Literature Events in the North

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over…

Manchester Literature Festival is drip-feeding us its autumn programme, with “bookend events” including Yellowface author Rebecca F Kuang. Also in Manchester, Jackie Kay is chatting to Literary Salon’s Damian Barr, there’s a one-off three-poet line-up to launch Spurious Language by James Appleby and we check out a popular regular in the form of Prestwich’s Crooked Poets, welcoming spoken word poet Culain Wood.

We’re heading further hillwards for the return of Poetry at the Dusty Miller, with three readers Amanda Dalton, Will Harris and Joseph Minden, and also a special reading to celebrate Ted Hughes’s birthday, with four poets including Forward Prize-shortlistee Tom Branfoot. In York, Rise Up! brings Ian Duhig, Kirsten Luckens and Henry Raby to the mic.

Looking out to sea, we set our sights on the fourth Morecambe Poetry Festival, while online, the Carcanet programme of poetry is setting sail again, with Hal Coase at the helm to start.

Leaf through our guides to Bookshops in Manchester and the UNESCO Manchester City of Literature, plus our literary places in LiverpoolLeeds, Sheffield and Cumbria.

Our top picks

Poetry at the Dusty Miller

Poetry at the Dusty Miller at The Dusty Miller, 2 September 2025, Free entry - Find Out More

Since its first outing in December 2023, Calder Valley reading series Poetry at the Dusty Miller (in the Coiners’ Room in the Mytholmroyd pub) has been inviting three or four guests to read each month, gathering considerable steam.

Jo Bell at The Portico Library

Jo Bell on Boater - Manchester Book Launch Event at The Portico Library, Manchester, 31 July 2025, From £6.00 - Book now

Poet and now memoirist Jo Bell invites you to join her “for a friendly evening in one of Britain’s most special places, the magnificent, secret Mancunian treasure that is The Portico Library“, talking about her new “smart, funny” memoir Boater.

Cover of a book with a canal boat on it saying boater by Jo Bell
Jo Bell

Blue Diode readings at Saul Hay Gallery

Blue diode tour at Saul Hay Gallery, Manchester, 26 August 2025, Free entry - Find Out More

This special one-off on 26 August features readings from three writers to celebrate the launch, on Blue Diode Press, of Spurious Language by James Appleby.

Ted Hughes Birthday Weekend Poetry Reading at the Dusty Miller

Ted Hughes Birthday Weekend Poetry Reading at The Dusty Miller, 17 August 2025, Free entry - Find Out More

To mark Ted Hughes’s birthday on 17 August, four dynamic Northern poets will gather in his native Mytholmroyd to celebrate the landscape and poetry of the former Poet Laureate.

Tom Branfoot. Photo Eleanor Hall, Museum of the Home
Tom Branfoot. Photo Eleanor Hall, Museum of the Home

Carcanet online book launch: Eccolo: Poems by Hal Coase

Eccolo: Poems by Hal Coase: Carcanet Online Book Launch, online, 27 August 2025, From £2.00 - Book now

Described by its publisher Carcanet as “an auspicious debut”, here’s your chance to hear from and about Eccolo: Poems by Hal Coase in an online event hosted by poet and Faber editor Lavinia Singer.

Author portrait
Iris Gentili

I’ve Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House

I've Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Manchester, Until 9 November 2025, From £8.50 - Book now

I’ve Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell is an immersive exhibition taking over the Grade II*-listed Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and the culmination of a residency by three young writers who spent the spring months being inspired by Manchester’s only literary house.

Elizabeth Gaskell's garden
Elizabeth Gaskell's House.

Crooked Poets at the Crooked Man

Crooked Poets, 5 August 2025, Free entry - Find Out More

We recently checked out Crooked Poets, the spoken word regular at Prestwich’s Crooked Man bar hosted by John Darwin. Taking place the first Tuesday of every month, it features a special guest and an open mic – get down early to bagsy a seat, the place was packed!

Culain Wood
Culain Wood

Damian Barr and Jackie Kay at Queer Lit

The Two Roberts: In Conversation with Damian Barr hosted by Jackie Kay at Queer Lit, Manchester, 15 September 2025, From £5.00 - Book now

On 15 September, award-winning writer and broadcaster Damian Barr will be chatting with former Makar Jackie Kay about his much-anticipated new novel The Two Roberts.

Damian Barr Banner
Social Refuge

Morecambe Poetry Festival 2025 at various venues

Morecambe Poetry Festival at Morecambe Winter Gardens, Lancashire, 12–14 September 2025, From £65.00 - Book now

Our Tourist Telescope is set on the coast – more specifically, Morecambe Poetry Festival, back for a fourth year with an impressive line-up featuring Michael Rosen, Henry Normal, John Hegley, Robin Ince and Luke Wright.

Henry Normal
Henry Normal

Rise Up! at The Bluebird Bakery York

Rise Up! at Bluebird Bakery, York, Until 24 September 2025, From £10.00 - Book now

Following a couple of months off over the summer months, Rise Up! will be back in September and welcoming to the mic Ian Duhig, Kirsten Luckens and Henry Raby.

Anthony (Vahni) Capildeo
Anthony (Vahni) Capildeo.

Manchester Literature Festival 2025

Manchester Literature Festival at Contact Theatre, Manchester and online, Until 26 October 2025, From £8.00 - Book now

Celebrating its 20th year, Manchester Literature Festival returns 11-26 October, and tickets for the initial line-up announcement are now on general sale, with a special bookend event in August featuring Yellowface author Rebecca F Kuang.

Ruth season at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House online

Ruth - Online Events Season at Elizabeth Gaskell's House, online, Until 19 November 2025, From £6.00 - Book now

Throughout 2025, the team at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is taking a deep dive into Ruth, one of the famous 19th-century author’s most shocking texts. We look at June’s online events…

Ruth book cover with 10 year branding
Elizabeth Gaskell's House 10 Year Anniversary

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House 10 Year Anniversary

Elizabeth Gaskell's House 10 Year Anniversary at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Manchester and online, Until 4 October 2025, From £0.00 - Book now

Head to Manchester’s only literary house for events, exhibitions, books and cakes…

Drawing Room with 10 year anniversary branding
Elizabeth Gaskell's House

More literature events

Culain Wood
LiteratureManchester
Crooked Poets at the Crooked Man

Hosted by John Darwin, Crooked Poets is a monthly spoken word night at the Crooked Man bar in Prestwich, featuring a special guest and open mic.

Free entry
LiteratureWest Yorkshire
Poetry at the Dusty Miller

Poetry at the Dusty Miller is a now regular night with invited readers, organised by poets Carola Luther and Ian Humphreys in the Coiners’ Room in the Mytholmroyd pub.

Free entry
Cover of a book with a canal boat on it saying boater by Jo Bell
LiteratureManchester
Jo Bell at The Portico Library

Poet and now memoirist Jo Bell invites you to join her “for a friendly evening” at The Portico Library when she’ll be talking about her new “smart, funny” memoir Boater.

From £6.00
Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Spotlight on

Walking Tours in Manchester by Jonathan Schofield

Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.

Take me there

Literature Events in the North

Manchester
Park
Platt Fields Park

Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield is steeped in history, the land having been acquired by the Platt family in 1225.

HOME Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
HOME Manchester

Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.

The MerseyMade building in Liverpool
Liverpool
Shop
MerseyMade West Kirby

In the MerseyMade shop you’ll find bottled gin from the likes of Turncoat Gin, Anfield Gin, Albert Dock Gin and Three Graces Gin. Yep, Liverpool REALLY likes its gin.

Cumbria
Event venue
Penrith Old Fire Station

Main venue for Eden Arts, an artist-led organisation based in Eden in Cumbria creating projects around mass participation, local distinctiveness and digital engagement, from Picnic Cinema to The Winter Droving.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Briton’s Protection

Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally

Culture Guides

Two women stand next to an orange car.
Cinema in the North

August brings a huge LGBTQ+ film festival, plus a reggae classic and a spotlight on Japanese animation.

Theatre in Manchester and the North.
Theatre in the North

From outdoor shows to drama in the dark, our theatre guide celebrates genre-pushing work, new writing and contemporary performance.

Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
Music in the North

From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.