Event type: Festival

We’re tired of being angry. The simple act of living our most fabulous, out and proud queer lives, just the act of being ourselves in a cis-heteronormative world, is a protest.

You’re invited to join us for 3 weeks of unadulterated queer joy.

View all of Homotopia Festival’s 2022 events here.

Black History Month @ Writing on The Wall features Linton Kwesi Johnson, Anyika Onuoura, PM Russell, the L8 Archives, Dorothy Kuya and Anti Slavery International Archives Launch, What’s Your Story International – Gambia, Myanmar, Lebanon, Different Voices Shred Lives, The Attic Child, and more…

Black History Month 22 @ WoW begins at home in Liverpool 8, with the opening of the Liverpool 8 Archives, a WoW project, supported by the Liverpool Records Office, which, through our Creative Heritage Strand, we have been working on for a number of years with the local community. These historic archives document the contribution of black activists and their white comrades in the fight against institutional racism in Liverpool, and while supporting families from all backgrounds in their struggle for decent housing and fair treatment in employment, education and criminal justice.

We invite you to join us to celebrate the completion of the work on the L8 Law Centre and to get involved as we embark, in partnership with National Museums Liverpool, on two crucial heritage projects exploring the life and work of L8-born anti-racist activist Dorothy Kuya and the organisation, Anti-Slavery International.

Writing on the Wall are proud to welcome back Liverpool poetry legend Linton Kwesi Johnson in an exclusive Liverpool event, headlining our programme celebrating Black History Month 2022.

Linton’s work has always been political, vital, and necessary, drawing attention to systemic racism, police abuse and National Front attacks, calling for government, institutions and society to be held to account. Through poetry and verse Linton’s work tells the story of UK Black Power and resistance, of which our L8 activists were an integral part.

Writing on the Wall’s Different Voices Shared Lives project has been working with the Liverpool City Region’s six Library Services to give a voice and platform to Black, Asian, and other racial minority communities across the region. Look out for our event celebrating the work of the people who have taken part.

Our What’s Your Story? International project has reached out to the Gambia, Myanmar and Lebanon to work with communities whose experiences should be heard in the UK and beyond.

Black History, like Asian history, First Nation American and a host of other histories, is the history that has been left out of the books, erased and ignored. However,  the white-washed versions of history have never been more contested and subject to scrutiny than they are now. The decolonising of literature and education, reparations, the returning of plundered artefacts, are now key parts of the discourse, indicating that the study and inclusion of black history is essential for society to develop a more complete understanding of human development.

It’s now time to dig deeper. WoW supports all efforts to bring to the fore discussions that enhance awareness through research and education, and continue the fight for true equality.

Black history is not just for October. WoW’s programme draws from our year-round heritage and creative writing projects. We have been privileged to work with a range of incredibly talented local, national and international artists. We are grateful for their immense creativity and ongoing support as we continue our work with diverse communities at home and abroad.

Join us at WoW’s BHM 2022. In the words of Martin Luther King, ‘Let’s keep the movement moving!’

Visit https://writingonthewall.org.uk/black-history-month/ to find out about all of Writing on the Wall’s Black History Month events.

Top names from Liverpool and the UK will be appearing at events in South Liverpool this September as part of the annual literary festival – the Smithdown Litfest.

Now in its sixth year, The Smithdown Litfest hosts author talks in community venues along the Smithdown Road corridor ‒ from Toxteth to Allerton. The authors chat about their writing lives and books, answer questions from the audience, and sign copies of their books.

This year’s Litfest takes place from Thursday 22nd to Wednesday 28th September 2022 with these special guests:

GEORGE SEPHTON: LEGENDARY LFC STADIUM ANNOUNCER on being the “Voice for Anfield” for half a century;

KEN PYE: RESPECTED LOCAL HISTORIAN exploring historical Merseyside Murders and Misdemeanours;

C L TAYLOR: PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AUTHOR, Sunday Times bestseller and Richard & Judy pick talking thrillers and crime;

PADDY SHENNAN: FORMER ECHO FEATURE WRITER sharing stories about the fascinating famous people he’s met and interviewed from Liverpool and around the country;

BROOKSIDE CELEBRATION: celebrating Brookie’s 40th anniversary with a Corkhill family cast reunion and more;

ANYIKA ONUORA: LIVERPOOL’S OWN OLYMPIC MEDALIST revealing the ups and downs of her glittering career.

Children’s authors Jude Lennon and Susan Brownrigg will be appearing at special events at two local schools, and there will also be a free Poets for Peace poetry event in Greenbank Park.

Litfest patron and award-winning crime fiction author Margaret Murphy, who was born just off Smithdown Road says: “The Smithdown LitFest is for those who are passionate about books and those who are just starting on their journey as readers, it is for proud locals, and for visitors exploring our special corner of south Liverpool. So get inspired, have fun, bring your friends.”

Litfest founder and director Ian Skillicorn, a local publisher whose family connections to the Smithdown Road area go back to the 1800s says: “The Smithdown Litfest has something for everyone and it’s all on your doorstep! We look forward to seeing you there.”

The Smithdown Litfest raises funds for Al-Sabeen Children’s Hospital in Sana’a, Yemen to support health workers at the hospital to do their work, purchase vital lifesaving medicines, PPE, basic medical equipment and to pay for tests and investigations for families that cannot afford treatment for their child. The hospital treats children affected by war, severe and acute malnutrition, cholera, diphtheria, malaria, dengue and COVID-19.

Liverpool Irish Festival, the UK’s largest Irish arts and culture led festival, has announced its 2022 programme. The twentieth year of this annual festival features 40+ events for adults and children across 10 remarkable days between Thurs 20-Sun 30 Oct 2022.

The Festival, a highlight of the UK cultural calendar, includes an array of Irish artists and contributors from across the worlds of music, theatre, film, spoken word, visual arts and academia, such as Stephen Travers (The Miami Showband), Lorraine Maher (#IAmIrish) and Ruairi Glasheen (internationally acclaimed bodhrán player).

Programme Strands

For more details, including specific date, times and venues visit https://www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/events

Music

Tippin’ It Up and Gaelforce open the Festival at Liverpool Irish Centre (20 Oct), which features two live seisiúns at PK’s (21 Oct & 28 Oct) as well as music cross-threaded through other aspects of the programme, including both IndieCork films, the Family Day and Samhain (Hallowe’en) Céilí.

Visual Arts

• Fion Gunn, an Irish diaspora artist, presents Arrival/Departures exhibition (Victoria Gallery and Museum, 30 Jul–23 Dec) incorporating themes of what it means to travel and its impact on memory. The exhibition includes a free augmented reality strand for audiences to engage with
• The Forgotten by Pamela Sullivan (The Williamson, 20 Oct-30 Oct) presents a series of miniature works exploring the forgotten people of Ireland, recreating landscapes hidden within a trail of Merseyside’s urban jungle
• Housing at The Reader (20-30 Oct)
• Northern-Irish Wirral-based artist Martin McCoy presents Sweeney’s Unquiet Islands (The Williamson 6 Oct – 19 Oct), an exhibition of original prints linking to the medieval Irish story Buile Suibhne in a contemplation of our relationship to place and the identity
• Laura Matikaite -a Lithuanian-Irish artist – is this year’s featured artist for In the Window (1 Oct–31 Oct), an exhibition run at and in partnership with Bluecoat Display Centre with support from Design and Craft Council of Ireland.

Theatre

• Dark comedy The Fifth Guest (Carol Maginn) is a murder-mystery-dinner with a twist, showing at Liverpool Arts Club/Hope Street Theatre(21 Oct)
• Nwoko Arts presents Sweet Mother (The Brink, 22 Oct), a play reflecting stories about white women who fell in love and married Black men, inspired by the lives of women living in Liverpool’s L8 area
• Famished: Women and the Irish Famine showing at Liverpool Everyman Bistro (25 Oct) brings together two female artists, Cherry Smyth and Jaki McCarrick, in a double-bill poetry performance and play discussion about Belfast Girls
• A Very Odd Birthday (Hannah Donelan; longlisted for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting) invites you to Michael Moriarty’s birthday party (27 Oct) as the play revels in the complexities of working family, working class identity and that of first- and second-generation migrants to the UK (Liverpool Royal Court Studio).

Film

IndieCork presents two documentaries highlighting The Power of the Song (23 and 24 Oct), whilst a Q&A and educational screening of The Miami Showband Massacre at Sefton Park Palm House (26 Oct) brings survivor Stephen Travers together with broadcaster and journalist Liam Fogarty to discuss his experiences of the event.

Poetry, talks and lectures

• Catherine Harvey (actor, writer and broadcaster) joins Ashleigh Nugent for Shakespeare on the Irish (Shakespeare North Playhouse, 22 Oct), which explores the context and interpretations of the Bard’s inclusion (or not) of Irish people in his works
• Carmen Cullen’s poems (Liverpool Irish Centre, 25 Oct) transport you to her childhood and memories of 1960s Irish scenes, brought to life through spoken and written word, images and music
• PhD researcher Niamh Lear is interviewed by BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Catherine Harvey on Irishness in England Post-Brexit (26 Oct; Zoom)
• Visual explorer and documentarist Kieran Murray delves further into the stories behind his online exhibition Times Past which uncovers stories of abandoned houses in rural Ireland. Online exhibition – access available 24/7 from 10am 20 Oct–30 Oct
• Republic of Shame (28 Oct) -presented in partnership with University of Liverpool – explores the impact of Mother and Baby and County Homes in Ireland as institutions for the concealment, punishment and exploitation of ‘fallen women’
• Rounding up the Festival, Doug Devaney presents The Mersey Mash at Liverpool Irish Centre (29 Oct), a magazine-style film and performance showcasing Liverpool’s Irish community.

Workshops and participation

• A free to access Materials Library being held at the Everyman Bistro (17-30 Oct)
• Cultural Connectedness Exchange Network day at Shakespeare Playhouse North (20 Oct)
• Artist Pamela Sullivan invites adults to join her for a workshop (26 Oct) exploring her guerrilla exhibition (located at many Festival sites), which considers Ireland’s forgotten people and the abandoned homes they left behind
• Ruth McHugh explores Frederick Douglass and his relationship with Ireland, including his first-hand experience of the Irish Famine and discussion on how anti-racist activism informed his portraiture (27 and 28 Oct) (workshop elements will develop a portrait for each participant)
• A family friendly Samhain (Hallowe’en) Céilí (at Liverpool Irish Centre, 30 Oct) -full of spooky fun, games and music- follows a Family Day (29 Oct, Museum of Liverpool, free and no booking required) with multiple activities including storytelling for The Armagh Rhymers, dancing, music and creative workshops as well as opportunities to join the Pride of Sefton boat dock tour (28 and 29 Oct)
• Also, not to be missed GAA football ‘give it a go’ sessions (John Mitchel’s pitch, 22 Oct), music sessions at the famous PK’s pub, and bodhrán (pronounced bow-rahn and being an Irish drum) masterclasses (Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, 24 Oct), led by Ruairi Glasheen; one of Ireland’s leading bodhrán

Self-guided tour

Liverpool Irish Festival – in collaboration with our volunteer History Research Group – have revived the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, initially developed in the 1990s by Liverpool’s Great Hunger Commemoration Committee. Updates to the Trail -which incorporates 15 sites- chronicle the impact of An Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger). It includes a print-at-home map and enhanced Google map. Marking 175-years since the 7-years of migrations (1845-52) alongside the maps, we have produced a book entitled Liverpool Irish Famine Trail: Revive, available in hardback or e–book.

Guided tours

• Guided walks during the Festival include the South Liverpool (23 Oct) – and Scotland Road walks, led by historian Greg Quiery
• Tours focusing on Robert Cain’s life take in prominent buildings including The Philharmonic Dining Rooms and Cains Brewery (23 Oct, 24 Oct, 25 Oct), whilst the Liverpool Safari Tour (30 Oct, starting at Bluecoat) takes people on a Liver-Bird spotting mission.

Booking and tickets for the full programme for Liverpool Irish Festival 2022 are on sale now. Visit www.liverpoolirishfestival.com for more information and the full programme.