Northern Publishers’ Fair at Central Library

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Visit now

Northern Publishers' Fair

26 April 2025

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

Northern Publishers' Fair
Northern Publishers' Fair
Book now

Various independent publishing houses will be setting out their stalls at Manchester Central Library for the latest, now bi-annual, Northern Publishers’ Fair, organised by Manchester’s own Fly On The Wall Press.

Organiser Isabelle Kenyon, managing director of Fly On The Wall Press – Small Press Of The Year North 2024, a social enterprise company and a not-for-profit publisher of anthologies, collections and chapbooks – says the fair’s aim is to celebrate and showcase “a cracking array” of independent publishing houses based in the North of England. She says that for too long, the publishing industry has been London-centric, so in 2019, she set up the Northern Publishers’ Fair at Manchester Central Library.

Spring’s event features 15 publishers in attendance – including Confingo, Flapjack Press, Harper North, Nightjar Press,  Northodox Press, Saraband, Stairwell Books from York, UCLAN Publishing from Preston, and Sinoist Books featuring as international guest – bringing new and exciting authors to a Manchester audience.

Publishers will be on hand to talk with visitors, whether writers looking for publishing tips or avid readers wanting a bookish chat. You’ll be able to network informally with like-minded literature enthusiasts, meet authors during book signings and peruse (and buy!) books. Previous events have seen hundreds of happy visitors walk away with tote bags bulging with new reads.

Manchester Town Hall
TourManchester
The Magical Mystery Bike Tour

Hop on your bike for this guided cycling tour, exploring fascinating corners of Manchester you may never have seen before.

From £25.00

Where to go near Northern Publishers’ Fair at Central Library

St Peters Square Manchester
City Centre
St Peter’s Square

St Peter’s Square is a public space in Manchester – home to the city’s iconic library, town hall, Pankhurst statue, art gallery and famous Midland Hotel.

Manchester Art Gallery. Photo by Andrew Brooks
City Centre
Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery

The Charles Barry-designed, Grade I-listed Manchester Art Gallery is one of the city’s leading galleries and is back open for visitors once more.

Chinatown
Hotel
The Alan

This high-end city-centre restaurant has an excellent afternoon tea option that more than matches up to the superb main menu.

Salut Wines
Chinatown
Bar or Pub
Salut Wines

Salut wines pride themselves in offering “wider horizons beyond the safe choices.” With 42 wines by the glass and a regularly changing selection of bottles in their Enomatic wine preservation machines (or  “wine jukebox,” as they’re colloquially known), this is one of be best bars in Manchester for exploring new vintages.

Manchester
Restaurant
Friska

Latest branch of Friska, the independent healthy fast food chain.

Manchester
Restaurant
Don Giovanni

Traditional Italian restaurant, serving everything from pizza to steak. All this in a large modern venue with floor-to-ceiling windows.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Manchester Art Gallery Cafe

Summery bakes, seasonal salads and fresh light meals at Manchester Art Gallery’s in-house café, courtesy of highly-regarded Head Chef Matthew Taylor.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Manchester Town Hall

Re-opening in 2024, Manchester Town Hall is a monument to Victorian Manchester’s ambition, and one of the city’s most-loved landmarks.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Albert Square

A public square in the heart of Manchester which plays hosts to festivals and major events. Home to the Albert Memorial and statues of Bishop James Fraser, John Bright, Oliver Heywood and William Ewart Gladstone.

Contemporary Six, art gallery in Manchester
City Centre
Gallery
Contemporary Six

Contemporary Six is an independent commercial art gallery in Manchester city centre, set up by Alex Reuben in 2010.

What's on: Literature

Roy McFarlane
LiteratureManchester
Roy Macfarlane at Manchester Poetry Library

As part of the Poetry Reading Series at Manchester Poetry Library, Canal Laureate Roy Macfarlane will be in conversation with the series curator and award-winning poet Helen Mort.

Free entry
Luke Samuel Yates
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 are Helen Ivory and Luke Samuel Yates.

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

Culture Guides

Music in the North

Gigs are coming in hot this spring – from long-awaited returns to one-off happenings you’ll blink and miss if you're not careful.

Hannah Platt 'Playing Out', courtesy of Threshold, photograph by Jules Lister.
Exhibitions in the North

From city-wide art festivals to open-air sculptural installations, we have exhibitions from all around the North, both indoors and out.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.