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There are plenty of online readings and live launches as Manchester and the North welcomes some great writers with book festival season getting underway, and there are loads of new spoken word nights and open mics to check out…
The Portico Library’s Rewriting the North series continues in October, while Central Library is the place to head for some Northern noir courtesy the monthly Crime Central hosted by Rob Parker. Meanwhile, Manchester Poetry Library celebrates its first birthday, and up the Oxford Road Corridor there’s loads going on at Contact, including poetry-theatre from Roma Havers and various Manchester Literature Festival poetry showcases. MLF also includes the annual John Rylands Poetry Reading, featuring Carcanet poet Carl Phillips, over from the States.
In Liverpool, various nights like A Lovely Word, Blast!, Give Poetry A Chance, Liver Bards and the popular Spoken Word night at the Mansion House are back for the autumn season (along with Gravity Festival), and there’s a centenary celebratory reading of T Eliot’s The Waste Land at Open Eye Gallery. Meanwhile, The Reader’s weekly Poetry Walks also continue in south Liverpool’s Calderstones Park every Thursday morning – bring a brolly and find out more here. In Lancaster, Litfest has a special Autumn Weekend taking place both in real life and online.
Over in Leeds, Chelping returns for the autumn, and its open mic compère Matt Abbott co-hosts Tubthumping with Maria Ferguson at The Constitutional in Farsley. Also in Farsley, head to Truman Books for various events and the new Ink Slinging: Farsley Literature Festival, while Leeds has a brand-new night, with its third bimonthly outing chalked up for November – Chemistry, hosted by Leeds poet Joe Williams. In Sheffield, keep an eye out for new night Resonance and also Nine Lives Poetry, in new venue John St Kitchen. In Hebden Bridge, meanwhile, get ready for this October’s inaugural Sylvia Plath Literary Festival, and, in Huddersfield, check out the new poetry night Ink Spill at The Grove.
West of the Pennines, we have a few new nights in town – or just out of town: Sour Theatre Collective’s Blah Blah Blah poetry night takes place at Café Blah in Withington, just round the corner from Beatification at Fuel. There’s also Crooked Poets hosted by John Darwin at Crooked Man Bar in Prestwich on the first Tuesday of the month, as well as Express Yourself hosted by David Scott (aka Argh Kid, BBC Radio Manchester) at Bask in Stockport on the last Wednesday of every month. Saboteur Awards Best Regular Spoken Word Night Verbose is back at the King’s Arms in Salford, and Poets & Players takes up residence in the Burgess Foundation. Word Central takes over Manchester Central Library’s events space monthly and don’t forget Speak Easy’s bumper open mic is at Dulcimer in Chorlton every first Thursday of the month.
For book purchases, flick through our Bookshops in Manchester Guide and don’t forget you still need to book in advance for the monthly Elizabeth Gaskell’s House book sale. Manchester Poetry Library, Chetham’s Library, the Portico Library and the Pankhurst Centre are all welcoming visitors, so pop them on your list too. Scroll down for more events and activities, or see our literary guides to Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Cumbria if you’re venturing further afield.
Here are our picks
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1. Litfest Autumn Weekend 2022 at various venues and online
Poet Kim Moore. Photo by Lorna Elizabeth. Lancaster Literature Festival - Litfest 2022 at The Storey Creative Industries Centre, Lancaster, Until 12 October 2022, from £5.00 - Book now
Following on from Lancaster’s 43rd annual literature festival in March, now there’s a special autumnal edition of Litfest 6-12 October, in which you can take part either in person or virtually as the programme goes hybrid. With an opening event on National Poetry Festival hosted by Clare Shaw, and readings from Kim Moore, Eoghan Walls and more.
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2. Carl Phillips at John Rylands Library
Carl Phillips. Photo Reston Allen. Carl Phillips at John Rylands Research Institute and Library, City Centre, 13 October 2022, from £8.00 - Book now
Part of Manchester Literature Festival, the annual John Rylands Poetry Reading with Manchester’s Carcanet Press is an event all in itself, and this year is no exception, welcoming “one of America’s most original, influential, and productive of lyric poets” Carl Phillips on 13 October.
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3. Rewriting the North online at the Portico Library
Writer Jeff Young. Photo courtesy The Portico Library. Rewriting the North: Graphic Writing, 13 October 2022, from £3.00 - Book now
In the latest online event in The Portico Library’s 2022 Rewriting The North programme, on 13 October, writers Tabitha Lasley and Jeff Young talk about place, life writing and blurred genres to Dr David Cooper of the Centre for Place Writing.
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4. Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation
Poet Kit Fan. Poets & Players at International Anthony Burgess Foundation (IABF), Manchester, 22 October 2022, free entry - Find Out More
Poets & Players has a new home as we edge into autumn, bringing its fabulous free afternoons of words and music townwards along the Oxford Road Corridor and into the International Anthony Burgess Foundation on 22 October.
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5. Manchester Literature Festival 2022
Poet and performer Inua Ellams. Manchester Literature Festival at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, 7–23 October 2022, from £5 - Book now
Manchester Literature Festival takes place 7 to 23 October 2022, showcasing a range of poetry, prose and more from both household names as well as up-and-coming talent. We’re looking forward to Jon McGregor, Kit de Waal, Inua Ellams and Kayo Chingonyi, among others…
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6. Tubthumping at The Constitutional
Poet and performer Louise Fazackerley. Photo by Richard Davis. Tubthumping at The Constitutional, 3 November 2022, from £10.00 - Book now
A rip-roaring evening featuring some of the UK’s most dynamic spoken word poets: Nymphs & Thugs present Tubthumping at The Constitutional – back on 3 November featuring Louise Fazackerley, whose new book The Pleasure Dome just just out with Burning Eye Books, and Jasmine Gardosi.
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7. Crime Central at Central Library
Author Laure Van Rensburg. Crime Central at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, 3 November 2022, from £2.00 - Book now
There’s blood on the carpet at Central Library, as Manchester Libraries’ Crime Central returns on 3 November to shine a spotlight on the best and brightest crime writing talent both locally and from around the country.
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8. Chemistry at Chemic Tavern
Jimmy Andrex. Photo Margutte. Chemistry at The Chemic Tavern, Leeds, 18 November 2022, free entry - Find Out More
Leeds’ bimonthly live literature night Chemistry promises an exciting mixture of headline guests and open mic acts, all introduced by Leeds-based poet Joe Williams. Head to the Chemic Tavern on 18 November for Chemistry 3: Li for Lithium, with guests Pamela Crowe and Sarah Wimbush.
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9. Forward Prizes at Contact and online
Helen Mort. Photo by Jonathan Pow. Forward Prizes at Contact Theatre, Manchester, 28 November 2022, from £15.00 - Book now
It’s the 30th anniversary of the Forward Prizes for Poetry, the most influential awards for new poetry in the UK and Ireland, honouring fresh voices alongside internationally established names – and this year the glittering awards ceremony will take place right here in Manchester, on 28 November.
More in Literature
The Little Library in Spinningfields
Take your pick from The Little Library’s carefully curated collection of classics and new releases, adding a recently read book of your own as a replacement.
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House Tour
Visit the home influential Mancunian writer Elizabeth Gaskell, with expert guides and refreshments within the home it’s a truly immersive way to learn about her life.
Book sale at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and award-winning garden is a must-see, with the famous book sale every second Sunday of the month throughout 2022.
Poetry Walk at The Reader in Liverpool
Every Thursday morning you’re invited to join the Poetry Walk with The Reader in Calderstones Park. Get into the great outdoors and escape the everyday, while exploring poetry and making the most of the beautiful surroundings in a safe and socially distanced way.
Roma Havers: LOB at Contact
Poetry meets tennis and live literature meets theatre in LOB, a piece that explores moving through sporting spaces as a queer body, written and performed by Roma Havers, Young Identity alumna and Learning Officer at Manchester Poetry Library.
Inua Ellams & Yomi Sode at Contact
Inua Ellams and Yomi Sode return to MLF to share work from their acclaimed poetry collections, which take aim at the legacies of the British Empire.
Baby Bear at Z-arts
Part of the Manchester Literature Festival, Baby Bear is a nature-inspired show for families.
The World of Independent Publishing at The Constitutional
Part of Ink Slingers: Farsley Literature Festival, Truman Books presents a panel with five highly respected Northern indie publishers to dive beneath the surface of what can be an opaque industry.
The Waste Land at Open Eye Gallery
Open Eye Gallery invites you to join in a collective reading of TS Eliot’s seminal long poem The Waste Land, 100 years after it was first published.
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