Time To Read’s New Words Festival

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

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New Words Festival

1-24 March 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Author Naomi Booth.
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Teaming up with five indie publishers, Time To Read’s first-ever New Words Festival runs (almost) throughout the month from 1 March. The virtual book festival brings together six events and readings with award-winning authors and poets, four poetry and fiction workshops, and a special Brontë panel discussion with experts Adelle Hay and Sophie Franklin, The Brontës: Reimagined; Reappraised; Revisited. All events are online and tickets are free.

We’re excited to hear from Naomi Booth, author of Guardian Best Fiction Book of 2020 Exit Management and 2017’s Sealed (both Dead Ink).

You can sign up for one of four creative writing workshops, led by short story writers K Blundell Trust award-winning SJ Bradley (Friday 5 March, 4pm) and Edge Hill University’s Sarah Schofield (Monday 1 March and Thursday 4 March, times tbc), both published by Comma Press, and poet Dr James Davies (Saturday 13 March, 2pm), published by Knives Forks and Spoons, and co-creator of The Other Room reading series in Manchester and editor of the experimental poetry press if p then q. (Edit: the workshops are “sold out”; add your name to the waiting list for these.)

Sticking with poetry, and the line-up includes Nottingham-based Leafe Press publisher and editor Alan Baker, reading from his KFS Press collection Riverrun and answering questions on creative writing (Tuesday 9 March, 7pm), and, a week later, award-winning Carcanet poet Rebecca Goss reading from her third collection, Girl, and chatting about a poet’s life in lockdown (Tuesday 16 March, 7pm).

Coinciding with International Women’s Day (Monday 8 March, 7pm), Irish poet, novelist and teacher Martina Evans will be reading from her Carcanet collection Now We Can Talk Openly About Men (which featured in the Times Literary Supplement, Observer and Irish Times Books of the Year) and talking about it with publisher Michael Schmidt, answering questions from the audience via the chat feature.

On the prose front, JA Mensah launches her brand-new debut novel Castles From Cobwebs on Friday 26 March, and fellow Saraband author Donald S Murray marks the publication day of his second novel In A Veil Of Mist by reading live from Shetland and joining in conversation with Lancashire Libraries’ Robin Crawshaw (Thursday 11 March, 6.30pm).

We’re excited to hear from Naomi Booth, author of Guardian Best Fiction Book of 2020 Exit Management and 2017’s Sealed (both Dead Ink) plus 2015 debut The Lost Art Of Sinking (Penned In The Margins). Recently named one of the Guardian’s Fresh Voices: Fifty Writers to Read Now, she’s in conversation with Jools from Blackpool Libraries on Wednesday 24 March (2pm). Her fiction tends to explore unsettling landscapes, strange compulsions, dangerous bodies and contamination, and Exit Management is described as “a ground-breaking dissection of class, xenophobia and compassion”, while Sealed is “a terrifying portrait of ordinary people under threat from their own bodies and from the world around them, with elements of speculative fiction and the macabre”.

Time to Read, run by the North West England’s library staff since 2002, is a reader development initiative to encourage new readers to use public libraries, and twenty-two of the region’s library services are working together to host and promote the Arts Council-funded New Words Festival, originally planned to take place across the North West libraries network. The New Words Festival aims to strengthen ties between libraries and independent publishers and a new collection of the ten books featured will be available to reserve in your local libraries. You can also buy direct from the five partner publishers: Manchester’s Carcanet and Comma, Salford’s Saraband, Liverpool’s Dead Ink and Newton Le Willow’s Knives Forks and Spoons.

Where to go near Time To Read’s New Words Festival

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

Sela opened in 2004 with an idea to provide quality imported beers from around the world, fun cocktails to compliment the beer selections and a stage for the region’s finest and most talented musicians to play on.Over ten years later, we’re still all about the beer, cocktails, live music and pizza!We carry over a selection of over thirty different beers spanning the globe from Pickering with The Great Yorkshire Brewery’s Yorkshire Blackout, to New York with a selection from Brooklyn Brewery, and Belgium with longtime Sela favourite, Vedett.Our cocktails change regularly too. Our best-sellers are joined by fun, new offerings and our pizza menu is regarded as one of the best the city of Leeds has to offer.As for the live music, Sela has had not only the great and the good from the region. Local funksters, The New Mastersounds are regular visitors and we stage the amazing Mojah Reggae Band for their weekly Wednesday residency.  Our other long running programming incl
Leeds
Restaurant
Sela Bar & Pizzeria

Sela Bar is a cosy Leeds basement spot with live music, great drinks, and a cool, laid-back, atmospheric vibe.

Leeds Beckett SU
Leeds
Restaurant
Leeds Beckett Student Union

Leeds Beckett Student Union hosts big-name artists and supports students through events, live music, and a vibrant campus venue.

Located on Cardigan Fields Leisure Park, Vue Leeds Kirkstall is a nine screen cinema with almost 2000 seats. There's ample parking and the cinema is surrounded by various restaurants and entertainment facilities, making for a great evening out!

Watch the latest film releases and enjoy the industry-leading Sony 4K Digital screens, boasting spectacular picture quality, along with enhanced audio quality courtesy of Dolby 'Profound Sound'. Stepped SuperVue seating means you will never miss a second of the action while VIP seating guarantees you an extra touch of luxury whenever you want to upgrade.

Three of the nine screens showcase the newest 3D releases while Vue Classical brings the latest stage sensations to the big screen, and parents can save as they go with Family Tickets and Kids AM screenings offering great value for money.
Leeds
Cinema
Vue Cinema – Leeds Kirkstall Road

Located on Cardigan Fields Leisure Park, Vue Leeds Kirkstall is a nine screen cinema with almost 2000 seats. There’s ample parking and the cinema is surrounded by various restaurants and

Restaurant 2
Leeds
Café or Coffee Shop
Empire Café

Empire Café is located in Leeds’ ‘home of day dining’- Fish street!

Restaurant
Leeds
Restaurant
Phranakhon

Phranakhon Thai Tapas is a revolutionised Thai dining restaurant with a combination of European indulgence and authentic Thai tastes.

Restaurant
Leeds
Restaurant
Wen’s

Wen’s is a family owned Chinese restaurant specialising in authentic, home cooked cuisine.

What's on: Literature

Jenn Ashworth at Blackwell's Manchester
LiteratureManchester
Jenn Ashworth at Blackwells

Jenn Ashworth is back at Blackwells bookshop for the Manchester launch of her latest work, reading extracts and chatting to Helen Mort about how The Parallel Path came about.

From £4.00
LiteratureLeeds
Chemistry at The Chemic

Leeds live literature regular Chemistry offers an exciting mix of open mic acts and invited poets – this month the headliners include Rosie Garland.

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Poet Mike Garry. Photo Paul Wolfgang Webster
LiteratureManchester
Word Central at Central Library

Word Central is a long-standing live literature favourite at Central Library and features open mic performers and a special guest, brought to you by Manchester Libraries and Flapjack Press.

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

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