School’s out! Discover a Holiday Club with a difference.
Every day we will venture out into the gorgeous Calderstones Park, dive into the realm of storytelling in the magical Storybarn, play games and much more.
Every ticket purchased helps support our charitable work with children and young people across the UK.
What the day looks like
Each day children will embark on new adventures with our Storyhunters, inspired through our diverse range of picture books. They will use their imagination to create new story worlds and characters as part of a team. Past activities have included knitting workshops inspired by the book Extra Yarn by John Klasson, a gardening workshop inspired by the picture book The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham or a session creating and decorating our own robot characters out of cardboard tubes after reading Nobot Robot by Sue Hendra. Each session is designed to be fun, playful and engaging and is adapted to suit a range of ages from 5-10 years old. We will be as one group for the entire day.
All children are constantly supervised by members of our team who all have a valid and enhanced DBS check as well as safeguarding training.
Join us for a day of Shared Reading from the works of classic author, Elizabeth Gaskell.
Famous for her social commentary and vivid portrayal of Victorian life, Gaskell’s most popular works Cranford, Mary Barton and North and South define her as a major 19th-century author.
We’ll be joined by Ex-Chair of the Gaskell Society, Libby Tempest who also volunteers for Elizabeth Gaskell House. Libby will bring her expertise on this incredible author and treat us to a fascinating talk.
Booking includes pastries, tea and coffee upon arrival as well as a delicious summer picnic-inspired buffet, homemade by our in-house chefs.
Award-winning local author Rob Keeley will be signing copies of his books for children at Wallasey Village Library and Community Centre on Saturday 20 June from 12-4pm. Including advance copies of his new picture book, Arthur and the Land of Nimbostratus. Come along, meet Rob and get a free postcard! Suitable for children of all ages. In the community room. Wallasey Village Library and Community Centre, St George’s Road, Wallasey CH45 3NE
Liverpool Book Festival is returning with a Summer Special at BOXPARK in Liverpool this summer.The packed event will feature over 60 authors selling their books directly, artisan stalls, street food, talks, live music and a kids zone — with free entry for Under 12s.
Spanning various genres and featuring some incredible independent and bestselling authors, as well as some publishers, it’s an opportunity to meet them and buy their books directly. Some familiar faces will be selling their books, including:
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Celebrity chef Dave Critchley
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SAS hero Rusty Firmin
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Comic book legends Tim Quinn & Kev Sutherland
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Crime bestseller Conrad Jones
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Lots of other local independent authors, festival debut authors and publishers
There will also be some incredible live music on the day featuring some of the region’s most talented artists. On the main stage, there’ll be beautiful acoustic live music followed by a DJ spinning Balearic beats — with live music on the outdoor terrace too! Music on the day includes:
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Abbie Fairchild
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Liz Owen
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Aimee Lea Frances
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DJ Laura Love
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Nikhil Hathiwala
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Oisin Hassan
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JP Cumberlidge
Poet, writer and LJMU creative writing lecturer Helen Tookey discusses and reads from her new book Outward Bound from Liverpool: Reading Malcolm Lowry. Weaving together literary criticism, memoir and place-writing, the book takes the reader on an immersive journey through the landscapes – textual and geographical, remembered and reimagined – of Wirral-born novelist, poet and short-story writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–57).
At the same time, the book follows the author’s own evolving engagement with Lowry as she uses him to ‘think with’, turning his texts and her readings of them through unexpected angles, exploring questions of place and belonging, exile and home.
Moving through the various terrains of Lowry’s life and work – Liverpool and the Wirral; Dollarton in British Columbia, where he found his always-threatened idyll; the archive of his work; and the richly textured, symbolic landscapes of his writing itself – the book offers a compelling, lyrical and often moving account of a sustained engagement with a writer and what it can enable. Outward Bound from Liverpool also pays tribute to the humour, beauty and passion of Lowry’s writing, his deeply felt sense of place, and his prescient concern for the natural world. It explores how reading can change us and shows why Lowry is a writer still very much for today.
Helen will be in conversation with the Bluecoat’s Director of Cultural Legacies, Bryan Biggs, with whom she collaborates on the arts centre’s annual Lowry Lounge celebration of the writer.
“A generous and open-minded literary adventure. Thoroughly researched but never allowing the propulsive narrative to be held back. Helen Tookey wins our trust and delivers a brave sequence of approaches to an impossible and endlessly rewarding author” – Iain Sinclair
Outward Bound from Liverpool: Reading Malcolm Lowry is published by Liverpool University Press, August 2026
Free, booking required
The Windows ProjectWRITING ADVICE DESK
WEDNESDAY 3rd JUNE at Liverpool Central LibraryWilliam Brown Street L3 8EW
Drop in between 5.30pm and 7.00pmfor one-to-one appraisal of scripts, stories, poemsand details of publishing opportunities, performance venues, workshops and courses
with
ALISON DOWN Screenwriter and poetBAFTA Rocliffe’s Emerging Children’s Writer.
DAVID WARDAuthor and poetEditor ‘Smoke’ magazineNominated for Carnegie Medal
Please book in on arrival. Each individual session usually lasts 20 minutes.
SHARED READING in association with The Reader
Write to Thrive at the Unity Theatre
2pm & 7:30pm
This year, RAWD members have joined forces with guest artists Tip Tray Theatre. Across three months of radical research, 60 disabled members from RAWD from Liverpool, Ellesmere Port and Chester have been dismantling and rebuilding poetry to find their own unique language, rhythm and expressions.
From the rehearsal rooms of Unity, Theatre Porto and Storyhouse, three distinct companies will create new works born out of the Write to Thrive project.
RAWD are proudly Associate Company in Residence at Unity hosting weekly sessions that work towards theatre productions. We believe creativity is a powerful vehicle for independence, confidence and expression – art is for everyone.
This year RAWD is celebrating its 15th Birthday by raising £15,000. For more information on RAWD and how to support please visit rawdproject.co.uk
Join us for a special launch event celebrating Our Monstrous Bodies, the debut novel by Emma Cleary.
Cleary’s striking first novel blends queer literary fiction with horror, exploring fractured sisterhood, the uncanniness of the female body, and the seductiveness of art. Drawing on visual art and horror cinema, it delves into themes of loneliness, motherhood, and threatened bodily autonomy, offering a haunting and thought-provoking reading experience.
Originally from Liverpool, Emma Cleary is a writer and editor now based in Vancouver. Our Monstrous Bodies (published as Afterbirth in the US and Canada) is her debut novel. She holds a PhD in Literature from Staffordshire University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and is editor-in-chief of Geist magazine.
The evening will be hosted by writer and director Julia Cranney, and will include readings, an in-conversation with the author, and an audience Q&A. The author will also sign copies of the novel, with book sales by Aldous Books.
This event will appeal to readers and thinkers interested in contemporary literature, queer writing, literary horror, visual culture, the feminine grotesque, and critical discussion.
Tickets:– General Admission: £5– Concession: £2
A limited number of free tickets are available for those who are unwaged or experiencing financial hardship. Please select this option if it applies to you.
Doors open at 5.30pm
Booking required
Join us for an evening of live poetry with James Byrne, Jesse Hill, Chris McCabe, and Robert Sheppard. Supported by Liverpool Poetry Space, this event brings together four distinctive voices, each presenting live readings of new and recent work in an intimate setting.
Tickets- General Admission: £5- Concession: £2
A limited number of free tickets are available for those who are unwaged or experiencing financial hardship. Please select this option if it applies to you.
