International Women’s Day Celebration
2024-03-09 13:30 - 14:30 UTC | Performance Space
The Latin American Women’s community in Manchester will commemorate the day through poems and dance. Colibrí Mexican Folkdance UK will perform a traditional dance and a choreography to reflect the problem of femicide in Latin America.
Free – just drop in. Please support our cultural programme by donating at our cash or contactless donation boxes, or online.

Crime Central Returns!
2024-03-13 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
Crime Central returns on Wednesday 13th March!
Our host Rob Parker has been curating some wonderful events over the next few months and he’s relaunching Crime Central with a corking line up!
Rob Parker will be in conversation with Chris McGeorge, Guy Hale and Marnie Riches!

Bringing the best from all over!
Featuring the best and brightest crime writing talent both locally and from around the country – the big names are all coming to Manchester!
Go behind the scenes!
Showcasing blockbuster bestsellers, emerging talent and industry insiders, Crime Central will share the real story of what goes on in the crime world.
Meet your favourite authors!
With giveaways, audience interaction, book signings, the chance to ask questions and more – while bringing a crime fiction buzz back to this great northern city.
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis. They range from £2 – £6 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.
All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.
Signed books will be available to purchase after the event.

VULTURE CAPITALISM - Grace Blakeley Book Launch
2024-03-14 18:00 - 19:30 | Performance Space
We’re thrilled to be welcoming author and jounalist Grace Blakeley to Manchester for the launch of her explosive new book VULTURE CAPITALISM – a fresh look at the problems of our late stage capitalism crisis and what we can do to stop it.
Doors: 6.00, starts: 6.30
Tickets are £5.00 or free when ordering a copy of the book. VULTURE CAPITALISM will also be available to purchase on the night and Grace will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please contact us on 0161 274 3331 or manchester@blackwell.co.uk and we can arrange this for you.
About the book:
‘A galvanising takedown of neoliberalism’s “free market” logic, one rooted in as much history as it is in current events’ – Naomi Klein
Everything you know about capitalism is wrong.
Free markets aren’t really free. Record corporate profits don’t trickle down to everyone else. And we aren’t empowered to make our own choices – they’re made for us every day.
In Vulture Capitalism, acclaimed journalist Grace Blakeley takes on the world’s most powerful corporations by showing how the causes of our modern crisis are the intended result of our capitalist system. It’s not broken, it’s working exactly as planned. From Amazon to Boeing, Henry Ford to Richard Nixon, Blakeley shows us exactly where late-stage capitalism has gone wrong.
Searing, explosive and timely, Vulture Capitalism is the book you need to understand what is happening in the world around you – and what you can do to change it.
About the author:
Grace Blakeley, one of the fiercest economic thinkers her generation, is an author, journalist, and political commentator. She attended University of Oxford where she graduated with a first-class honours degree in philosophy, economics, and politics. She has written for the Guardian, Tribune and the New Statesman among others, and appears regularly on television and radio, including on ITV Good Morning Britain, TalkTV and Jeremy Vine on Channel Five. She is the author of Stolen (Repeater) and The Corona Crash (Verso).

Behind the Scenes Tour
2024-03-21 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 to 20 people, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
Please meet in the main entrance (Shakespeare Hall) of Central Library from 5.45pm. The tour starts at 6pm.
Did you know, you can join our Library Lovers scheme and enjoy a free tour, plus discounts in our shop and cafe, and invites to other events and exhibition launches? Find out more and join online.

Percival Everett in Conversation
2024-04-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Presented by Manchester Literature Festival
‘With my pencil, I wrote myself into being.’
In James, Percival Everett’s thrilling retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the enslaved Jim is allowed to tell his story for the first time. While journeying down the Mississippi with Huck, Jim has a series of adventures and encounters. Often terrifying but hilariously recounted, they highlight the absurdity of white superiority and the ways in which Jim has been forced to hide his true intellect and abilities. In Hernan Diaz’s words, James is a ‘canon-shatteringly great book’.
Described by The Washington Post as ‘One of the most inimitable and distinct voices in contemporary American fiction’, Percival is the author of over thirty books. The Trees was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. Erasure has been adapted into the Oscar-nominated film American Fiction starring Jeffrey Wright.
Presented in partnership with LibraryLive, the Centre for New Writing, Creative Manchester and Blackwell’s.

Greater Mancunians Exhibition
2024-04-19 08:00 - 2024-06-29 17:00 | First Floor Exhibition Hall
The Manchester College presents Greater Mancunians – a student led, landmark photography project, seven years in the making. The exhibition celebrates people born and bred in Greater Manchester, or those who have made it their home and have in some way shaped the city and its surrounding boroughs, for the greater good. They include musicians, sportsmen and women, entertainers, entrepreneurs, politicians, actors, academics, comedians, artists and community champions – all photographed at a poignant or significant location of their choosing, and very much a celebration of the Mancunian spirit.
Why not take a look at BBC NW Tonight’s excellent review piece of the exhibition on Instagram before of after your visit or the exhibition taster on YouTube
Free – drop in – please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in the venue, or online

David Nicholls in Conversation
2024-04-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
Presented by Manchester Literature Festival
A welcome return to Manchester Literature Festival for one of the UK’s best loved authors. David Nicholls joins us to discuss his witty and engrossing new novel, You Are Here. The story of two lonely people, thirty-eight-year-old Marnie and forty-two-year-old Michael, battered by break-ups and the loss of the futures they’d hoped for. Brought together by a mutual friend, they embark on the Coast to Coast walk. As they travel through stunning landscapes and pouring rain, Marnie and Michael are reminded how to open up to new people, how to have fun in sometimes arduous conditions, and, ultimately, how to love.
David is the best-selling author of five previous novels including Starter for Ten, which has recently been turned into a musical, and One Day, which has been adapted into a new Netflix series starring Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall. He is also a talented screenwriter, garnering an Emmy nomination and a BAFTA win for best writer for his adaptation of Edward St Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose novels, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Presented in partnership with LibraryLive, the Centre for New Writing, Creative Manchester and Waterstones Deansgate.

Manchester British Sign Language Festival
2024-04-23 11:00 - 12:00
BSL (British Sign Language) is coming to Central Library! Join us for the first of two free taster sessions and see popular children’s stories come to vibrant, visual life by the wonderfully talented local BSL storyteller, Kate Tinston. A BSL English interpreter will provide voice over in English so non-signers and BSL signers can participate fully together. All little ones and their adults, students of BSL and anyone who is curious to see the beauty of signed stories is very welcome.
Free – booking required by emailing angela.rawcliffe@manchester.gov.uk or claire@bslcelebration.com

Word Central
2024-04-23 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Word Central Open mic poetry and spoken word.
Presented by Manchester Libraries and Flapjack Press.
Hosted by Tony Curry with special guest poet Andy Millican.
Our guest for April is Andy Millican, a multiple poetry competition winner who has had several poems broadcast on the BBC and is host of Glossop Open Mic at Glossop Labour Club. In 2018 he was invited to write and record a series of poems for the Hollingworth Lottery funded project Centenary Word War, and has also collaborated with Stockport Art Guild and artist Mark Sheeky. His debut collection, Nebulous, was published in 2019, raising money for Liverpool Eye Cancer Unit, and his latest, Something Wicked This Way Grows, was published in 2023.
Event host Tony Curry is a poet, playwright and workshop facilitator who runs literature-in-the-community projects with a specific leaning towards mental health and wellbeing. His work has been exhibited at Manchester’s museum and art galleries, and his play, The Teddy Bear, was staged at Contact Theatre. Tony’s solo spoken word shows include Brit Boy, Complicit Relations, Moving and The Odyssey, performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, and he will be gigging his new show, Tall Tales for All Men, adapted from his collection Tall Tales for Tall Men Who Fall Well Short throughout the latter half of 2024.
Book your open mic slot from noon on Tues 9th April via mail@flapjackpress.co.uk.
N.B. Open mic slots are 3 minutes per performer. It is essential that you stay within this timeframe. Performance slots are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis from the stated booking time. If they are already filled you will be offered a place on the reserve list.

George the Poet
2024-04-24 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
TRACK RECORD – George the Poet in conversation with Okechukwu Nzelu
Join us for the Manchester launch of TRACK RECORD – the ground-breaking new memoir from acclaimed rapper and podcast host, George the Poet.
We’re thrilled to be hosting the Manchester launch of George the Poet’s ‘Track Record: Me, Music and the War on Blackness’. Part memoir, part interrogation of politics, capitalism and race, Track Record is a powerful and brutally honest look at the world in which we live and a searing piece of social commentary that radically shifts the conversation around race and power. George will be in conversation with Okechukwu Nzelu (Here Again Now)
Doors: 6.00, starts: 6.30
Tickets are £8 or free when pre-ordering a copy of the book. TRACK RECORD will also be available to purchase on the night and George will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please contact us on 0161 274 3331 or manchester@blackwell.co.uk and we can arrange this for you.
About the book:
‘When Grime became the soundtrack to our lives, it gave a voice to the hustle. We were all looking for money, but it was deeper than that; we were looking for a future.’
George the Poet knows better than anybody the importance of understanding your surroundings.
Born to Ugandan parents on the St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, north-west London, George Mpanga has always been aware of his community. It was both his teacher and his inspiration – giving him the language, the experiences, and the skills to become the person he is today.
In Track Record, George unveils the power dynamics that shape our world, shedding light on the forces that restrict Black creativity and put limits on Black excellence. By interrogating the history of colonialism and exploring capitalism’s racist legacy, George offers a fresh perspective on the world around us.
Delving into the music scene and crucial political and economic moments in history, this book provides the backstory of where we are today.
Honest, thought-provoking, and passionate, Track Record is a ground-breaking memoir by one of the UK’s most unique voices.

Manchester British Sign Language Festival
2024-04-25 11:00 - 12:00
BSL (British Sign Language) is coming to Central Library! Join us for this second of two free taster sessions and see popular children’s stories come to vibrant, visual life by the wonderfully talented local BSL storyteller, Kate Tinston. A BSL English interpreter will provide voice over in English so non-signers and BSL signers can participate fully together. All little ones and their adults, students of BSL and anyone who is curious to see the beauty of signed stories is very welcome.
Free – booking required by emailing angela.rawcliffe@manchester.gov.uk or claire@bslcelebration.com

Northern Publishers' Fair 2024
2024-04-27 11:00 - 15:30 | Performance Space
DISCOVER THE BEST OF NORTHERN PUBLISHING AT THE FREE NORTHERN PUBLISHERS’ FAIR 2024
Fly on the Wall Press is excited to announce the return of the Northern Publishers’ Fair in 2024. This free event is an opportunity for book lovers and industry professionals to come together and browse an impressive selection of books from some of the North’s most respected publishers. Attendees will also have the chance to network with industry leaders and discover new and exciting titles from a range of genres. Incline Press will also bring a printing press to show how printed materials come to life!
Drop in, browse books, network & have a coffee!
Publishers in attendance include:
Fly on the Wall Press, Northodox Press, Saraband, Incline Press, Vertebrate Publishing, Bent Key Publishing, Peepal Tree Press, Fine Press Poetry, Nightjar Press, Confingo Publishing/Greenhouse Books, Comma Press, Stairwell Books, UCLAN Publishing, Flapjack Press, Sinoist Books, Carcanet Press, and more.
Free – drop in. Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes or online

Crime Central
2024-04-30 18:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Rob Parker continues to spoil you with another perfect panel of authors!
Joining him in April will be Judith O’Reilly, Charlotte Vassell and F.E. Birch!

Bringing the best from all over!

Featuring the best and brightest crime writing talent both locally and from around the country – the big names are all coming to Manchester!
Go behind the scenes!
Showcasing blockbuster bestsellers, emerging talent and industry insiders, Crime Central will share the real story of what goes on in the crime world.
Meet your favourite authors!
With giveaways, audience interaction, book signings, the chance to ask questions and more – while bringing a crime fiction buzz back to this great northern city.
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis. They range from £2 – £6 plus the Eventbrite booking fee.
All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances.
Signed books will be available to purchase after the event.

Olivia Laing: The Garden Against Time
2024-05-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Performance Space
Presented by Manchester Literature Festival.
‘A garden is a time capsule, as well as a portal out of time.’
In her compelling new work of non-fiction The Garden Against Time, Olivia Laing brings to life her own slice of paradise: the restoration of a garden designed by Mark Rumary of Notcutts. Alongside her own endeavours, Olivia explores the idea of paradise and gardens, real and imagined, through the work of Derek Jarman, W.G. Sebald, John Milton, John Clare, William Morris and many others. She considers how gardens are political and how these slices of Eden survive war, offer a place for rebel outposts and communal utopias, and and bring joy during difficult times.
Simply one of our most exciting writers’ – The Observer. Olivia is a widely acclaimed author and critic. She is the author of seven books including The Lonely City, The Trip to Echo Spring, Everybody: A Book About Freedom and Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency. Her first novel, Crudo, was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the 2019 James Tait Memorial Prize. In 2018 she was awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction and has written extensively about writers, art and creativity, including essays and forewords on Virginia Woolf, David Wojnarowicz, Cookie Mueller, Chantal Joffe and Wolfgang Tillmans.
Presented in partnership with Library Live, the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.

Tan Dun's Ghost Opera and the Chinese New Wave
2024-05-13 18:00 - 19:00 | Performance Space
The work of a group of modern Chinese composers known as the ‘New Wave’ generation, including Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, and Chen Yi, has greatly boosted contemporary Chinese music. Po Hang Yuen’s talk will examine Tan Dun’s use of ethnic elements, particularly focusing on Ghost Opera (1994).
Free – booking required. Please support our cultural programme by donating at our cash or contactless donation boxes or online.

An Evening with David Mitchell
2024-05-14 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Literature Festival, in partnership with Library Live, is thrilled to welcome author David Mitchell to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his epic, polyphonic novel Cloud Atlas.
Originally published in 2004, Cloud Atlas quickly became a firm favourite with readers, critics and booksellers. The Independent called it “a novel of breath-taking ambition and scale” whilst the New York Times raved “Mitchell is, clearly, a genius. He writes as though at the helm of some perpetual dream machine.” Gloriously inventive and genre-defying, Cloud Atlas features six interconnected stories that take the reader on an adventure from the nineteenth century to a post-apocalypse future. The novel also erases the boundaries of time, genre and language, to offer an enthralling look at humanity’s will to power, and where it will lead us.
David Mitchell is the author of 9 novels including number9dream, Black Swan Green, The Bone Clocks and Utopia Avenue. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice and in 2018, he won the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence, given in recognition of a writer’s entire body of work. His screenwriting credits include the TV shows Pachinko, Sense8, and the movie Matrix: Resurrections.
Join us to see David discuss creating Cloud Atlas; his storytelling techniques and fictional worlds; the film adaptation by the Wachowskis; his screenwriting work and his literary and cultural influences. Hosted by critic and podcast presenter Naomi Frisby.
NB: A special 20th anniversary edition of Cloud Atlas will be available to buy on the night, from our bookshop partner Waterstones Deansgate, featuring a Foreword by Gabrielle Zevin (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow), an Afterword by David and special sprayed edges and endpapers.

Blue Peter Book Club Live at Central Library!
2024-05-18 10:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Libraries, CBBC and The Reading Agency are excited to announce Blue Peter Book Club Live!
Blue Peter, the BBC’s iconic children’s television series, is partnering with The Reading Agency and Manchester Libraries on an exciting new initiative called Blue Peter Book Club Live. This ambitious project aims to inspire a love of reading and creativity in primary school-aged children across Greater Manchester and throughout the UK.

Blue Peter Book Club Live Saturday 18th May.
Join the Blue Peter presenters Abby, Joel and Shini (and Henry the Dog!) for a day celebrating the love of reading. There’ll be guest authors, creative crafts, special story times, masses of books and a chance to meet some magical classic book characters!
Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho and children’s author Eve Ainsworth will be chatting to the Blue Peter presenters about their fantastic books.
We’ll ALSO be joined by George and Gyasi from CBeebies Bedtime Stories!

FREE EVENT. EVERONE WELCOME!!
Blue Peter Badge Trail
We’ll also be launching The Blue Peter badge trail on the day. Grab one of our special trail maps and take up the challenge to discover the massive Blue Peter badges on display in 12 different venues across Manchester.
Hunt for a Book Club Book!
Fancy getting your hands on a FREE copy of one of the Book Club books? We’ll be hiding them all over Manchester! We’ll also be holding a range of “Book Hunt” events over the summer in Manchester parks and open spaces.

Blue Peter Book Club Live across the UK
Libraries and schools will be able to participate in The Blue Peter Book Club Live using activity packs and reading resources developed by The Reading Agency to create a nationwide celebration.
The Blue Peter Book Club introduces young readers to new writing and encourage a love of reading. In partnership with The Reading Agency an expert panel of librarians, booksellers and children in library sessions, chose a list of Blue Peter Book Club recommended reads from awesome authors and fantastic illustrators.
The Blue Peter Book Club Live will have a major presence on broadcast and digital. A special episode Blue Peter Book club Live will be shown on CBBC and iPlayer, 5pm, Friday 24th May live from Media City UK with authors and local school children taking part. Working in collaboration with BBC Arts, Blue Peter will also produce book review content, animations, digital games and more to engage kids at home and in the classroom.
The Blue Peter Book Club Live will take place into Summer 2024 with a series of pop-up events at libraries and schools across the UK.
The Blue Peter Book Club Live is supported through funding from Arts Council England’s Project Grants.

French Film Club: Un Homme de Trop
2024-05-20 17:45 - 19:45 | Performance Space
Join us and Alliance Française de Manchester for this month’s film, Un Homme de Trop; a WWII rescue drama in which twelve captured French soldiers await their impending executions in a German prison camp. Suitable for those aged 12 and over. Under-18s remain the responsibility of their parent or guardian.
Free – booking required – please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in the venue, or online

A Monumental Effort: Restoring the Albert Memorial Afternoon Lecture
2024-05-23 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Town Hall has been closed since January 2018 for an extensive restoration programme that will repair and upgrade the building to modern standards. The work will include the conservation of many heritage features.
Our series of Heritage Lectures aims to shine a light on some of the fascinating work that’s been going on behind the scenes. We’ve already heard about the work on our paintings, mosaic flooring, clock, stained-glass windows, organ and furniture. Now it’s time to turn our attention outside of the building to the iconic Albert Memorial in Albert Square.
Strictly speaking, the memorial is quite separate. It was built and completed well before the Town Hall, predating it by a decade. But the Our Town Hall Project encompasses the public realm too, and the decision was made – very early in the project – to include the Albert Memorial as part of it.
The first monument to commemorate Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial is an elaborate Gothic enclosure, protecting a marble statue of the Prince. The high levels of decoration on the 73’ high memorial represent his interests. There are portraits of famous men and the coats of arms of his dominions in Saxony. The memorial was created by Matthew Noble and completed in 1866.
Join us in Central Library for a chance to hear from our lead Architect, Jamie Coath from Purcell, and Steve Eccleshre from Bullen Conservation, the stonemasons currently working on the memorial’s restoration and repair.
The free lecture starts at 1pm and is repeated at 5.30pm Please book your place for either by clicking the links below:

1pm lecture. Doors open 12.30pm for a 1pm start (ends 2.15pm)
5.30pm lecture. Doors open 5pm for a 5.30 pm start (ends 6.45pm)

Manchester Histories Festival: ‘R History Open Mic Extravaganza!
2024-06-07 08:00 - 2024-06-08 17:00 | Performance Space
Manchester Histories hosts a two-day open mic extravaganza! A celebration of voices, a collective ode to the diverse stories that shape our shared identity.
Book Friday 7 June (11.30am-2.45pm): DAY 2: Friday 7th June 2024 – ‘R Histories Open Mic Extravaganza! – Manchester Histories
Book Saturday 8 June (11.30am-3pm): DAY 3: Saturday 8th June 2024 – ‘R Histories Open Mic Extravaganza! – Manchester Histories
Free – please pre-book so we know you are coming!
Please also make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes or online

Manchester Histories: History and Heritage Marketplace
2024-06-09 12:00 - 16:00
Note the new venue from the programme – now taking place at Central Library, not The Whitworth Hall.
Come and see over 50 history and heritage organisations from Greater Manchester and the Northwest at the iconic Manchester Central Library. Find out about the organisations that celebrate, preserve, and explore Greater Manchester’s heritage. It will be a breathing testament to the incredible stories that have shaped and continue to shape the very essence of Greater Manchester and beyond.
Also, catch and enjoy the acapella choir Golden Voices at 12.45 pm and 2.00 pm, a lively group of over 50s who have been together for many years with Choir Leader Rose Hodgson, sharing their common love of natural voice singing. Sets will include ‘Nana was a Suffragette’ by local singer/songwriter and co-founder/director of Manchester Community Choir Jules Gibb.
Free – just drop in

An Evening with Miranda July
2024-06-11 08:00 - 17:00
Due to unexpected ill health, Miranda July has been forced to cancel her trip to the UK. This means her MLF event on Tuesday 11 June 2024 has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Manchester Literature Festival, in partnership with Library Live, presents Miranda July in conversation. We are thrilled to be joined by the writer, film maker and artist to celebrate her brilliant new novel All Fours. A semi-famous artist declares her intention to drive from Los Angeles to NYC. Instead, she checks into a motel thirty minutes from the home she shares with her husband and child and begins a reinvention which has a profound impact on her life. In Miranda’s unique, funny and tender voice, All Fours explores the societal boundaries placed on middle-aged women through desire, sex, perimenopause and motherhood, questioning what freedom might look like within those constraints. This is a conversation with a witty and original artist which is not to be missed.
“A giddy, bold, mind-blowing tour de force by one of our most important literary writers. Funny, honest, rich with the energy of the mind, All Fours will jump-start your relation to language and cause you to think anew about the nature of desire.” – George Saunders
Miranda is the author of four books including the award-winning short story collection No One Belongs Here More Than You and The First Bad Man. She has written and directed three feature films, while also starring in the first two. The latest is Kajillionaire. The second, Me and You and Everyone We Know, won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.
Hosted by writer Kate Feld.

LYR open the Festival of Libraries 2024
2024-06-12 08:00 - 17:00 | Performance Space
A live music performance from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s band LYR and local Manchester artist Jospehine Oniyama, featuring a very special new single dedicated to libraries.
Booking required. Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in the venue, or online

Design workshop with Oliver East
2024-06-13 13:00 - 15:00 | Chief Librarian’s Office
An interactive design workshop using simple and accessible research methods and tools to explore the library as a resource.
Free – booking required

The Embassy of Utopia
2024-06-14 10:00 - 2024-06-15 16:00 | Performance Space
Over two days, dreamers, poets, musicians, writers, and artists speak about and perform their vision for the future. What has Manchester collectively got to say?
Free – drop in. Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in the venue, or online

90th Celebration - Sunday Funday
2024-06-16 12:00 - 16:00 | Performance Space
This year, Central Library celebrates 90 years since its grand opening. Join us for this cultural extravaganza during Festival of Libraries Week, celebrating the old and the new, and the venue’s many highlights and successes over the past 90 years. Featuring music, performances, crafts, displays, and lots more fantastic family fun including:

Edible Storytime
Manchester Histories Shadow Theatre
RNCM musicians playing and taking about their instruments
Community Performances
String Quartet
Acoustic sessions
RNCM Jazz Trio
Face Painting (£2 per face)
Hands on crafts

Kindly supported by Manchester Central Library Development Trust, The Granada Foundation and The Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund
Free – just drop in. Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes in the venue, or online

Sign and Play and Kids' Club - BSL Story Telling
2024-06-22 10:00 - 12:00
BSL Story Telling at Manchester Central Library for deaf 0-11 year olds and their parents. HoH, CODA, siblings and all communication methods welcome! More information here.
Free – booking advised

Love Stories etc Festival
2024-07-13 10:00 - 21:00 | Performance Space
A Celebration of Modern Romantic Fiction.
Welcome to the first Love Stories etc Festival.
The one-day Romance Festival will be held at the stunning Manchester Central Library and will feature 28 bestselling romance authors as part of a huge celebration of modern romantic fiction.
Authors and publishers across the UK will be gathering in Manchester for this special festival in July 2024.
LOOK AT ALL THE AUTHOR’S APPEARING!!
10am HAPPY EVER AFTER

11.15am LESSONS IN LOVE

1.15pm HOPE

2.30 BEACH READ

4.30pm FUNNY STORY

5.45pm FEEL

7.30pm WHAT IS LOVE?

WEVE SOME AMAZING WORKSHOPS FOR ASPIRING WRITERS TOO!
10am Introduction to the Publishing Process workshop

10am Introduction to the Publishing Industry

12pm From New Writer to Bestseller

3.30pm Literary Agent workshop

3.30pm Editorial Speed Dating

THE ALL DAY PASS IS ONLY £30!*
THERE IS ALSO A SPECIAL VIP PASS (WITH EXTRA TREATS) FOR £40.*
CONCESSIONS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE.*
*Plus booking fee. Tickets give you full access to ALL author panels and workshops. Please note, capacity on the workshops is limited. We’ll be in touch soon with everyone who has bought tickets for you to select the workshops you want to attend.

See My World: Connected Fragments
2024-07-15 08:00 - 2024-09-28 17:00 | First Floor Exhibition Hall
An international exchange exhibition bringing together the worlds of Nigerian diaspora artists Chigozie obi, Daniel Oyegade and Dou, as they crack and connect the mirrors of their heritage, history and culture. Through photography, paintings and film installations, the exhibition is an ode to what is alive within the mundane.
Free – just drop in
Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes or online

Responses
2024-07-18 08:00 - 2024-08-12 17:00
Foundation Art and Design Students from The Manchester College have brought the Art School’s ethos of research to the heart of Manchester Central Library’s iconic Wolfson Reading Room. Each student has developed a personal body of work which has initially been inspired by one of the books from the venue. The work on the boards exhibited are an insight into personal research and subject matter. Each student has tested the possibilities of ideas, research, and practical production. These fresh, innovative Art School Creatives will continue their practices in: painting, drawing, film, photography, textile design, animation, and site-specific work; progressing to different universities next year.
To see more exciting innovative work and research please follow the Instagram link below.
@foundationartanddesigntmc
If you would like information about the Foundation Diploma course, please email Fiona Donald: fdonald@tmc.ac.uk
Free – drop in. Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes or online
