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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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