Library Live

Saturday Spectacular: Celebrating Bilingual Manchester
2020-03-21 13:00 - 16:00 UTC | Performance Space
THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED
Seyed Ali Jaberi and the Hamdel Ensemble bring you a hauntingly beautiful music production inspired by Persia’s beloved Sufi Mystic and renowned poet, Rumi. Join our fabulous storyteller and create “A Day out in Manchester”: a giant sized multi-lingual storybook, which will live in the library throughout March. Decorate bags, share a nice message in other languages and get storytelling hints and tips. Produced in partnership with Community Arts North West
Free – please drop in

Louis Kossuth Commemoration
2020-03-21 12:00 - 13:00 | Archives+ Ground Floor
THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED
An event to celebrate the 172nd anniversary of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, organised by the Hungarian English Cultural Society, including the official opening of the exhibition, ‘Louis Kossuth (1802-1894): Hungarian Statesman, Freedom Fighter, Exile and His Impact on Britain’ which runs from 21 March to Friday 27 March
Free – please drop in

Children's Chatter Books Reading Group
2020-03-21 08:00 - 17:00
CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Do you like reading and trying new activities? Do you want to share books you have read and make new friends?
We are starting a very special new reading group at Central Library and we are looking for members aged 8-10 year old. The reading group will run for 6 sessions. We will meet once a month on Saturdays and you will get a special joining pack to help you record the books you read.
Every session will have a theme and activities around it (i.e. superheros, comics, spies, animals). If it’s your birthday in the month then you will receive a book as a gift!
We only have 10 places, so if you are interested please email m.pasha@manchester.gov.uk and we will contact you to let you know if you have a place and further details.
If you don’t get a place in the group you will be placed on a waiting list.

Club Ceoil: Manchester’s Irish Traditional Music Archive
2020-03-19 17:00 - 18:30 | Henry Watson Music Library
THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED
A celebration of Manchester’s traditional Irish music with young musicians, plus a presentation exploring the collaboration of the Club Ceoil Archive in partnership with the British Library’s ‘Unlocking Our Sound Heritage’
Free – please drop in

Word Central Open Mic Night with Emma Decent
2020-03-18 18:00 - 19:45 | Performance Space
THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED
WORD CENTRAL open mic poetry and spoken word hosted by Tony Curry with special guest Emma Decent.
Wednesday 18th March at Manchester Central Library
6pm – 7.45pm [doors open 5.30pm] – Free Entry.
March’s special guest Emma Decent has been writing and performing for over fifteen years. She has produced two solo shows using theatre, poetry and multimedia, which have toured nationally and been described as captivating and inspiring. Emma will be bringing some new work to Word Central.
You can book your open mic slot from 2nd March via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. 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 the open mic slots are already filled you will be offered a space on the reserve list.
In association with Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries.
www.flapjackpress.co.uk/page40.htm | www.facebook.com/WordCentral | www.twitter.com/@WordCentralMcr

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

Roving Robots Coding Workshop
2020-03-14 14:00 - 16:00 | Media Lounge
THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED
Do you want to learn how to code? Come along to our new series of coding workshops for all. Families, adults, grandparents, in fact anyone aged 8 years or more, is welcome to join us to learn how to code these cute and friendly robots.
Free – please drop in

Spanish Story Time
2020-03-07 14:00 - 14:30 | Lower Ground Floor Link
Come along to a new session of stories, songs and activities in Spanish, suitable for 4-7 year olds
Monthly on a Saturday from 2.00-2.30. No need to book. Dates for 2020

7th March
4th April
2nd May
23rd May
27th June
19th September
10th October
14th November
12th December

Free – please drop in

International Women’s Day
2020-03-07 13:00 - 15:00 | Performance Space
Celebrate International Women’s Day with activities and some special community led performances. Find out more about health, employment, education and opportunities for Manchester women and girls, or just relax and catch up with friends. You can also take part in the walk through the city that leaves Cathedral Gardens at 12pm, arriving at the library around 1pm.
Free – all welcome

Festival of Belonging
2020-03-07 09:00 - 2020-03-14 17:00
Join Manchester Jewish museum in a multi-arts festival, exploring what makes us feel that we belong, how we assimilate in new places and what happens when we don’t belong. We have been thinking about the stories of Jewish people who came to Manchester in playful and creative ways. There’s theatre, comedy, music, installations, family story-telling and a unique foodie film experience to enjoy!
For more information and tickets:
https://www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com/whats-on-2/

International Mother Language Day
2020-02-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
Join us for a fun packed celebration. Communities from across the city will be delivering cultural performances and traditional crafts to share their heritage and celebrate our multilingual Manchester. Pop into the mushaira poetry pod to meet a local poet or share your own favourite poem with the Poetry Exchange. Listen to a collection of oral histories from the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre and sample delicious world food nibbles on the day!
Free – please drop in

The Poetry Exchange
2020-02-21 09:30 - 2020-02-22 16:00
Is there a poem that has been a friend to you? You are invited to book an individual slot to come and explore a poem that has been a friend to you, in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team. The conversation will take place in a quiet corner of Manchester Central Library, over a cup of tea, with two members of The Poetry Exchange team. Together, you’ll explore your chosen poem and the ways it has been a friend to you in your life. In exchange, you’ll receive a gift: a special recording of your chosen poem, inspired by the conversation. You are welcome to bring along a poem written in any language, preferably with an accompanying English translation. The conversation will be held in English but an interpreter can be arranged on request. Alternatively, you are very welcome to bring along a friend or family member to act as an interpreter for you, as part of the conversation.
Please note: we invite you to explore a poem that you have read or encountered, rather than written, since it is the connection between a reader and the words of another that we are exploring through The Poetry Exchange.
Exchanges (lasting 45 minutes) are still available at the following times:
Friday 21st: 09:30; 10:45; 12:00; 13:30; 16:00
Saturday 22nd: 09:30; 10:45; 12:00; 14:45; 16:00
Free – booking required
To book your visit to The Poetry Exchange – or if you have any questions – please contact Sally Anglesea on sally@thepoetryexchange.co.uk or 07598 596885

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LGBTQ+ MIXTAPE
2020-02-19 18:00 - 20:00
This LGBT History Month Unlocking Our Sound Heritage presents an intimate room of curated archive audio and immersive projections.
Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community took to both the streets and the dancefloor in response to the AIDS crisis and the introduction of Section 28.
The event explores these vital spaces of defiance by pairing key BBC Radio Manchester news stories with Manchester’s favourite disco tracks.
https://northwestsoundheritage.org/
You can find out more about the national Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project at the British Library’s website. Unlocking Our Sound Heritage is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
https://www.bl.uk/projects/unlocking-our-sound-heritage

Museum of Me Collage Workshop
2020-02-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Activity Room (Lower Ground Floor)
This workshop will be of interest to people who would like to find a new and creative way to explore their family history and want to learn more about how encounters with objects can stimulate strong emotions and feelings. Artist Helena Tomlin has been working with the Centre for Jewish Studies at The University of Manchester to create a piece of work in response to two objects she has selected from the collection of objects at the John Rylands Library: an Esther scroll and a marriage contract, which form part of The 50 Jewish Objects. Helena aims to share in this workshop her methods of working which include text, collage and stitch to help participants create a small box artwork on the theme of The Museum of Me.
Limited numbers – book below

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

Debate Club
2020-02-17 17:00 - 19:00 | Seminar Suite, Floor Two
Join young people who want to discuss and debate a range of subjects in this informal setting. This month’s debate club coincides with Refugee Week, and young people will be discussing issues faced by children torn from their home. If you are a young person who has relocated to the UK, come and join us and share your experiences.
Free – please drop in

World Book Day Costume Workshop with Clore Art Studio Costume Factory
2020-02-17 13:00 - 2020-02-18 15:00 | Media Lounge
Get costume ready for World Book Day on Thursday 5th March!
Let us help you get your character ideas flowing and costumes started! Come along for inspiration and assistance in designing, cutting and stitching felt masks, head-dresses and logos to bring your Gruffalos and Gangsta Grannies to life!
Free – please drop in

LGBTQ+ Family Saturday Spectacular
2020-02-15 13:00 - 16:00
Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month with Manchester Libraries!
We’ve lots of events for all families, including a –

Drag Queen Storytime with Angel Delight
Family craft sessions
Green screen photography
Celebration disco

Free – please drop in

Angel Delight's Valentine Party
2020-02-14 19:00 - 22:00
Once, twice, three times a lady!
The gorgeous Angel Delight is back by popular demand for her 3rd party night at Central Library!
This time we’re celebrating LGBTQ History Month with lots of games and fun, including a queer version of Mr and Mrs!
Over 18’s only.
Doors open at 6.30pm
Bar open all evening

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

Queering the Archive with the LGBT Foundation
2020-02-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Performance Space
Join us for an exploration of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ history specially curated by the LGBT Foundation Archive team. There will be a chance to find out more about the LGBT Foundation archive and the work of the volunteers who manage it and to share memories and information. There will be a chance to view some of the archives from the collections held in Archives+ at Manchester Central Library on the theme of Poetry, Prose and Plays.
Free – booking advised

Always Something Moves
2020-02-08 14:00 - 16:00
Mark Devereux Projects presents a new performance by artist Sophie Lee with SHE Choir, Manchester. Taking place in various spaces within the venue, the artist has written and produced a new song combining words and phrases from forgotten books as part of her touring project, Always Something Moves.
Free-please drop in

Celebrate Harry Potter Day
2020-02-08 12:00 - 16:00 | Media Lounge
Join us for lots of enchanting arts and magical crafts as we celebrate all things Harry Potter!
Suitable for families. Under 8’s must be accompanied by an adult
Free – please drop in

An Evening with Rosie Garland and Friends
2020-02-07 19:00 - 21:00
Celebrate LGBTQ History Month with the wonderful Rosie Garland and her favourite Manchester based LGBTQ performers, poets and authors!
Novelist, poet and singer with post-punk band The March Violets, Rosie Garland has a passion for language nurtured by public libraries. Her work has appeared in Under the Radar, The North, Spelk, Rialto, Butcher’s Dog, Ellipsis, Mslexia & elsewhere. Debut novel, The Palace of Curiosities, was nominated for both The Desmond Elliott and Polari First Book Prize and Vixen was a Green Carnation Prize nominee. Latest novel The Night Brother is described by The Times as “a delight: playful and exuberant… with shades of Angela Carter.”
She is inaugural writer in residence at The John Rylands Library, Manchester, and in 2019 Val McDermid named her as one of the Top 10 LGBTQ writers in the UK today.
Joining Rosie will be…
Okey Nzelu.
Okey Nzelu’s prose and poetry has been published in various magazines. He was the recipient of a 2015 Northern Writers’ Award for his debut novel, The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney, a comedy about family and making mistakes.
Roma Havers
Roma Havers is a Manchester-based queer poet and performer, whose current work explores, failing bodies outness and how poetry can shorthand memory into something new. While working with Young Identity she has been commissioned by HOME, Manchester Histories and Manchester International Festival
Afshan D’souza-Lodhi
Afshan D’souza-Lodhi was born in Dubai and is of Indian/Pakistani descent. Afshan writes plays, prose, performance pieces and occasionally passive aggressive tweets. She has worked with Manchester Lit Festival, The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Eclipse Theatre, Paul Burston’s Polari and one day hopes to take over the world.
Helen Darby
Helen Darby is a poet from Manchester who has been appearing at spoken word nights around the North West since 2018. Her red-pill poems will wet your eyes, offer Kleenex, then slice your fingertips off with Stanley knives, so you can touch pain in ways you’ve never imagined.
She has performed invited guest slots at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Lancaster Spotlight, That’s What She Said Manchester, Superbia for Manchester Pride, Manchester Museum, New Mills Festival, Stirred and the Fight Like a Girl cancer charity night at the Kings Arms in Salford.

Common Salt
2020-02-07 11:30 - 15:30
Common Salt
Sheila Ghelani and Sue Palmer
Common Salt is a performance around a table – a ‘show and tell’. It explores the colonial, geographical history of England and India taking an expansive and emotional time-travel, from the first Enclosure Act and the start of the East India Company in the 1600s, to 21st century narratives of trade, race and culture.
Sue and Sheila activate insights into our shared past, laying out a ‘home museum’ of objects and stories; of the Great Hedge of India, of borders, and collections – all accompanied by original Shruti box laments.
Common Salt is a reckoning; the interconnectedness between history, empire, nature and memory is hidden in plain sight.
“Common Salt … was exquisite … A miniature with epic undertones.”
“Intruiging and mesmerising”
“Like reading a book in 3D real life”
Audience Feedback
Supported using public funds by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Tickets:
We seat up to 25 people around the table for each performance.
13 x full price tickets @ £5
12 x concession tickets @ £2.50 (students, over 60s and those in receipt of benefits)
Performances are at 11.30 – 12.30 and 2.30 – 3.30.
Please contact us if you have any problem booking tickets through ‘Contact the organiser’ and we will help sort it out.
Common Salt lasts for 65 minutes. You are welcome to stay to talk with us after the show.

Word Central Open Mic Night
2020-02-06 18:00 - 20:00
WORD CENTRAL open mic poetry and spoken word hosted by Tony Curry
February’s special guest poet is Ben Mellor
Ben is writer, performer and facilitator who has worked in theatres, festivals, schools, colleges and prisons nationally and internationally. He has created seven touring theatre shows incorporating spoken word, storytelling, theatre, music, beatbox and vocal looping. As a facilitator and director, Ben has worked with hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds in schools, colleges, universities, theatres, community centres and prisons. He has worked in partnership with venues and organisations such as Apples & Snakes, Contact, The Lowry, The Royal Exchange, Manchester Literature Festival and Shakespeare Schools Festival and has featured on BBC Radio 4, 4 Extra, the World Service and a variety of poetry podcasts. He is a former BBC Radio 4 Slam Champion and winner of the Dike Omeje Slam Poetry Award, and is currently Youth Theatre Director with Collective Encounters. He has two collections published by Flapjack Press, Anthropoetry and Light Made Solid.
You can book your open mic slots from 22nd January via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk
NB Open mic slots are 3 minutes maximum
Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking day – if the open mic slots are already filled you will be offered a space on the reserve list
In association with Flapjack Press and Manchester Libraries
www.flapjackpress.co.uk/page40.htm | Facebook: Word Central | Twitter: @WordCentralMcr

Holocaust Brunch: a performance by Tamara Micner
2020-01-27 19:30 - 21:30 | Performance Space
As part of Holocaust Memorial Day, Holocaust Brunch explores what it’s like living in the shadow of genocide and displacement. Darkly funny, moving and provocative, this show asks how we can honour the histories we inherit whilst breaking free from them, and whether the weight of inheritance can be turned into a gift.
Admission fees act as a contribution to the Jewish Museum’s Holocaust Education Programme

Songs of Arrival
2020-01-27 16:00 - 17:00 | Henry Watson Music Library
As part of Holocaust Memorial Day, Manchester Jewish Museum’s song-writing group will present an initial performance of songs inspired by the moving stories of Jewish Refugees arriving in Cheetham in the 1930s and 1940s. We have been working with baritone singer Peter Brathwaite (originally from Cheetham) Israeli opera composer Na’ama Zisser and community composer and saxophonist Joe Steele for the past 6 months to bring to life the real life stories within our oral history collection, highlighting the experience of those arriving in Cheetham having fled their home countries.
Free – please drop in

Sunday Funday: Chinese New Year
2020-01-26 12:00 - 16:00
Join us for a celebration of Chinese arts, crafts and culture on one of our exclusive Sunday openings. We are celebrating the Year of the Rat with musicians, artists and activities for all the family. Soak up the atmosphere with traditional Chinese music, art and dance. Take part in an afternoon packed full of Chinese traditions with the Confucius Institute of Manchester University. Join free drop-in workshops, where you can learn about the Chinese tea ceremony. Be sure to arrive early to see the fantastic lion dance performances from Manchester Chi Mo Martial Art Centre outside the library just before we open at 12pm.
Free drop in event – please donate what you can afford on the day or make an online donation here
Donations received will help to support future cultural events like Sunday Fundays!

Remembering Biafra: Public History for Community Empowerment
2020-01-25 10:00 - 18:30 | Performance Space
January 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigeria-Biafra war (1967-1970). The Nigerian civil war invites profound questions on issues like the legacies of British colonialism, the challenges of peaceful ethnic coexistence, mass starvation and humanitarianism, and the influence of foreign powers on African politics. This event brings together academics, film-makers and local communities to explore the contested history and legacies of this controversial and poorly understood page in 20th century history.
Free- please drop in
