Word Central at Central Library
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Word Central is a long-standing live literature favourite that takes place every month at Central Library and features open mic performers and a special guest, brought to you by Manchester Libraries and Flapjack Press.
Join some of the award-winning wordsmiths of Salford-based publishing house Flapjack Press and performers from further afield for the latest instalment in what you can expect to be a no-holds-barred evening of performance poetry, all compered by the affable Tony Curry.
Stepping up to Word Central headliner duties at the opening event of 2024 is Lisa O’Hare, one of the current hosts of another live lit scene stalwart, Verbose.
Poet and storyteller Lisa O’Hare was a 2023 BBC Words First finalist and her work has been featured on BBC Radio Manchester and in the UN Women UK’s virtual Safe Spaces Now gallery. She performed her Saboteur Award-nominated spoken word show, Do You Remember The First Rhyme?, at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023 after a successful run of shows at Greater Manchester, Camden and Morecambe Fringe Festivals. She says of the show: “It tells the story of how I returned to creativity in my 40s and the new lease of life it has given me.”
There’s a sign-up-in-advance open mic for Word Central, but if you fancy taking part, you need to be quick – the three-minute performance slots are bookable from noon two weeks before (this month, the list opens on 16 January) via email to the Flapjack address and are allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis (if none are left you will be offered a space on the reserve list).
And if you fancy a little extra Flapjack, the publisher is holding a book launch at Central Library for award-winning playwright Cathy Crabb’s new Selected Plays, on 22 January, 6pm (doors 5.40pm), free entry. Celebrating 20 years of productions, Cathy has selected 11 of her works for staging – filled with humour and emotional resonance, these texts explore themes of family, trauma, neurodivergence, class and locality, and their experiential effect on the ordinariness of life and repercussions. Join Cathy and special guests for an evening of performance, archival material, author interview and audience Q&A.
