‘To be honest with you, I want to make music.’ In Annie Macmanus’ absorbing second novel The Mess We’re In it’s the early noughties and 21-year-old Orla Quinn has made her way to London with a burning desire to become part of the music industry. Moving into a squalid house in Kilburn with her friend Neema and […]
Anyone who has visited the Paper Piano exhibition may have wondered who or what DJ Goalpost is. To answer that, and to mark the end of the exhibition, Paper Piano will be giving away a limited edition DJ Goalpost book. The book is part exploration of what an alter-ego can be, part self-help guide and […]
Three dynamic poets perform work from their latest collections, exploring identity, heritage and injustice. Terrance Hayes returns to MLF with his blistering new work So to Speak. Exploring what it means to be an artist and a Black man, Terrance writes about figures including Bob Ross, Lil’ Wayne, David Berman and George Floyd, navigating his way through the […]
Exhibiting work spanning 20 years, Robert Watson (one of the country’s leading documentary and contemporary photographic artists) returns to Central Library. This free exhibition features images of Manchester Pride and his internationally exhibited Blackpool seascapes. It premiers the series ‘The Sky Above Her’; these vibrant and soulful pictures illustrate the kaleidoscope of colours, seen in […]
Author Nathan Bryon and illustrator Dapo Adeola’s loveable character Rocket has already taught us about space in the award-winning Look Up! Then she tackled ocean pollution in Clean Up! Now, in Speak Up! she’s back to save her local library which she is horrified to learn is closing for lack of funding. Hear how Dapo and Nathan […]
EVENT POSTPONED: Please note that due to travel disruptions we are having to postpone this event. Details of the new date will be confirmed shortly and our box office will be in touch with customers to offer a ticket transfer or refund. ‘Have no doubt, we are facing a species emergency – but we can […]
‘Perhaps have something that the poems don’t. Or perhaps they don’t have something that the poems do’. Where do song lyrics and poetry converge? Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has always been inspired as much by music as he is the written or spoken word. His latest book Never Good With Horses collects Simon’s musical outpourings, from the […]
Karl Ove Knausgaard, author of My Struggle, ‘the greatest literary invention of the 21st century’, makes his MLF debut to discuss his dazzling new novel The Wolves of Eternity (translated by Martin Aitkin). In Southern Norway in 1986, Syvert Løyning returns home from military service and discovers letters to his late father which lead him to the Soviet Union. In […]
We’re channelling our ancestors, crediting our ancestors, claiming we are our ancestors “wildest dreams”, and cautioning against our ancestors’ deepest nightmares.’ As she turned forty, broadcaster and journalist Afua Hirsch set out to reconnect with her heritage and apply what she learned to her body. Through puberty rituals to body hair to waist beads to […]
THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT ‘I am determined that we seize this moment and rise to meet the challenge of our age: to build a country in which everyone has a stake and a contribution to make.’ In her first book, All In: How we build a country that works, Lisa Nandy sets out a way in which we can […]
Two of fiction’s rising stars discuss their brilliant debut novels, strong women characters, narrative voice, the perils of modern love and relationships, and how we present ourselves in the physical and digital worlds. Monica Heisey is a writer and comedian from Toronto. She has written for television shows including Schitt’s Creek and Workin’ Moms. Her astute and wildly funny debut […]
In partnership with Create, disabled and non-disabled students from Manchester and Salford schools come together to create, build connections and break down barriers. Working with top class musicians they will write and perform original songs inspired by the theme ‘Speak Up!’ at this celebratory event. Presented by Manchester Literature Festival. Tickets FREE – booking advised […]
From dedicated performance spaces to stairwells, screens, nooks and domes, Central Library might directly inspire your next event or intervention. Contact us to arrange a tour.
