Literature Events in Manchester and the North

It’s all about Carcanet’s 50th birthday celebrations in November, hijacking (in a good way) the Annual Rylands Poetry Reading at John Rylands Library on the 21st, Poets & Players on the 23rd (with their annual poetry competition this year to be judged by a Carcanet poet – details coming, we’re told, around the 17th) and even the tail-end of Manchester Literature Festival on the 24th, when there are readings in Chet’s Library by the likes of Simon Armitage, Helen Mort and Zaffar Kunial, and a chat between Carcanet’s Michael Schmidt and the Guardian‘s Carol Rumens.

The month starts with another Manchester-based press, Comma, hosting this year’s National Creative Writing Industry Day and yet another, Commonword, setting up their inaugural BIQI (Black Indie Queer Indie) Book Fair in Central Library on 9 November, 11am-4pm.

The same day sees a free afternoon of poetry showcasing the work of seven writers published by the Red Ceilings Press based in New Mills. Providing readings are Tim Allen, Sally Barrett, Nikolai Duffy, Tom Jenks, Ian Seed and Rachel Sills, and James Roome, launching or perhaps even relaunching his debut collection with the exciting “underground” publisher.

Also getting underway that weekend is Chester Literature Festival, with three weeks of workshops, performances and talks running at Storyhouse until the end of the month, while the inaugural LIT Macc festival – a weekend of stories and light – takes place from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 November further down the road in Macclesfield.

Back on home turf, and Neil Campbell launches the third novel in his Salt-published Manchester trilogy at Waterstones Deansgate on 7 November – talking to Manchester Metropolitan University’s Nicholas Royle about Lanyards and how it follows up Sky Hooks (2016) and Zero Hours (2018). Writer-in-Residence at Southern Cemetery Tania Hershman, meanwhile, will be on the airwaves on 11 November – keep your ears open for a BBC Radio 4 broadcast at 4pm exploring the dead centre of south Manchester.

On 14 November, swap the Rainy City for the City of Lights as the anthology We’ll Never Have Paris is launched with readings at Blackwells. Anna Hope and newly crowned Not The Booker winner Lara Williams follow at the bookshop on 20 November, talking to Sealed author Naomi Booth about their recent novels Expectation and Supper Club, respectively, both of which take a contemporary look at feminisim and female friendships, then, on 26 November, the University Green flagship store hosts the popular local author Jonathan Swinton with his book about Alan Turing’s Manchester.

The Portico and Man Met partnership series Rewriting The North is back on 25 November, this time with Helen Mort and Blake Morrison, while the University’s Centre for New Writing collaboration with HOME, The Complete Works, sees Ellah Wakatama Allfrey talking to Kamila Shamsie about hope and resistance on 28 November. The same night Malcolm Gladwell is Talking To Strangers at the Opera House (not really; that’s the name of his book tour), then “Queens of Crime” Val McDermid and Denise Mina round the month off at the Martin Harris Centre.

Before you get back to your books, scroll down to our More in Literature stories, and don’t forget to check out our guide to the UNESCO City of Literature, where you’ll find some bookworm-friendly go-tos, including John Rylands Library, the Portico Library and the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, Chet’s. Our updated Guide To Bookshops In Manchester is here, and there’s a regular secondhand book sale at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House; combine with a look at the new Ruskin exhibition on until July 2020 and the award-winning garden, inspired by the author.

Fancy heading out of town? Our tips for trips include must-go Literary Places in Liverpool – Roger McGough launches his latest tome joinedupwriting at Liverpool Playhouse on 7 November – plus Leeds, Sheffield and Cumbria.

Here are our picks