In the centenary year commemorating (some) UK women first gaining the vote, learn how Manchester played a major role in the fight. This entertaining and informative illustrated talk covers the campaign tactics of both peaceful suffragists and militant suffragettes, and the often barbaric backlash they endured. Free talk – please drop in
In September 1880, Detective Jerome Caminada and his Manchester police force raided the Temperance Hall in Hulme. Once inside, they found 47 men and half of them were in women's clothing. It was an event that shocked both city and country but who were these men and what became of them? Join us for this free […]
Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Manchester March against Section 28 - still the largest LGBT march in this country. Join us to hear how this event was organised and who spoke and performed at the rally and the concert that followed. See some of the archive items and film footage from the event. The […]
You don't need Romeo and Juliet in your life to enjoy our silent disco crazy crazy nights! Just grab your handbags and gladrags and discover a reason to believe. Whether you are an owner of a lonely heart searching for the power of love or a piano man desperate to fly away on a runaway […]
WORD CENTRAL A semaphore-exploding mind-flow open mic poetry & spoken word hosted by Tony Curry. February's special guest poet is Fat Roland! Fat Roland has been likened to “Johnny Vegas devouring Sam Simmons… on a rollercoaster... driven by a depressed buffalo”. He is champion of Literary Death Match Manchester and co-runs Bad Language, voted the UK’s […]
Comedy is big business these days. Hear from our experienced panel as they give a unique insight into the many facets of the world of Comedy; from Performing, Writing, Promoting and breaking into TV and Radio. Find how you can make a living in an often precarious career. Henry Normal Henry is a writer, poet, […]
Join us for the premiere of new sci-fi adventure The Crimson Pioneers made by the Manchester Indie Film Makers Group, based at Central Library. Synopsis: The first generation of 'Crimson Pioneers' have started to make Mars their new home. When all seems to be going to plan the unexpected happens and throws everything into chaos. […]
Manchester Opera Ensemble return to Central Library on 19th and 20th December to present a new production of British composer Lennox Berkeley’s farce, A Dinner Engagement. Set in a Greater Manchester family home during the run up to Christmas dinner this production promises beautiful sounds, sights, smells and of course, a pinch of disaster. The production is […]
Come and celebrate the launch of Introduction X, The Poetry Business New Poets anthology. Introduction X is a gathering of outstanding poets at an early stage in their writing careers. Apart from this ‘newness’, and talent, and what W S Graham would call ‘the rarer gift of application’, what these writers happen to have in […]
Join our friends Grimm up North, as they present the classic 1974 christmas slasher movie, Black Christmas! It's time for the Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don't express much […]
Join us for a special preview screening of 'Seeing Daylight', a film portrait of Dorothy Bohm, one of Britain’s finest street photographers. With contributions from friends and family, and reflections from Dorothy as – still active at 92 – she looks back at her most important images and revisits the places where it all started. Produced by Unity […]
India, Africa, the West Indies and recruitment through culture explored in two parallel exhibitions telling the story of World War 1 via the British colonial experience. Southern Voices exhibition, From the Shadows of War and Empire, tells the story from the colonies’ point of view, whilst Kooj Chuhan’s video installation, The Poppy Retake, explores coercion […]
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.
