Library Live

Swinging 60's Party
2019-09-28 13:00 - 15:00 UTC | Performance Space
SORRY, THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.
You are invited to a poptastic afternoon celebrating Older People’s Day and everything 1960’s..

Featuring the fabulous Poppy Holiday!
Downtown
These Boots are made for Walking
My Boy Lollipop
Stupid Cupid
Jimmy Mack
and many more…
So get your beehives perfected, platforms polished and get ready to shimmy, twist, frug and hitch-hike the afternoon away!
Tickets are limited so please book early by calling us on 0161 234 1932.
GROOVY BABY!

Food Mania!
2019-10-03 17:30 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Let our expert Speed Mentors help you turn your new food business into a tasty success

The UK’s food and drinks sector is going from strength to strength with developments in street food and markets, pop-up catering, hospitality and myriad innovative new product launches all contributing to our growing reputation as a nation of foodies. With almost 7,000 micro, small and medium businesses in the food and drinks manufacturing sector last year, there’s certainly no shortage of new brands eager to take a bite out of the market.
Whether you’ve got an idea for a new product or service that will shake-up the sector, or you’re already small business owner in the sector with ambitions to take a bigger piece of a profitable pie, don’t miss this opportunity to chat to our seasoned food sector experts.
This fun and informal event brings together a team of experts in the food, drink and hospitality sectors to provide insight, support and guidance on everything from funding to flavour, product to packaging and seasoning to sales!
Mentors include:
Edwin Booth CBE, Chairman & CEO of Booth’s supermarkets
Emma Wren from Geordie Seoul, Korean street food
Joe Harper from Just Bee Drinks
Jason Bailey from Grub Manchester
Yetti Tabai, founder of Yetti’s Kitchen (Caribbean fusion restaurant) and author of Food Business From Home
Claire Kelsey from Ginger’s Comfort Emporium
Rachel Gilkes, Senior Enterprise Co-ordinator Back On Track
Nick Jeffs from Plant Meats Food
Alex Shaw from Kickback Coffee
If you’re a food business owner with an appetite for success, don’t miss this event.

Word Central Open Mic Poetry and Spoken Word
2019-10-03 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Hosted by Paul Neads with special guest poet Gerry Potter.
October’s guest Gerry Potter is a poet, playwright, director, actor, and both creator and destroyer of the infamous gingham diva, Chloe Poems. A favourite son of Manchester and his home town Liverpool, he trained at Everyman Youth Theatre and National Museums Liverpool lists him amongst the city’s leading LGBTQ+ icons. The portrait documentary My Name is Gerry Potter premiered at Homotopia in 2015 and his published works are included in both the poetry and philosophy collections at Harvard University. Gerry (and Chloe) has nine collections of poetry and plays published by Flapjack Press, the most recent being Manchester Isn’t the Greatest City in the World: The Rise and Rise of The Bourgeois Zeitgeist (2018). A new collection is due in 2019.
You can book your open mic slot from Thursday 12th September via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes maximum and allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. 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 Library & Information Service.
www.flapjackpress.co.uk | www.facebook.com/WordCentral | www.twitter.com/@WordCentralMcr
Manchester Central Library, St. Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD. 6pm – 8pm [doors open 5.30pm] – Free Entry.

Clementine Ford: Boys Will Be Boys
2019-10-04 19:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
‘The status quo might revere men as a class, but it destroys them as individuals.’ In Boys Will Be Boys, Australian feminist Clementine Ford’s furious and funny new book, she considers why toxic masculinity isn’t just bad for women, it’s also bad for men and boys. Through research, culture and anecdotes, Clementine looks at our approach to gender, and how it represses children and the adults they become. Rather than discussing how to arm and protect girls, Clementine flips the question and asks how should we protect boys from masculine stereotypes and raise them to be feminist allies? Hosted by Anita Sethi.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Dashehra Diwali Lantern Making Workshops
2019-10-05 00:00 - 2019-10-12 23:59 | City Library
In preparation for the Dashehra Diwali celebration on 12 October, we will be holding lantern making workshops for those wishing to be a part of the lantern parade on the evening of 12 October.
There are three sessions to choose from –
Saturday 5 October 11am–1.30pm
Saturday 5 October 2 – 4pm
Saturday 12 October 1 – 5.30pm
Free event. Suitable for ages 7+, places are limited.

Cathy Newman: Bloody Brilliant Women
2019-10-06 14:00 - 15:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Bloody Brilliant Women, Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman’s fascinating history of British women, asks two important questions: what were the sources of female power in the 20th century?, and what have women used this power to achieve? Cathy introduces us to women who’ve been long overlooked – from bookbinder Emma Paterson (founder of the Women’s Protective and Provident League) to engineer Beatrice Shilling, who invented a brass collar to prevent fuel flooding RAF plane engines. From journalist Claudia Jones (founder of Notting Hill Carnival) to those who are leading the march onwards in the 21st century. Cathy will be in conversation with host Alex Clark.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Caroline Criado Perez: Invisible Women
2019-10-06 16:30 - 18:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
It really is a man’s world. In her latest book Invisible Women, writer and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado Perez (Do It Like a Woman) considers how the perspective we have of the world has been recorded and shaped by men, leaving silence and gaps when it comes to the stories and needs of women. From the temperature in the office and the height of shelves, to smartphones and fitness monitors, work-related cancers and crash-test dummies, Caroline reveals how the data bias impacts in hidden ways on women’s health, well-being and how we live our everyday lives.
Caroline’s most notable campaigns have included getting Jane Austen – the first woman other than Queen Elizabeth II – to appear on Bank of England banknotes, and successfully campaigning for a statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett to be erected in Parliament Square. Caroline will be in conversation with host Alex Clark.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Celeste Ng in Conversation
2019-10-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Celeste Ng, author of the critically acclaimed bestsellers Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, joins us to talk about her work. Her gripping novels explore themes of race, class and privilege through family dynamics, and ideas of home and exile, both in 1970s America and the present day. Celeste questions what it means to belong, asking what happens if long-held beliefs are challenged by new events. A writer of short fiction and essays, as well as a multi-award-winning novelist, Celeste will discuss her craft, her literary influences and what it’s like to have your work adapted for television. Hosted by Anita Sethi.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

An Evening with Jim Kay: The Art of Harry Potter
2019-10-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Jim Kay will be talking about his inspiration behind the art for the book and what it was like to illustrate J.K. Rowling’s words. Jim will reveal some of the stories behind his work, the artists that have inspired him and how he goes about creating images of the key characters from the Harry Potter novels. This is a chance to get a fascinating insight in to Jim Kay’s work directly from the artist himself.
Jim Kay’s inspired reimagining of J.K. Rowling’s classic series has captured a devoted following worldwide. This stunning new fully illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire brings more breathtaking scenes and unforgettable characters to life – including Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. Fizzing with magic and brimming with humour, this full-colour edition will captivate fans and new readers alike as Harry, now in his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, finds himself competing in the legendary Triwizard Tournament and facing death-defying tasks, dragons and Dark wizards.
Jim will be signing copies of the books after the event but due to time restrictions we ask that anyone attending doesn’t ask for illustrations or doodles in their book. An exclusive dragon print by Jim Kay will be available free to everyone attending each event.

Legna Rodríguez Iglesias, Abigail Parry & Serafina Vick
2019-10-09 13:00 - 14:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Celebrated Cuban writer, Legna Rodríguez Iglesias launches her bi-lingual poetry collection A little body are many parts. Legna has won a number of prestigious national and international prizes including the Premio Paz for her collection, Miami Century Fox. Her intense, often confrontational, poetry irreverently skewers the hypocrisies of the Catholic church, and challenges social mores with an uncomfortable focus on the human body. Legna will read alongside Abigail Parry, who will share English translations of Legna’s poems, and they will be joined in conversation by bridge-translator Serafina Vick. Presented in partnership with the Poetry Translation Centre.
Tickets FREE – booking advised
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Kerry Hudson: Lowborn
2019-10-09 18:30 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
“I decided that I’d start to try to acknowledge the strength it had taken for me to get through, and over, my upbringing and become the woman I am today.”
Kerry Hudson grew up in a succession of council estates and B&Bs in some of the UK’s poorest towns. In her timely and heart-breaking memoir, Lowborn, she recounts her experiences of growing up in poverty in the 80s and 90s, returning to each of the places she was raised in – from Aberdeen to Canterbury – to see the effects of Tory austerity in the present day. Kerry is the author of two award-winning novels, Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma and Thirst. She will be in conversation with Naomi Frisby.
Tickets FREE – booking advised
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Elif Shafak
2019-10-10 18:30 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Does anyone care about a sex worker, murdered and abandoned in a bin in Istanbul? Tequila Leila’s friends do. In her superb new novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, Elif Shafak considers the meaning of family – the one we’re born into and the one we create – the restrictions society places on anyone deemed different, and what it really means to live.
Elif is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist (Honour, The Bastard of Istanbul) and the most read female author in Turkey. An advocate for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of speech, Elif is an inspiring public speaker. Presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Dashehra Diwali Celebration
2019-10-12 13:00 - 18:00
Visit Central Library during the afternoon to start the celebrations off with performances, crafts and much more.
Free for everyone. No need to book just drop in.

Deborah Levy
2019-10-13 14:00 - 15:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
‘You are history.’ In her stunning new novel, The Man Who Saw Everything, Deborah Levy considers duality: duality of time, of place, of people. She explores how those dualities might affect our perspective – personally and politically – and how time might not be linear at all.
An acclaimed British playwright, novelist and poet, Deborah has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize with her novels Swimming Home and Hot Milk. Her superb recent ‘living autobiographies’ Things I Don’t Want to Know and The Cost of Living explore what it means to be a woman and a writer in the 21st century. Hosted by Kate Feld.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Mona Eltahawy: The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls
2019-10-13 16:00 - 17:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Leading feminist activist Mona Eltahawy (Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution) is on a mission to arm women and dismantle the patriarchy. Through her new manifesto, The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, Mona plans to teach women and girls to harness their power through embracing the sins they’re not supposed to commit: to be angry, ambitious, profane, violent, attention-seeking, lustful and powerful. Join her at Manchester Literature Festival to be part of the feminist revolution.
Mona is an Egyptian-American author, broadcaster and social commentator. She has been acknowledged as spearheading the #MosqueMeToo movement and has won a number of prizes including the Women’s Media Centre Speaking Truth to Power Award. Hosted by Mariam Khan, Editor of It’s Not About the Burqa.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Deaf Education & Audiology: A Journey through Artefacts, Archives and Creativity
2019-10-14 09:00 - 2019-12-14 17:00 | First Floor Display Cases
The histories and lived experiences of deafness are rich and complex. Extraordinary technological advances have been made in the exploration of hearing, alongside a better appreciation of the social and psychological impact of sensory perception on learning. The materials displayed offer an insight into the varied historical and contemporary approaches in deaf education and audiology, from a range of perspectives. The exhibition also provokes questions around how we understand, collect and communicate D/deafness in a dominant hearing world. The exhibition is part of the 100 year anniversary celebrations of Deaf Education and Audiology at The University of Manchester.
Curated by Dr Jenna C. Ashton
Lecture and Programme Director of Heritage Studies, The University of Manchester
Free – please drop in

[image – Complexities of Lived Experience (2019), by Lawiza Tahir]

Jung Chang
2019-10-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
‘One loved money, one loved power and one loved her country’.
International bestselling Chinese author, Jung Chang discusses her gripping new biography Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China. The book tells the story of the three extraordinary Soong sisters from Shanghai who, via their own and their husbands’ positions of power, shaped the course of 20th century China, leaving an indelible mark on history.
Jung is the acclaimed author of three previous non-fiction books including Wild Swans, which has sold 20 million copies and is banned in mainland China. Hosted by Alex Clark.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Howard Jacobson
2019-10-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Is it possible to find love in your nineties? In Howard Jacobson’s hilarious new novel Live a Little, nonagenarians Beryl Dusinbery and Shimi Carmelli reflect on their lives. Beryl’s problem is that she’s forgetting things – particularly about her lovers – while Shimi remembers everything and clings to a moment of shame from his childhood. Can they find healing and redemption in each other?
A much-loved Manchester writer, Howard is the author of 16 novels including the Booker Prize-winning The Finkler Question, and won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic literature with Zoo Time.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Deborah Moggach
2019-10-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
In her witty and poignant new novel, The Carer, much loved novelist and screenwriter Deborah Moggach tells the tale of James, his new carer Mandy, and his middle-aged children, Phoebe and Robert. Has the arrival of Mandy prompted a change in James, or did Phoebe and Robert simply not know him that well in the first place?
Deborah considers family, aging, and the stories we construct to protect ourselves and others. She is the author of 19 novels, including Tulip Fever and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as well as film and television adaptations, including the BAFTA-nominated Pride & Prejudice. Hosted by Rachel Cooke.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

creative:connection
2019-10-18 13:00 - 14:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
In partnership with Create, disabled and non-disabled students from Chatsworth High School & Community College, Grange School, Loreto High School and New Park Academy will come together to take part in an award-winning music project designed to build confidence and break down barriers. Working with professional musicians, the young people will work together to write and perform original songs at this special celebratory event.
Tickets FREE – booking advised
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

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

Family Reading Day
2019-10-19 10:00 - 15:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Join us for a day of fictional fun! Enjoy FREE arts and crafts in our marketplace, and let your imagination run wild in our special story den…
Ready Steady Lift Off!: 10.30 – 11.30am
Navigate, sing, paint and play your way through astronaut training in this immersive theatre show for families, with live performance, music and storytelling. Once you’ve decorated your rocket, orbited space, encountered strange creatures and overcome cosmic catastrophes, you can fly your rocket home. Warning: Don’t wear your best party clothes!
Suitable for ages 3 to 8. Tickets £5

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Time: 11.45am – 12.15pm & 1.30 – 2pm
It’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s 50th birthday! Eric Carle’s world-famous story is the most read children’s book in Britain. Celebrate this well-loved book with a range of crafts, games and story reading by our expert storyteller.
Suitable for ages 2 to 5. FREE – booking advised

Chris Haughton: 12.30 – 1.15pm
Join Chris Haughton for a fun-packed afternoon of stories, funny trailers, clever props, dancing and drawing games. An exciting new voice in children’s literature, Chris is the acclaimed picture book creator of A Bit Lost, Oh No George!, Shh! We Have a Plan and Goodnight Everyone. Children and adults alike will delight in his cast of quirky characters.
Suitable for ages 3 to 5. Tickets £5

Giraffes Can’t Dance 20th Anniversary Dance Party: 2 – 2.45pm
Would you bet on a long-legged, wobbly-kneed giraffe to win a dance contest? We know we wouldn’t! Come and join us at the Jungle Dance as we celebrate 20 years of Giles Andraea’s bestselling book, Giraffes Can’t Dance. Unleash your inner animal and dance like your favourite jungle character with Annabel Newfield.
Suitable for ages 2 to 5. Tickets £5

For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Roving Robots Coding Workshop
2019-10-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Media Lounge
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 and above is welcome to join us in learning how to code these cute and friendly robots.
Free – please drop-in

Heather Morris: Cilka’s Journey
2019-10-20 14:00 - 15:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
‘She was the bravest person I ever met’ – Lale Sokolov. Heather Morris’s debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, became an international bestseller as it moved and uplifted readers across the world. New Zealand author, Heather joins Manchester Literature Festival to discuss the heart-breaking sequel, Cilka’s Journey.
After the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Cilka is charged as a collaborator and sent to a Siberian prison camp. Helping to tend to the ill, Cilka falls in love, finding hope in the darkest of situations. Cilka’s Journey considers the resilience of humans when confronted with death and terror. Chaired by Sherry Ashworth.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

It’s Not About the Burqa
2019-10-20 16:30 - 18:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Raifa Rafiq, Salma El-Wardany, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied & Afshan D’souza Lodhi
In 2016, former Prime Minster, David Cameron, said he considered Muslim women to be traditionally submissive. Frustrated by constantly being told what Muslim women were like, It’s Not About the Burqa anthology editor Mariam Khan wanted Muslim women to voice their own narratives and identities. Salma El-Wardany asks, ‘where’s the conversation about sex and women’s pleasure in Muslim communities?’, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied recounts her epiphany on realising that being a woman in engineering could be a good thing and Afshan D’souza-Lodhi claims her identity as a queer Muslim woman. Join them as they discuss these issues, showing It’s Not About the Burqa. Hosted by Raifa Rafiq, co-host of the Mostly Lit podcast.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

Jackie Kay Presents
2019-10-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival presents…
Exceptional times call for exceptional writers. Scottish Makar, poet, and novelist Jackie Kay introduces her selection of ten of the most exciting BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic people) writers working in the UK today.
Experience incredible writing, and find out why Jackie feels these are the writers who are influencing and shaping the UK’s poetry and literature scenes. Jackie will be joined in conversation with three of her chosen writers as she explores what makes their work so vital. Presented by the National Centre for Writing and British Council as part of the International Literature Showcase, a nationwide project to showcase the diversity of writers working in the UK today.
For tickets call the MLF box office on 0843 208 0500 or use the link below

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

A morning with Jacqueline Wilson
2019-10-26 11:00 - 12:00 | Performance Space
SORRY, THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.
Join us for this very special event with best-selling author Jacqueline Wilson. Celebrating publication of her new book, We Are The Beaker Girls, Jacqueline will discuss creating the world of Tracy Beaker and why the little girl from a children’s home has proved so popular. There will be the opportunity to ask questions and buy books. Please note there will be no book signing after this event but printed bookplates with Jacqueline’s signature on will be available with every purchase from the book stall. Customers purchasing the Book + Ticket option will receive a signed copy of We Are The Beaker Girls.
Description
The new title, We Are the Beaker Girls, sees Tracy and Jess having found happiness living above The Dumping Ground – not the care home where Tracy Beaker spent her childhood, but a seaside antique shop! As well as a bit of match-making for her mum, Jess is keen to make new friends in her new town. But it’s not plain sailing as she is being picked on by a local kid who’s got it in for her. When Jess uncovers the truth about her new enemy, Jordan, whose life has been a lot like Tracy’s, things are set to change for the Beaker Girls.
Jacqueline Wilson
Since writing The Story of Tracy Beaker in 1991, Jacqueline has been heavily involved with charities who work with children and young people in care, and recent care leavers. She has met countless young people and their foster carers from a wide variety of backgrounds, and through her books, is keen to dispel the common myths around the achievement and parenting abilities of those brought up in the care system. The Tracy Beaker books (The Story of Tracy Beaker, The Dare Game and Starring Tracy Beaker) have together sold over 3.5 million copies. The Story of Tracy Beaker was adapted into the long-running and award-winning series by CBBC and became their most successful ever show. The success resulted in two spin-off series, Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground, which continues to run on CBBC. As well as the TV series there has also been an adaptation for the stage by the Nottingham Playhouse and a successful part-work magazine.

Living Library
2019-10-26 13:00 - 16:00 | Media Lounge
A campaign that aims to change the record on ageing – Talking About My Generation – hosts people aged 50 and over, from different walks of life, who will share their personal stories that challenge age-related prejudice and stereotypes. Visitors can browse the bookcase of titles and choose the book they want to read. However, in the Living Library, books are people, and reading consists of a conversation.
Free – please drop in

Vaster than Empires - Poems about Vegetables
2019-10-26 14:30 - 16:00 | Performance Space
Grey Hen Press invites you to the book launch of ‘Vaster then Empires’ their latest poetry anthology.
Love them, sometimes loathe them, vegetables are such a part of our daily lives it can be hard to take a fresh look. Within the covers of this book you will find a market stall of beauty and desirability which will change the way you look at your 5- a- day.
‘A feast of an anthology! Funny, educative, sexy and thought-provoking, a group celebration of the humble vegetable quickly turns to pure deliciousness. From aubergine to artichoke, salsify to turnip — there’s something here for every poetry palate.’ Helena Nelson
The event will feature poets Alison Chisholm, Kerry Darbishire, Rosemary Doman and Joy Howard who will be reading from the anthology and discussing their work.
Free event. Everyone welcome.
