What's on

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

Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible

Performance Space

You have to see it to be it, so the saying goes. But Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené were struggling to find awe-inspiring, amazing and relatable black British female role models, because society rarely permits these women to be seen and heard. To remedy this, they wrote Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible, […]

£8

Family Reading Day

Performance Space

Join us for a day of fictional fun as popular children’s authors, illustrators and performers bring stories to life. Be sure to pack your imagination, and take an unforgettable journey to Moominvalley where everyone is welcome, nature thrives and adventures are plentiful.  Join multi-award winning author and illustrator Steve Antony and his lovable character, Mr […]

£4

Dashehra Diwali Mela: Lantern making workshops

City Library

Make a fabulous lantern for Dashehra Diwali Mela celebrations at these free family workshops. All those taking part in either workshop will join the main procession onSaturday 20 October, leading into the spectacular finale performance and firework display in Albert Square. Don't miss the chance to be part of this exciting event!   For families […]

Graham Caveney & Howard Cunnell with Julie Hesmondhalgh

What does it mean to be a man and how is that shaped by adolescence? In his memoir, The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness, Graham Caveney details his upbringing as a working-class boy in Accrington. His world is changed by the discovery of literature, music and his acceptance to the local Catholic grammar school. At […]

£7

Wally Funk’s Race for Space: Wally Funk & Sue Nelson

Performance Space

In 1961, Wally Funk was one of the Mercury 13, the first group of American pilots to pass the ‘Woman in Space’ programme. Her scores in the rigorous mental and physical tests beat many of the male candidates, including John Glenn, the first American to go into orbit. But just one week before Wally was […]

£8

Patrick Gale in Conversation

Performance Space

A firm Festival favourite, Patrick Gale is the author of eighteen novels, including the Richard and Judy bestseller Notes from an Exhibition, Rough Music and the Costa-shortlisted A Place Called Winter. His new novel, Take Nothing With You, tells the story of Eustace as he looks back at the childhood cello lessons that transformed his […]

£10

BRIT(ish): Afua Hirsch with Nikesh Shukla

Performance Space

Britain is in the grip of an identity crisis. We believe we’re the nation of abolition, but forget we are of slavery. We are convinced fairness is one of our values, but that immigration is one of our problems. We think we are a colour-blind, post-racial society, but we refuse to discuss it. In her […]

£8

Seven Thousand Feet

Marvel at the sight of seven thousand socks hanging high, as artist Christine Wilcox-Baker socks it to diabetes with this epic installation. Every year over seven thousand lower limbs are amputated in the UK due to diabetes. Explore this giant sock sensation along with artworks by Manchester’s ‘Seven thousand feet’ art and science team. Part […]

Repeal the 8th with Tara Flynn, Sinéad Gleeson & Una Mullally

Performance Space

Irish women saw a historic victory for their reproductive rights with the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in May 2018. The campaign that preceded it was a grassroots movement led by Irish feminists, who opened up a national conversation by sharing their own stories around abortion. Journalist and editor Una Mullally collected some of the […]

£10

Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Rachel Long & Momtaza Mehri Filigree: Contemporary Black British Poetry

Performance Space

Inscribe / Peepal Tree, publisher of Caribbean and Black British Literature, invited poets to contemplate the ‘unspoken essential’ and ‘intangible tangible’ for their Filigree collection. We’re delighted to have three of the contributors perform at this special MLF event. Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a British-born Ghanian poet and writer, who recently published the pamphlet, Girl […]

£8

Terrance Hayes: American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

Performance Space

MLF is delighted to welcome one of America’s most exciting and innovative poets, Terrance Hayes – winner of the 2010 National Book Award, and a recipient of a MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’. Terrance will be performing work from his new collection, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin. Written during the first 200 days of […]

£8