Past events
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SOLD OUT: Manchester Literature Festival presents Patrick Radden Keefe
18:30 - 19:45 12 October 2026
A gripping evening with Patrick Radden Keefe, bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing. Patrick joins us to discuss his new work London Falling - a riveting true story of wealth, lies and the dark currents running beneath modern London. When teenager Zac Brettler dies after falling from a...
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Manchester Literature Festival presents Paul Mason: Reds
13:00 - 14:15 11 October 2026
A decade after PostCapitalism, Paul Mason returns to Manchester Literature Festival to discuss REDS: A Global History of Communism, his provocative new book exploring one of history's most powerful and contested political ideas. In his bold and unsettling re-evaluation of communism, Paul traces the...
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Manchester Literature Festival presents The Observer Book Club with Deborah Frances-White
15:30 - 16:45 11 October 2026
Author, comedian and host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, Deborah Frances-White joins us for a lively and illuminating conversation about her latest book, Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have, exploring how to navigate polarisation, disagreement and the increasingly heated debates shaping public...
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SOLD OUT: Manchester Literature Festival presents Sarah Hall: Burning Snowflake – The 2026 Faber Lecture
17:00 - 18:15 10 October 2026
Award-winning author Sarah Hall delivers the 2026 Faber Lecture: Burning Snowflake. The natural world is burning. Time is running out. You know the story. So what possible role could something as flimsy as fiction play? From the pioneering pen of a continually visionary writer, Burning Snowflake...
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SOLD OUT: Manchester Literature Festival presents Maggie O’Farrell
18:00 - 19:15 9 October 2026
Maggie O'Farrell makes a welcome return to Manchester Literature Festival with her extraordinary new novel, Land - a sweeping, multi-generational epic inspired by her own family history and the dramatic landscapes of Ireland’s Atlantic coast. Set in 1865, in the shadow of the Great Hunger, the novel...
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A History of Black Theatre in Manchester 1827-2025: Celebrating presence
15:00 - 17:30 8 October 2026
Presented in collaboration with the Drama Department, Creative Manchester is delighted to host this exhibition exploring the artistry and entrepreneurship of people of African and Afro-Caribbean descent in theatre and performance in Manchester. The exhibition draws from library, museum and archive collections...
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Re-imagining Innovation: The Value of Creative Practices
11:30 - 13:00 7 October 2026
Join us to explore how creative writers and artists approach ideas about innovation. Part of The Cultural Welcome 5-11 Oct. How do creative writers and artists approach ideas about innovation? How do their explorations of the social, emotional, and narrative dimensions of economic ideas help us to understand...
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[Exhibition] A History of Black Theatre in Manchester 1827-2025: Celebrating presence
1 - 30 October 2026
Now exhibiting in the Samuel Alexander Glass Corridor: A History of Black Theatre, 1827–2025: Celebrating Presence Until 30 October Glass Corridor, Samuel Alexander Building. Open to the public 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday. To celebrate Black History Month, this exhibition explores the legacies...
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SALIENT Lunch & Learn Webinar with Rebecca Friel MBA
11:00 - 11:30 24 September 2026
Join us for our next SALIENT Lunch & Learn Webinar on Thursday 24th September at 12pm Speaker: Rebecca Friel from OddArts Title Is theatre really a tool for social justice? In her talk Rebecca will cover how Theatre of the Oppressed goes on to inspire her work in communities and prisons today, and...
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Departmental Seminar: “Proof of Human: Provenance, Identity, and Trust in the Age of Generative Systems” – Professor Andrew Melchior
12:00 - 13:00 24 September 2026
Professor Andrew Melchior, CTO of Massive Attack and Founder of Genotone Ltd, will present a seminar entitled "Proof of Human: Provenance, Identity, and Trust in the Age of Generative Systems." Abstract: Generative systems have made it cheap to produce convincing artefacts whose origin, authorship...
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