Event type: Festival

May Day, the much-anticipated new poetry collection from Jackie Kay, one of the UK’s best loved poets, casts an eye over decades of political activism: the international solidarity of the Glasgow of Jackie’s childhood; her parents’ Socialist campaigns; the feminist, LGBT+ and anti-racist movements of the 80s and 90s, and the global pandemic and urgency of Black Lives Matter.

Join Jackie Kay for an unmissable evening as she delves below the surface of received narratives and brings to life a cast of influential figures: Fanny Eaton, Paul Robeson, Angela Davis and Audre Lorde. Woven throughout are a suite of lyric poems concerning the recent losses of Kay’s parents: poems of grief and profound change that are infused with the light of love and celebration.

‘Kay’s strength as a poet has always been her clear, plain style, and its fearless spoken poignancy’. – Daily Telegraph

Join Salena Godden for an intimate evening of readings and captivating conversation, discussing her latest collection, Love, Grief and Fury.

Three decades since her ground-breaking debut on the UK poetry scene Salena Godden unveils her boldest and most definitive collection yet.

With Love, Grief and Fury contains love poems for people and the planet, poems of grief brimming with compassion, and poems of fire and fury that kick some ass.

A woman walks into a tattoo parlour. But this is no ordinary woman, and this is Hackney in 2233. Jones’ body is covered in tattoos but she wants to add one final inking to her gallery – a thin line of ink mixed with blood that connects her body art together, creating a unique map.

As the two artists set to work, Jones tells them the story behind each tattoo. As Jones is no ordinary woman, these are no ordinary stories: each one represents a doorway to a life Jones fell into, a ‘remembering’. Some of these lives were in the past, others in the future, some are sideways, but each of them connects Jones to the two tattoo artists in some way, though they are unaware of it.

We visit the dystopian cities of the Quiet Men, the coal mines of 19th century Lancashire, join a gang of vigilante sex workers, enter the world of an INCEL murderer, haunt the old Maryville gay bar, and uncover plans to genetically modify female children. Each of the stories brings us closer to Jones’ truth, and how her life is intricately interwoven with that of the women tattooing her body.

Set across geographies and timespans,The Night Alphabet is a dazzlingly bold and original work, a deep investigation into human nature and violence against women.

Joelle will be reading from The Night Alphabet and in conversion with Roger Hill, freelance director, performer, writer, lecturer and broadcaster.

Irvine Welsh returns to WoWFEST for a no-holds-barred celebration of 30 years of Trainspotting and its cast of outcasts – Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie. Trainspotting quickly gained a cult following – which exploded across the world when Danny Boyle’s film of the same name hit the big screen.

It left an inedible mark on popular culture and fiction and still holds us in its grip today. Three decades on, with over a million copies sold in the UK alone and translated into more than 30 languages, join WoW to talk all things Trainspotting and more, including Irvine’s latest book, The Long Knives.

Irvine will be in conversation with Peter Hooton, frontman of the acclaimed Liverpool Band The Farm and co-founder of legendary fanzine The End.

Irvine Welsh DJ Set: After-party at Arts Bar Baltic

Irvine is hitting the decks for an exclusive after-party DJ set at Arts Bar Baltic! Irvine will be playing his favourite tunes all night long. See you there.

Arts Bar Baltic, 27 Parliament St, Liverpool L8 5RN
Friday 10th May, 11pm
Free Entry

Crack out the bunting! It’s Luke Wright’s Silver Jubilee.

Thwarted in his attempts to hold a street party by the philistines on the council and unable to shift the over-ordered commemorative plates, Luke Wright does what a poet does best, and takes a deep dive into himself. What follows is his most confessional show to date.

Wright was adopted as a baby and grew up believing that his adoption “wasn’t a big thing.” But one night he idly stumbled across his birth mother on Facebook. This window to a world that might have been his has thrown up deep questions about privilege, familial love, and destiny.

This show debuted to a packed arena at Latitude Festival before a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe where it was the toast of the critics.

“Breathtaking … with a sharpness and wisdom that lifts the soul, and soothes the battered heart.” ★★★★ The Scotsman

“A winning combination of honesty, humour, ire and wonder. He is at the peak of his powers.” ★★★★★ The Stage

For over twenty-five years, Luke Wright has built up a reputation for being one of Britain’s most popular live poets. He has won an unprecedented four Saboteur Awards (national awards for spoken word), a Stage Award, and a Fringe First. He’s sold out shows across the world and regularly tours with John Cooper Clarke and The Libertines.

Supporting Luke Wright will be Oliver James Lomaxm, a poet, educator, and trustee of the Working-Class Movement Library in Salford. Oliver James Lomax is a poet, educator, and trustee of the Working-Class Movement Library in Salford. He has published 5 collections of poetry including The Dandelion Clock (2020) and Burial of the Cameo (2023). Oliver has written poetry for film and television and in 2019 released his first spoken word single. He released his debut album ‘Working-Class Love Poem’ (Shadrack and Duxbury 2023) which he is currently touring across the UK. His poems are now taught in schools.

Two award-winning poets come together at WoWFEST to launch a debut novel! Andrew McMillan, whose Physical was the only poetry collection to ever win the Guardian First Book Award, will be reading from his debut novel Pity, and in conversation with multi-award winning poet Paul Farley.

Pity explores community, masculinity and post-industrialisation in Northern England amidst the backdrop of dying towns and loss of purpose. It is described as unmissable by the Sunday Times, Independent, New Statesman, Guardian and i-D, and acclaimed by a host of writers, including Ocean Vuong, Max Porter, Douglas Stuart, Liz Berry, Jon McGregor and Helen Mort.

Paul Farley will be hosting the launch and author Q&A.

In the grip of a climate emergency, as culture wars and real wars rage, WoWFEST: FAHRENHEIT 2024 is an arena for ideas and a call to action. 

The New World Order is causing disorder and destruction on an unprecedented scale, with global warming, polluted air, raw sewage poured into the sea and rivers, soil degradation, deforestation, and the loss of biodiversity all the result of the pursuit of profit over people and the planet. Forty-five armed conflicts are raging in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, with countless people maimed and killed; toxic bombs equal a toxic environment. Still the bombs keep dropping, still they turn their heads. 

WoWFEST: FAHRENHEIT 2024 will unite writers, artists and audiences to highlight the urgent need for change through writing, performance and activism to fight for the preservation of our planet. 

This year’s festival title is inspired by Ray Bradbury’s prescient 1951 book Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian novel set in a near-future, where books are outlawed and Firemen create fires, burning any discovered books, leading protagonist Guy Montag to question his role in preserving knowledge. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books burn. WoWFEST is concerned about the temperature at which the world burns.  

Despite facing censorship in apartheid South Africa and certain U.S. schools, Fahrenheit 451 stands as a critical success and a powerful critique of censorship and intellectual suppression. It draws inspiration from Nazi Germany’s book burnings and repression in the Soviet Union and although the book was written in 1953, it bears a resemblance to society today. Several US states have introduced anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including the banning of books containing descriptions of ‘sexual conduct’ from educational institutions and libraries as well as the banning of public drag shows. Authors whose books are challenged are disproportionately female, black and from LGBTQ+ communities. Nobel Laureate, Toni Morrison’s book The Bluest Eye is one of the most banned books in school districts across America.  

In America now we see life imitating art, with books being banned from schools and libraries, and right-wing Republican candidates using flame throwers to burn books. Censorship and laws to hinder or ban protests are on the rise across the world. 

“At Writing on the Wall social justice and collective action are at our core. Now, more than ever, it’s time to stand up, mobilise, and utilise writing and creativity as tools for transformation.” Mike Morris and Madeline Heneghan, WoW Co-Directors

Join us throughout May as WOWFEST ignites the city with the voices of local, national, and international writers, activists, performers and audiences to explore, discuss, and challenge these burning issues. 

WoWFEST: FAHRENHEIT 2024 Festival Programme

Jon Ronson: Things Fell Apart (Friday 3 May)

Jon Ronson’s Radio 4 Podcast Things Fell Apart, now in its second series, reveals some truly astonishing stories as he draws out the threads of the origins of the culture wars and interviews some of its main players. Don’t miss this unique chance to hear from Jon himself, appearing live, virtually from New York, revealing further insights from his work – from COVID conspiracies and Antifa hysteria, to racial and gender identity politics, free speech and protests against lockdown that spiralled out of control, and answering your most pressing questions.

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The Welsh Connection (Saturday 4 May)

Featuring Manon Steffan Ros, Gareth Twamley & Iwan Steffan. Expect a combination of scintillating conversation and shining performances from these talented Welsh artists representing a mixture of literary styles, bringing you the word from Wales its original form and translated into English.

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Sarah P Corbett: Craftivism as a form of Gentle Protest (Tuesday 7 May)

Award-winning activist and author Sarah P Corbett joins Roger Phillips, award-winning former BBC Radio Merseyside broadcaster, in conversation at Leaf. They will be discussing her new book, The Craftivist Collective Handbook, her work around the world and how Liverpool has shaped her activism.

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Stephen Small: In The Shadows of The Big House (Tuesday 7 May)

Stephen Small, Professor at the Dept of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, valued WoW collaborator and author of the Small Talk series, makes his in-person debut at WoWFEST to discuss his latest book; In the Shadows of the Big House: Twenty-First-Century Antebellum Slave Cabins and Heritage Tourism in Louisiana (Atlantic Migrations and the African Diaspora). Stephen, in conversation with WoW’s Creative Heritage Project Manager, Janaya Pickett, will trace the historical trajectory of plantations and slave cabins since the Civil War and explore what representations of slavery and slave cabins convey about the reconfiguration of the past and the rearticulation of history in the present.

Lights Bearing West: Book Launch, with Tony Wailey (Wednesday 8 May)

Tony Wailey’s latest book, Lights Bearing West, is about memory, place and distance, messages sent, delivered, picked up, put down, kept or discarded. Going away, having adventures and coming home, whether these adventures are first hand or tenth hand, is part of everyone’s trilogy in Liverpool – even for those who have never left the river. Tony will be signing copies of his book at this event at Smithdown Social Arts Hub.

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Turning A Book Into A TV Series (Wednesday 8 May)

Ashleigh Nugent and Tom Thostrup, co-founder and Managing Director of 2LE media, will talk through the process of how Ashleigh’s electric debut novel, Locks, was optioned for TV. This event promises to be an inspirational experience for any budding screen writers, as well as a fascinating glimpse into the real-life struggles portrayed in this irreverent and authentic black identity debut.

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Danny Morrison: The Dirty War (Thursday 9 May)

Danny Morrison returns to Writing on the Wall for a one-off exclusive on the Stakeknife affair and how he was lured into a trap by Britain’s biggest spy in the IRA.  Danny will be in conversation with Stuart Borthwick, chair of Writing on the Wall and author of The Writing on the Wall: A Visual History of Northern Ireland’s Troubles. 

30 Years of Train Spotting with Irvine Welsh (Friday 10 May)

Irvine Welsh returns to WoWFEST for a no-holds-barred celebration of 30 years of Trainspotting and its cast of outcasts. Irvine will be in conversation with Peter Hooton, frontman of the acclaimed Liverpool Band The Farm and co-founder of legendary fanzine The End.

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Salena Godden: Love, Grief and Fury (Saturday 11 May)

Join Salena Godden for an intimate evening of readings and captivating conversation, discussing her latest collection, Love, Grief and Fury. Her latest work contains love poems for people and the planet, poems of grief brimming with compassion, and poems of fire and fury that kick some ass.

More info & tickets

It’s The End of The World and They Knew It: Dystopia – Then vs. Now (Monday 13 May)

WoW partners with Liverpool University to explore dystopian literature, taking you on a journey through the evolution of dystopian literature and how authors and artists eerily predicted our present and future. 

Pity: Andrew McMillan, with Paul Farley (Tuesday 14 May)

Two award-winning poets come together at WoWFEST to launch a debut novel! Andrew McMillan, whose Physical was the only poetry collection to ever win the Guardian First Book Award, will be reading from his debut novel Pity, and in conversation with multi-award winning poet Paul Farley.

More info & tickets