Literature Events in the North

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Some of our favourite leftfield live literature regulars are back with their first events of the year – we’ve picked a weird and wonderful heap we think you’ll love.

As the days get longer, we welcome back Peter Barlow’s Cigarette and Poets & Players, plus Word Central and Crime Central. In the hills, we’re back at the Dusty Miller, while Yorkshirewomen descend on our bookshops here in the Rainy City – Adelle Stripe, S J Bradley and Rachel Bower.

Head to Manchester Poetry Library for a multilingual slam as part of International Mother Language Day plus the inauguration of the Multilingual City Poets. Both are free. Meanwhile, Manchester Literature Festival has revealed the first of its Spring Programme, and we’ll have more on that soon, and the 10th birthday celebrations continue at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, with a host of online events looking at the Victorian writer’s controversial novel Ruth.

Finally, don’t forget to thumb through our Bookshops in Manchester Guide and pick up the new map from UNESCO Manchester City of Literature, and explore our literary places in LiverpoolLeeds, Sheffield and Cumbria.

Our top picks

Peter Barlow’s Cigarette at the Carlton Club

Peter Barlow’s Cigarette at The Carlton Club, Manchester, 15 February 2025, free entry - Find Out More

For Peter Barlow’s Cigarette #47, our favourite “afternoon of alternative poetries”, the organising team – Tim Allen, Joey Frances and Rachel Sills – have invited Nat Raha, Nia Davies and Sam Commotion along to read.

Poet Nia Davies
Poet Nia Davies

Poetry at the Dusty Miller

Poetry at the Dusty Miller at The Dusty Miller and online, 4 March 2025, free entry - Find Out More

Calder Valley reading series Poetry at the Dusty Miller invites three or four guests to read each month – and it hit 2025 running with a standing-room-only February date. This month’s readers, on 4 March, are Evan Jones, James Caruth and Zetta Bear.

Poet Evan Jones
Poet Evan Jones

Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation

Poets & Players at International Anthony Burgess Foundation (IABF), Manchester, 1 March 2025, free entry - Find Out More

Manchester regular Poets & Players is a must-go for lovers of words as well as music, presenting performers both established and emerging, with the latest readers, on 1 March, Zaffar Kunial, Hannah Copley, Rachel Davies and Hilary Robinson.

Poet Zaffar Kunial.
Poet Zaffar Kunial.

Sleeve Notes at International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Sleeve Notes at International Anthony Burgess Foundation (IABF), Manchester, 12 April 2025, from £5.00 - Book now

To celebrate this year’s Record Store Day, ten writers have teamed up with musicians for Sleeve Notes, a unique collaborative performance response creating new writing and music. Save the date – 12 April.

Poet Vik Shirley
Poet Vik Shirley

Multilingual City Poets at Manchester Poetry Library

Manchester Multilingual City Poets Launch at Manchester Poetry Library, Manchester, 17 February 2025, free entry - Find Out More

It’s time for the inaugural set of Multilingual City Poets to pass on their crowns and sashes to the incoming cohort of talented creatives appointed by Manchester City of Literature. Charlotte Shevchenko Knight and Nóra Blascsók take over at a special event on 17 February.

Nóra headshot in St Peter's Square
Nóra Blascsók

Word Central at Central Library

Word Central at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, Until 25 February 2025, free entry - Visit now

Word Central is a long-standing live literature favourite that takes place every month at Central Library. Stepping up to Word Central headliner duties for February is spoken word stalwart Mike Garry.

Poet Mike Garry. Photo Paul Wolfgang Webster
Poet Mike Garry. Photo Paul Wolfgang Webster

Crime Central at Central Library

Crime Central at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, 26 February 2025, from £2.00 - Book now

Crime Central steps back out of the shadows to welcome the authors Suzy Aspley, Nick Quantrill and Eve Smith to Central Library on 26 February, hosted by Rob Parker.

International Mother Language Day at Manchester Poetry Library

International Mother Language Day at Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Poetry Library, Manchester, 21 February 2025, free entry - Find Out More

Manchester Poetry Library will be celebrating words written and spoken in all languages this International Mother Language Day, taking place in UNESCO Cities of Literature around the world on Friday 21 February.

Ruth season at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House online

Ruth - Online Events Season at Elizabeth Gaskell's House, online, Until 19 November 2025, from £6.00 - Book now

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. The season gets underway on 15 January.

Ruth book cover with 10 year branding
Elizabeth Gaskell's House 10 Year Anniversary

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House 10 Year Anniversary

Elizabeth Gaskell's House 10 Year Anniversary at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Manchester and online, Until 4 October 2025, from £0.00 - Book now

Throughout 2025, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is celebrating its tenth anniversary, having first opened to the public a decade ago. From a close brush with dereliction to being awarded official accredited museum status in August 2024, it’s been an important decade in the building’s almost 200-year history.

Drawing Room with 10 year anniversary branding
Elizabeth Gaskell's House

Luke Wright at The Edge

Luke Wright: JOY! at The Edge Theatre and Arts Centre, Manchester, 14 February 2025, from £14.00 - Book now

Every year, poet, playwright and broadcaster Luke Wright makes and tours a new show, and this one is JOY.

joy
luke wright

More literature events

Poet Zaffar Kunial.
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 Zaffar Kunial, Hannah Copley, Rachel Davies and Hilary Robinson.

free entry
LiteratureManchester
Crime Central at Central Library

There’s murder and mayhem in the library! Manchester Libraries’ monthly event Crime Central welcomes new guests every month at Central Library, hosted by Rob Parker.

from £2.00
Poet Mike Garry. Photo Paul Wolfgang Webster
Until
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
Poet Evan Jones
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
joy
LiteratureManchester
Luke Wright at The Edge

Every year, poet, playwright and “wordsmith at the top of his game”, Luke Wright makes and tours a new show, and this one is JOY.

from £14.00
Spotlight on

Things to do in Blackpool

Fancy a day trip? Explore our guide to Blackpool and build yourself an itinerary featuring attractions, galleries, restaurants and more.

Take me there

Literature Events in the North

Manchester
Park
Platt Fields Park

Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield is steeped in history, the land having been acquired by the Platt family in 1225.

HOME Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
HOME Manchester

Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.

The MerseyMade building in Liverpool
Liverpool
Shop
MerseyMade West Kirby

In the MerseyMade shop you’ll find bottled gin from the likes of Turncoat Gin, Anfield Gin, Albert Dock Gin and Three Graces Gin. Yep, Liverpool REALLY likes its gin.

Cumbria
Event venue
Penrith Old Fire Station

Main venue for Eden Arts, an artist-led organisation based in Eden in Cumbria creating projects around mass participation, local distinctiveness and digital engagement, from Picnic Cinema to The Winter Droving.

Culture Guides

Good Fridaze Family Social at Freight Island
Family things to do in the North

As we edge towards spring we take a look at the best events and activities for families, from theatre to festivals, dinosaur adventures to family raves.

NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting production still
Cinema in the North

Street art, LGBTQ+ History Month, and the first film festivals of the year are amongst our cinema highlights this month.

A painting of a young child being bathed in a sink of a 197s style kitchen. Around the sink are a rubber duck, a bottle of  washing up liquid, a jug, a kettle and a mug.
Exhibitions in the North

Galleries are racing to announce new exhibitions so check out our top picks, from art films and nostalgic paintings to Hockney's collages.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Feminist farce, a magical circus show and Oldham Coliseum return with a brand-new off-site show. All in our latest theatre guide.

FKA TWIGS
Music in the North

Masters of minimalism, leftfield electronica and cutting edge pop. We bring you the lot in our latest live music round up.