What's on

Over 50’s Line Dance Extravaganza

Performance Space

To Celebrate Valuing Older People’s Day, Manchester Libraries and Manchester Prairie Dogs present A BEGINNERS LINE DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA Age friendly line dance lessons County and Western photo booth Games and quizzes Refreshments at the Watering Hole Places are free but limited so please book early by calling 0161 234 1940 or emailing j.kettlety@manchester.gov.uk.  

She Wrote Her Own Eulogy – Book Launch

Performance Space

The launch of Shirley May's first book of poetry, 'She Wrote Her Own Eulogy', published by Wrecking Ball Press. Shirley will be sharing some of the poems from her book and discussing it with the audience. Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase. Shirley is the director of Young Identity writing collective, […]

How Our Schools Fail Black Children… and what we can do about it

Performance Space

Join the Unison Black Members Committee and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre (AIUC) for a discussion of the past, present and future of the education of black and Asian children in the UK. In recent years we have seen an increase in hate crimes and the Government use of Prevent, targeting Muslim school […]

Peterloo: Voices, Sabres and Silence

Performance Space

Join author Graham Phythian for an evening of readings and music to celebrate the launch of his new book. Graham has drawn extensively on archives, published works, and interviews with descendants of people who were present at Peterloo. He has spent over three years researching the topic, revisiting well known sources - as well as […]

An Evening with Alexander McCall Smith

Performance Space

20 years ago, Precious Ramotswe established The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in Gabarone, Botswana. The subsequent novels in Alexander McCall Smith’s series became a literary phenomenon, and have since been translated into 46 different languages. A prolific and much-loved writer, Alexander has written and contributed to over 100 books, and his series, 44 Scotland […]

£10

Fun Palaces

Performance Space

'Everyone an Artist, Everyone a Scientist' Come along to the Fun Palace for a day filled with crafts, skills, demonstrations and activities. Listen, watch, take part, share and get inspired! You'll find Fun Palaces across the city on Saturday 6 October at: Fallowfield  10.30-12.30 Wythenshawe Forum  2.00-4.00 North City  12.00-4.00 Longsight  12.00-4.00 funpalaces.co.uk Free - just drop in

Azita Ghahreman & Maura Dooley

Performance Space

One of Iran’s leading poets, Azita Ghahreman’s work is lyrical and intimate, addressing themes of loss, exile and female desire, as well as the changing face of her country. Her latest collection, Negative of a Group Photograph, brings together three decades of poems brought to life in English by the poet Maura Dooley, working in […]

Pat Barker: The Silence of the Girls

Performance Space

The tale of Achilles and the Trojan War has been told many times, but what about the stories of the women? In The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker imagines The Iliad from the perspective of Briseis, the former queen awarded to Achilles as a prize of war. Drawing together the feminist focus of her […]

£10

Take Ten With The Writing Squad

Performance Space

You have ten minutes. Ten minutes to go anywhere you like, with anyone, in any time - the past, the future, in this world, out of this world - where would you go? Open a book and read yourself there, pick up a pen and write yourself away. Stay close to home, enter a different dimension, go […]

I’m Torn to Pieces Dear Poet, Come to my Rescue… by Firoozeh Fozouni

City Library

Part of the Journeys Festival International event Ancient Objects, New Writing. Firoozeh Fozouni will perform her work and talk about the project along with members of the Journeys Festival International and Manchester Museum curatorial teams. Firoozeh  was born in Iran and is a Poet, Author, Painter, Visual Artist and Musician. She has published 5 books of poetry - 12 of her books were not allowed to be distributed and […]

Free

Mohammed Hanif in Conversation 

Performance Space

Q: What do an American pilot who’s crashed in the desert, a teenager full of money-making schemes, and a dog suffering through a very bad day have in common? A: They all narrate the new, hilariously funny novel, Red Birds, by acclaimed author Mohammed Hanif (A Case of Exploding Mangoes). Through the inhabitants of the […]

£7

Carol Ann Duffy, Suzanne Batty & Clare Shaw

Performance Space

Come and celebrate the launch of three of the most anticipated and emotionally charged poetry books of the year. Carol Ann Duffy’s final collection as Poet Laureate, Sincerity, is a frank, disarming and deeply moving exploration of loss and remembrance in their many forms. Carol Ann has received numerous awards for her candid and heartfelt […]

£10