MLF26: Ian McMillan
12th October 2026
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Beloved poet, broadcaster and performer Ian McMillan launches his moving and inventive new collection Red River Valley. Drawing on family life, everyday absurdities and the impact of austerity on the South Yorkshire village where he has lived all his life, Ian creates poems that are funny, poignant and full of humanity.
Renowned for his warmth, wit and extraordinary live readings, he brings language vividly to life on the page and on stage. Join one of Britain’s most treasured poets for a celebration of storytelling, community and the power of words.
‘World-class – one of today’s greatest poetry performers’ Carol Ann Duffy
Hosted by Becky Swain.
A Manchester Literature Festival event co-presented with Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Ian McMillan was born in Barnsley. He published his first Carcanet book of poems, The Changing Problem, in 1980. His collections include Selected Poems (a Poetry Book Society Recommendation), I Found this Shirt and To Fold the Evening Star. He has hosted The Verb, BBC Radio 4’s arts programme since 2002, and been Barnsley Football Club’s poet-in-residence and Yorkshire TV’s Investigative Poet.
Also part of this season
MLF26: Maggie O’Farrell
Royal Northern College of Music 9 October 2026Maggie O’Farrell returns to Manchester Literature Festival to discuss her extraordinary new novel, Land, hosted by Alex Clark.
MLF26: Sarah Hall: Burning Snowflake
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MLF26: Emily St. John Mandel
Manchester Central Library 10 October 2026Bestselling author Emily St. John Mandel discusses Exit Party, a gripping new novel of parallel worlds, mystery and memory.
MLF26: The Observer Book Club with Deborah Frances-White
Martin Harris Centre for Music & Drama 11 October 2026Deborah Frances-White discusses Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have, exploring disagreement, polarisation and difficult conversations.
MLF26: Paul Mason
Martin Harris Centre for Music & Drama 11 October 2026Paul Mason discusses REDS: A Global History of Communism, exploring communism’s history, legacy and relevance to politics today.
MLF26: An Evening with Russell T Davies & Bernardine Evaristo
Royal Northern College of Music 11 October 2026Russell T Davies joins Bernardine Evaristo to discuss his memoir, television career and the power of storytelling.
MLF26: Patrick Radden Keefe
Martin Harris Centre for Music & Drama 12 October 2026Patrick Radden Keefe discusses London Falling, a gripping investigation into wealth, power and corruption in London.
MLF26: Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Manchester Central Library 13 October 2026Frank Cottrell-Boyce discusses A British Childhood, celebrating books, reading and the stories that shape children’s lives.
MLF26: Owen Jones
HOME 14 October 2026Owen Jones discusses The Fall of the West, exploring political, economic and social crisis, democracy, foreign policy and global events.
MLF26: The Observer Book Club with Yann Martel
Martin Harris Centre for Music & Drama 14 October 2026Yann Martel discusses Son of Nobody, his epic new novel inspired by Homer’s Iliad, exploring myth, memory, family and storytelling.
MLF26: Louise Kennedy & Wendy Erskine
Manchester Central Library 15 October 2026Louise Kennedy and Wendy Erskine discuss storytelling, identity, class and power, and their acclaimed new novels Stations and The Benefactors.
MLF26: The Brown Sugar RAP Party
Contact 15 October 2026Poets from Greater Manchester gather to respond to D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar with new poetry, spoken word and live music, hosted by Inua Ellams.
MLF26: Manchester Multilingual City Poets: Jeremy Pak Nelson & Nóra Blascsók
Manchester Poetry Library 15 October 2026Jeremy Pak Nelson and Nóra Blascsók present new poetry exploring heritage, ancestral memory and storytelling in English, Hungarian and Mandarin.
MLF26: Carolyn Forché & Kwame Dawes
Contact 16 October 2026Carolyn Forché and Kwame Dawes explore poetry, political engagement, survival and testimony in a special conversation hosted by Malika Booker.
MLF26: An Evening with Hugh Bonneville
HOME 17 October 2026Hugh Bonneville discusses his acting career, passion for storytelling and Rory Sparkes children’s spy adventures, hosted by Ellah Wakatama.
MLF26: Brutalist Ghost Stories: Jenn Ashworth, David Gaffney, Beth Barker & Nicholas Royle
Manchester Central Library 17 October 2026Explore the supernatural with four writers from Brutalist Ghost Stories, sharing haunting tales inspired by Britain’s post-war architecture.
MLF26: Natasha Walter: Feminism for a World on Fire
Manchester Central Library 18 October 2026Natasha Walter discusses Feminism for a World on Fire, exploring women’s rights, inequality, climate change, solidarity and social change.
MLF26: Sufiyaan Salam & Monika Radojevic
Manchester Museum 18 October 2026Sufiyaan Salam and Monika Radojevic discuss their acclaimed debut novels, exploring identity, belonging, migration and connection in a changing world.
MLF26: Simon Armitage: Gilgamesh
Manchester Central Library 18 October 2026Simon Armitage presents his new verse translation of Gilgamesh, exploring power, friendship, love, loss and what it means to be human.
MLF26: Willy Vlautin
Manchester Central Library 19 October 2026Willy Vlautin discusses The Left and the Lucky, exploring kindness, survival, human connection and working-class life in Portland, Oregon.
MLF26: M. John Harrison
Manchester Central Library 20 October 2026M. John Harrison discusses The End of Everything, exploring imagination, literature and life in a fractured near-future with Helen Mort.
MLF26: Lady Hale & Lara Feigel
Manchester Central Library 21 October 2026Lady Hale and Lara Feigel discuss law, family, motherhood and power, exploring how justice is experienced by children, mothers and families.
MLF26: Lee Child – My Life in Books
HOME 23 October 2026Lee Child discusses his writing career, the inspirations behind his crime fiction and the latest Jack Reacher thriller, Chain Reaction.
MLF26: The Observer Book Club with Min Jin Lee
Contact 21 October 2026Min Jin Lee discusses American Hagwon, a sweeping novel exploring family, migration, identity, education and the pursuit of a better life across three generations.
MLF26: Hernan Diaz
Manchester Central Library 22 October 2026Hernan Diaz discusses Ply, a visionary new novel exploring identity, connection, art and science in a city on the brink of change.
MLF26: Writing Creative Non-Fiction with Dave Haslam
Manchester Central Library 23 October 2026Dave Haslam leads a workshop on creative approaches to memoir and life writing, exploring imagination, subjectivity, novelistic techniques and unconventional structures.
MLF26: Dave Haslam & Special Guests
HOME 24 October 2026Dave Haslam launches Creative Journeys, discussing creativity, resilience and artistic lives with John Simm, Stephen Morris and Afrodeutsche.
MLF26: An Afternoon with Elif Shafak
Royal Northern College of Music 25 October 2026Elif Shafak discusses In One Brief Moment All Eternity, a sweeping novel of art, resistance and political change.
MLF26: An Evening with Jackie Kay
HOME 25 October 2026Jackie Kay performs poems from Selected Poems 1991–2026, spanning three decades of work exploring love, loss, family, activism and community.
