The Irish poet and activist Eva Gore-Booth (1870-1926) led a life defiantly at odds with her aristocratic origins. Choosing to live and work among the poor of Manchester, she campaigned on behalf of barmaids, circus performers, flower sellers and pit-brow lasses, her partner, Esther Roper, at her side.
Gore-Booth was tireless in her pursuit of justice. She was a militant pacifist during the First World War, a champion of Irish independence and a pioneering thinker on gender and sexuality. She was also a prolific author, publishing nineteen volumes of poetry and prose that reflect the full force of her radical convictions.
Professor Sonja Tiernan’s landmark biography celebrates Gore-Booth’s life and work in the context of our current political climate and reclaims her place as a significant figure of Anglo-Irish letters and an unsung hero of LGBT+ history.
Link: Eva Gore-Booth: Irish radical poet, rebel and reformer.
This event is supported by The Institute of Irish Studies at University of Liverpool and Professor Tiernan’s publisher Manchester University Press.
Event type: Talk
Queer Book Club: Nov 2026 (Homotopia ’26)
Queer Book Club is an inclusive reading group open to anyone from St Helens to come together to read and discuss LGBTQIA+ literature. Founded in Autumn 2023 by a group of local queer artists, producers and book-lovers, Queer Book Club is a space to share a love of queer novels, memoirs and writing.
This month we’re reading…
Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth – a creeping story of sapphic obsession with Gothic undertones and a delicious mid-century feel set in rural Ireland, from the author of the Polari Prize-shortlisted Sunburn. Plus a visit from Chloe herself!
Queer Book Club is drop-in, meaning you don’t have to have been before to take part, but we encourage you to read the book ahead of the session.
This month’s QBC forms part of 2026’s Homotopia programme.
Access
We want to make Queer Book Club as accessible to as many people as possible and therefore we will hold two pre-bought copies of the book.
Either contact Britney via britney@heartofglass.org.uk or call in to The Book Stop to borrow a copy. Additionally, as a QBC reader, you also receive 20% off your copy of the chosen book this month at The Book Stop in St Helens by quoting “Queer Book Club” at the till.
Safer Spaces
These events will use Heart of Glass’ Safer Spaces Agreement to create a space that aims to be as welcoming and respectful as possible.
Queer Book Club: Oct 2026
Queer Book Club is an inclusive reading group open to anyone from St Helens to come together to read and discuss LGBTQIA+ literature. Founded in Autumn 2023 by a group of local queer artists, producers and book-lovers, Queer Book Club is a space to share a love of queer novels, memoirs and writing.
This month we’re reading…
The Girl From The Sea by Molly Ostertag is a gorgeously ilustrated graphic novel, telling a coming-of-age story about family, romance, first love and celebrating what it means to be different.
Queer Book Club is drop-in, meaning you don’t have to have been before to take part, but we encourage you to read the book ahead of the session.
Access
We want to make Queer Book Club as accessible to as many people as possible and therefore we will hold two pre-bought copies of the book.
Either contact Britney via britney@heartofglass.org.uk or call in to The Book Stop to borrow a copy. Additionally, as a QBC reader, you also receive 20% off your copy of the chosen book this month at The Book Stop in St Helens by quoting “Queer Book Club” at the till.
Safer Spaces
These events will use Heart of Glass’ Safer Spaces Agreement to create a space that aims to be as welcoming and respectful as possible.
Queer Book Club: Sep 2026
Queer Book Club is an inclusive reading group open to anyone from St Helens to come together to read and discuss LGBTQIA+ literature. Founded in Autumn 2023 by a group of local queer artists, producers and book-lovers, Queer Book Club is a space to share a love of queer novels, memoirs and writing.
This month we’re reading…
The Outrage by William Hussey is a dystopian look at the fight for Queer love in the face of an authoritarian, opressive state.
Queer Book Club is drop-in, meaning you don’t have to have been before to take part, but we encourage you to read the book ahead of the session.
Access
We want to make Queer Book Club as accessible to as many people as possible and therefore we will hold two pre-bought copies of the book.
Either contact Britney via britney@heartofglass.org.uk or call in to The Book Stop to borrow a copy. Additionally, as a QBC reader, you also receive 20% off your copy of the chosen book this month at The Book Stop in St Helens by quoting “Queer Book Club” at the till.
Safer Spaces
These events will use Heart of Glass’ Safer Spaces Agreement to create a space that aims to be as welcoming and respectful as possible.
Queer Book Club: Dec 2026
Queer Book Club is an inclusive reading group open to anyone from St Helens to come together to read and discuss LGBTQIA+ literature. Founded in Autumn 2023 by a group of local queer artists, producers and book-lovers, Queer Book Club is a space to share a love of queer novels, memoirs and writing.
This month we’re reading…
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope from the perspective of a global pop icon.
Queer Book Club is drop-in, meaning you don’t have to have been before to take part, but we encourage you to read the book ahead of the session.
Access
We want to make Queer Book Club as accessible to as many people as possible and therefore we will hold two pre-bought copies of the book.
Either contact Britney via britney@heartofglass.org.uk or call in to The Book Stop to borrow a copy. Additionally, as a QBC reader, you also receive 20% off your copy of the chosen book this month at The Book Stop in St Helens by quoting “Queer Book Club” at the till.
Safer Spaces
These events will use Heart of Glass’ Safer Spaces Agreement to create a space that aims to be as welcoming and respectful as possible.
Book Launch: The Slave Trader by Ben Shaw
The Bluecoat building began as a charity school for orphans, co-founded by Bryan Blundell in the early eighteenth century. His fortune, like Liverpool’s, was bound to the transatlantic slave trade. Drawing on Blundell’s journal, shipping records, sermons, and civic archives, Ben Shaw’s new book charts his career of prosperity and philanthropy, and the hidden costs that underpinned them. Panelists include Bluecoat Director of Cultural Legacies Bryan Biggs and Researcher Janaya Pickett.
Free, booking required
In Conversation with Stephen Graham & Orly Klein
Liverpool born award-winning actor Stephen Graham and psychology lecturer Orly Klein will be joined on stage by family, friends and a few special guests to discuss their book Letters To Our Sons and share the highs and lows of fatherhood.
Ghosts and Spirits Afternoon Tea: Christmas Past, Present & Future
An afternoon of storytelling of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, told by the Christmas spirits themselves. Join the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present & Future as they weave their way through Dickens classic Christmas tale.
Your ticket includes the telling of this famous Christmas story, brought to life by our Ghosts, all served with afternoon tea to match past, present and future.
Can Scrooge see the light and save Tiny Tim’s Christmas? Will he change his humbug ways? Only the Ghost themselves know and invite to sip your tea along!
If you have allergies that we should be made aware of in preparation of your afternoon tea, please email boxoffice@everymanplayhouse.com including your order number, straight after booking. We cannot guarantee that our dishes are 100% free of allergens due to all food being prepared in one kitchen.
Make Time to Speak About Sleep
Collective Encounters is working with Make It Happen (Birkenhead), using creative methods to explore sleep within community groups and organisations. The project will create a new Sleep Hygiene Playbook, providing practical techniques and resources to support healthy, proactive conversations about sleep and wellbeing.
Come and be a part of shaping this unique resource. We want input from people who might want to use or share the Playbook within your teams or the communities you support.
This is the final session within the current phase of the project. Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of it!
To attend, please email liz.ryan6@nhs.net or call 0151 2944470.
Heritage Open Days: Polish Heritage Tour Presentation
Explore the history of Liverpool’s Polish community through historic photographs and stories of migration, resilience and community. This accessible presentation shares highlights from the Polish Heritage Walking Tour with Merseyside Polonia, revealing how generations of Polish people have shaped the city’s cultural, social and maritime history. A chance to discover the deep connections between Poland and Liverpool and uncover stories often hidden within the city’s past.
Part of Heritage Open Days
Free, booking required