)
The Village (Dir Stelios Polychronakis , Greece 2020, 14 min)
Ms Metro (Dir Aggelos Papantoniou, Greece 2016, 4 min)
The Guillable Kiss of Mr Patokos (Dir Alexandros Apostolakis, Greece 2014, 5 min)
Star Fallen (Dir Alexandra Tagali, Greece 2018, 2 min)
From The Same Thread (Dir Antonia Piña, Rucha Dhayarkar, Lorène Friesenbichler, Phaedra Derizioti, Greece 2017, 4 min)
Enough (Dir Anna Mantzaris, Greece 2017, 2 min)
Water Fairy Tale (Dir Nikos Radeos, Greece 2018, 3 min)
Wandering Stories – Ariel (Dir Kleopatra Korai, Greece 2018, 2 min)

Dream FM presents: 'What do you dream of?'
2021-11-18 17:30 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Join us for the in-person premiere of What do you dream of? — a special broadcast & sound work created with the people of Greater Manchester
Night falls and metropolis mirrors the cosmos. Destinies connected by light and dust send signals, alone, to one another. The city glitters: On Air.
In August 2021, artists Danielle Swindells and Brit Seaton asked the people of Greater Manchester what they dream of. Directed to the automated voicemail system of fictional radio station Dream FM, members of the public picked up the phone and left their answers.
The sound work What do you dream of? brings together selected hotline musings of the vast metropolitan borough. Strange encounters during sleep, visions of change for a better world and personal tales of love and loss are among a constellation of intimate responses to the question, capturing an audio portrait of dreams spanning from simple and symbolic, to poetic and surreal.
What do you dream of? features an original score by Joshua Inyang and Joshua Tarelle, Space Afrika, which takes sonic cues from pre-digital airwaves, the DIY spirit of pirate radio and musical auras of Greater Manchester’s past and present.
Join us on Thursday 18 November 5.30 – 8pm at Manchester Central Library for a special premiere of the broadcast
Doors open: 5.30pm
Broadcast begins: 6.00pm
Broadcast duration: 1hr 30mins
This event is BSL Interpreted by Lizzie Wharton.
Seating will be socially distanced and we politely encourage you to wear masks unless exempt.
Free – booking required below – please cancel if you are unable to attend

Also – Online Broadcast:
What do you dream of? will also broadcast from www.dream-fm.com every night at 9.00pm from Thurs 18 Nov to Thurs 16 Dec 2021.
Inspired by the fading format of night-time radio talk shows, Dream FM stages a conceptual transmission that draws on the experience of listening together while apart, the unifying liveness of radio, and the comfort it can bring in the lonely hours when the public, as orator and audience, speaks to itself.
Dream FM is tuned in to emotional connections between strangers across Greater Manchester. The sound work platforms local voices in an experimental piece of archived social history, guided by imagination and the collective sharing of innermost thoughts.
This project is made possible with support from Manchester Independents.
Visit: www.dream-fm.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/0161dreamfm
Twitter: www.twitter.com/0161dreamfm
Email: 0161dreamfm@gmail.com

Book Launch: Nail on the Head by Paul Cookson
2021-11-24 18:30 - 19:30 | Performance Space
FLAPJACK PRESS PRESENTS:
Nail on the Head
A COVID-19 Poetry Diary, Vol. 4
Written daily throughout the UK’s restrictions to combat coronavirus, Nail on the Head takes us from the anniversary of the first lockdown, through the easing of regulations, and up to our grand reopening on so-called ‘Freedom Day’.
Humorous, compassionate, and with a principled, political edge (and more than a passing interest in the European Football Championships, as you’d expect from the National Football Museum’s poet-in-residence), this is Paul’s fourth and concluding documentation of a nation’s resolve and wellbeing.
Illustrated by Chris Riddell OBE (Children’s Laureate / Observer), Korky Paul (Winnie and Wilbur / Sir Scallywag) and Martin Chatterton (Winter of the White Bear / Bluenoses).
Cover by Martin Chatterton.
“A fresh collection of Cookson’s verse. If it’s laughter you’re after you could do worse.” – Dr John Cooper Clarke, poet
“Pithy blinders, heartfelt and moving, marvellously inventive and original … quite brilliant. When looking at the national landscape, its wounds and doughty perseverance generated by its grief besieged citizens, Paul Cookson is their sparse voice, their collective bewilderment and courage.” – Stewart Henderson, poet
“Paul Cookson is a special poet. He is a human being. Rare in this game.” – Mike Garry, poet

Manchester Celebrates International Day of Disabled People
2021-12-03 12:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
Come and celebrate the day with Manchester City Council and Manchester Met University. Activities include, screening of disability history films, panel discussion of disability past and present, short films from GMCDP Young Creatives, music from the Spotlighters, information stalls and refreshments.
Free – please drop in

Christmas Tree Traditions
2021-12-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
We will be decorating 7 community Christmas trees in a range of traditional styles. Have a go at creating your own Christmas crafts and join our Manchester communities as they share their traditional crafts.
Free – but please consider making a donation if you can either online or at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in Central Library

Christmas Extravaganza
2021-12-11 10:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
The whole family is invited to join us for Central Library’s Christmas celebrations!
We’ll have choirs singing songs and carols, Christmas crafts for children and hot chocolate and festive treats to warm you up in the cafe.
Keep an eye out for the Toy Soldiers who will be popping up during the day. We’ll also be trying to tempt Mr Scrooge to come out of his house and discover the true joy of Christmas.
One of the best people to do that is of course Father Christmas himself. I wonder if he will be making an appearance.
Free – but please consider making a donation if you can either online or at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in Central Library

Word Central
2021-12-14 18:00 - 19:45 | Performance Space
Word Central Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word Presented by Flapjack Press & Manchester Libraries.
Hosted by Tony Curry with special guest Ben Willems.
You can book your open mic slot from noon on Tuesday 30th November here.
NB Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer. Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking day. If they are already filled you will be offered a space on the reserve list.
Our special guest for the last Word Central of the year is Ben Willems. Ben writes beat-inspired performance poetry from the jumble of brain clog. He has been published by Citizen 32, The Recusant, Beatification and Some Roast Poet among others, as well as appearing in Flapjack Press’s The People’s Republic of Mancunia. Since 2013, Ben has been working on a collection of poems for all of Greater Manchester’s railway stations and expects this to be finished around 2040.

Art of Oesophageal Cancer
2022-01-10 08:00 - 2022-03-26 17:00 | First Floor Display Cases
Art of oesophageal cancer is a visual representation of one patient’s experience of going through treatment, surgery and then coming to terms with a new normal.
The subject matter touches on wider public health issues and covers the pre-cancer condition Barrett’s oesophagus, as well as the artist’s experience of chemotherapy, surgery and post-operative period in a High Dependency Unit. Although the images refer to oesophageal cancer, several can relate to any cancer or life changing illness or experience. The more recent pieces, including two short, illustrated poems, point to personal issues that require management despite an otherwise good level of health.
Manchester-born artist, Ann Wood, first started to draw to pass the time during long chemotherapy sessions. She is self-taught and like many, enjoys using art to express feelings on scenarios and life in general. The images in this exhibition are mainly figurative art using the portable media of pencils and fine liners.
The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness of oesophageal cancer and how it can be treated if caught in its early stages. The exhibition coincides with Oesophageal Cancer Awareness Month in February and the artist will also be running a virtual exhibition on Instagram to mark this month. Throughout February an image will be posted every day and will be a combination of those from the live exhibition and some of her earlier work.
A summary of the earlier cancer series is available as a free e-book downloadable from oesophagectomylife.co.uk/artbook
Instagram @annorthernlass.
Free – drop in – please consider making a donation if you can either online or at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in Central Library
