Manchester Literature Festival 2017 at various venues

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Poet Zaffar Kunial.
Poet Zaffar Kunial.

6 — 22 October 2017 Tickets from £0.00 — Book now

The 12th annual Manchester Literature Festival is now well underway, and many events have sold out – but fear not, there are still some tickets for you to get your mitts on.

And it’s well worth doing so – we’ve already taken in some great one-offs, including the first MLF event this year at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation: an affecting reading from Booker Prize longlistee Jon McGregor, incorporating an atmospheric soundscape amplified by audience members’ phones. We’ve also enjoyed poetry on film courtesy Bloodaxe in Central Library’s events space and actor Timothy West reading Russian masterpieces alongside operatic snippets at the brand-new Stoller Hall. Not to mention poet Zaffar Kunial (pictured) responding to the Raqib Shaw exhibition as part of Whitworth Lates…

MLF 2017 takes place until 22 October, with Bookend events throughout the year, including with Armistead Maupin, Rebecca Solnit in conversation with Jeanette Winterson, old pals Jackie Kay and Ali Smith, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit From The Goon Squad Jennifer Egan on 15 November (read our preview here). One of five special commissions – the Castlefield Manchester Sermon by Michael Morpurgo – will also be rescheduled for performance in the Cathedral next spring.

Rocking up in venues all over the city, we’re looking forward to some poetry in the dying embers… world-renowned poet Michael Symmons Roberts at Central Library and Poets Of The New Generation at Gorilla, featuring Raymond Antrobus, OmiKemi Natacha Bryan, Yoni Sode and Karen McCarthy Woolf.

So there’s plenty still to get excited about! Some events are free, some are ticketed – check the MLF website for full details and how to book.

6 — 22 October 2017 Tickets from £0.00 Book now

Where to go near Manchester Literature Festival 2017 at various venues

Symmetry Room
City Centre
Museum
Museum of Illusions

Museum of Illusions Manchester is part of the global Museum of Illusions Group, the largest and fastest-growing chain of private museums in the world.

Tropical World logo
Leeds
Tourist Attraction
Tropical World

At Tropical World, families can enjoy a fun-filled and educational day out. Start your epic journey in the Butterfly House, where exotic butterflies fly freely through our swampy mangrove, fluttering

Manchester
Restaurant
Soap Street Pizza

Based at Nordie in Levenshulme, Soap Street Pizza put out the perfect pie: crispy base and inspired toppings.

Wellington Place
Leeds
Event venue
Wellington Place

Wellington Place is a brand new business park in Leeds, with multi-use spaces and a varied programme of events from street food to art shows.

Carden Park
Cheshire
Hotel
Carden Park

Huge luxury estate, featuring high-end restaurant, beautiful rooms, a fully-packed spa and much more.

What's on: Literature

Katharine Towers
LiteratureManchester
Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation

Poets & Players is a must-go for lovers of words and music, presenting poets established and emerging, with the latest readers Katharine Towers, Sascha Akhtar and Victoria Gatehouse.

free entry
Tom Branfoot. Photo Eleanor Hall, Museum of the Home
LiteratureWest Yorkshire
Poetry at the Dusty Miller

Poetry at the Dusty Miller is a now regular night with invited readers, organised by Carcanet-published Carola Luther and Judith Willson in the Coiners’ Room in the Mytholmroyd pub.

free entry

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