MCRCityofLit

08/10/2026

🏆 Join a record-breaking read today! 🏆

Read Manchester and National Literacy Trust have organised a whole day of stories for you and your friends, families, classmates and communities can get together and read.

began in Manchester in support of to promote the amazing wellbeing benefits of reading.

Now we're inviting the whole world to get involved. From now until 9pm you can register to be part of the most people reading online record attempt!

Find out more and join here: https://literacytrust.org.uk/events/take-10-record-attempt/

British Council

Will you take 10 minutes to read and help to set a new world record?

On Thursday 8 October, in partnership with British Council, we’ll attempt to set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the most people reading online in 12 hours. It’s part of our campaign in the .

Join online sessions with authors and influencers throughout the day and be part of a global shared reading moment. Schools, businesses, community groups, families and individuals can all get involved.

Sign up and take 10 minutes to read into what you love: https://loom.ly/ycVOruU

06/10/2026

At the weekend, we teamed up with to welcome .poetry.festival to Manchester.

The packed out audience was treated to collaborative performances from pairs of poets hailing from across the European continent. These ‘Camarade’ events link poets up to create original work on any subject matter, in any style or form - with innovative and unique results.

And what better way to celebrate ’s 5th birthday? 🎂🥳

A huge thank you to .poetry.festival, , all the poets who shared their work and the fantastic audience.❤️

05/10/2026

The 6th annual edition of Festival of Libraries took place this summer across library venues in Greater Manchester and we've just finished finalising the numbers...

A total 125 events, exhibitions, performances, or workshops, delivered by over 100 artists and creative practitioners, took place in and around Greater Manchester’s libraries and cultural venues.

Some highlights from the independent evaluation include:

🎉 A record 94.6k festival attendees
🎉 98% of attendees feel the library is an essential community service
🎉 73% of attendees felt the festival demonstrated that their library had more to offer them than they previously thought
🎉 96% of attendees enjoyed their event

You can read the full evaluation report on our website.

The festival was supported by and core programming partners of manchester and also supported the festival programme by selecting the very best speakers and workshop leaders. The 2026 international guest City of Literature was Barcelona Ciutat de la Literatura

Thanks to everyone (all 94.6k of you!) including all the incredible artists and partners who joined us to celebrate libraries, we can't wait to do it all again 2-6th June 2027!

03/10/2026

Ljubljana UNESCO City of Literature Ljubljana, mesto literature are now accepting applications for their 2027 Writer in the Park Residency. 🎉

The residency offers a peaceful space to focus on your writing, whilst also engaging with Ljubljana’s vibrant cultural scene.

Writers must have published at least 1 book of fiction (be it prose, poetry or drama) in their language, and must have a strong connection to another UNESCO City of Literature.

For full eligibility information, and how to apply, click the link in our bio.

⏰ Deadline: Oct 30 2026.

01/10/2026

Happy National Poetry Day from Manchester City of Literature 🌏✒️

From the page to the stage, poetry is a huge part of Manchester’s identity as a UNESCO City of Literature.

If you’re keen to get involved in the Manchester scene, here are a few things to get you started…

✒️ The Manchester Cathedral Poetry Competition is currently open for entries. The theme is ‘unsung city’ and the deadline is 21 Oct.

✒️ The European Poetry Festival comes to Manchester Poetry Library this Saturday. Expect a dazzling evening of poetry, performance and collaboration.

✒️ And visit the “Spoken Word in Manchester” page on our website for details of all the different poetry nights and collectives meeting across the city.

Visit manchestercityofloterature.com for full details of the above - and much, much more.

(Pictured: Olena Huseinova reading at ‘Lines of Love and Resistance’ - an evening of Ukrainian Poetry. Image Credit: North Star Digital.)

25/09/2026

We’ve been looking back at last weekend’s Distant Voices exhibition from

Co-curated by Manchester Multilingual City Poet , the exhibition featured work from artists based across Greater Manchester, Japan, Vietnam, America and beyond.

Jeremy also shared a brand new work-in-progress performance throughout the day, musing on the voices that travel to us across memory, place and time.

Visit the ‘projects’ page on our website to find out more. 👀

24/09/2026

📚 More time to enjoy your local library!

We're extending opening hours across Manchester Libraries, including the return of Sunday opening at selected locations for the first time in 15 years. From borrowing books and accessing free computers to attending events and finding a welcoming community space, libraries continue to play a vital role in community life.

Find out which libraries are affected and when the new hours start: https://orlo.uk/ETRqt

22/09/2026

Introducing Manchester’s poet for … Tom Ramsden 🎤

Contested since 2019, Slamovision is the UNESCO Cities of Literature Global Poetry Slam. The competition gets fiercer every year, with 21 cities taking to the mic in 2026.

Tom’s poem is titled ‘Dead Language,’ and can be viewed alongside the other entries at slamovision.com

Tom Ramsden has been writing and performing poetry in Manchester on and off since 2018. He’s very lucky to have shared stages with some of Manchester‘s most talented poets, both those who – like him – were born and bred here, and those who have made the city their home. He knows that, even when motivation is at a low, he can rely on Manchester‘s poetry community to find new ways to inspire him and hopes to do the same for others.

The Slamovision final will be hosted by last year’s winners Iowa City of Literature, and will be live-streamed on November 1st.

18/09/2026

On Wednesday 7th October we’re teaming up with SEESAW | where creatives work for a special writers’ social as part of the 2026 Cultural Welcome. ✍️

New to the city with an interest in or studying literature? Gather to meet newbies and professionals alike from the literary community.

There will be readings from Leyla Barakat and Abhijeet. Plus: a talk by The Aftershock Review, a zine making workshop from .picnic and a new pamphlet from Team Trident Press

The Cultural Welcome takes place from 5-11 October, and is a special week of student events around Oxford Road Corridor, Manchester’s Knowledge Quarter

Click the link in our bio for more info.

17/09/2026

👀 New Resource: Literary Spaces for Hire

We frequently get asked which literary and cultural organisations in the city have spaces for hire. Whether you’re holding a workshop for a small group of writers, planning an exhibition, open mic or performance, we’ve pulled together a handy list of venues around Manchester that might be able to help.

For the full list, visit the ‘news’ page of our website and click ‘resources.’

Pictured: Manchester Cathedral Levenshulme Old Library Manchester Poetry Library STOCKROOM

Image Credits: North Star Digital