Discover, connect, and celebrate all things literature at this year’s festival.
Join the University of Liverpool for their annual celebration of some of the country’s finest writers with an unmissable weekend of live events.
Their brilliant lineup include authors, TV personalities and poets for you to enjoy.
Programme of Events
Jonathan Coe and Anthony Quinn in conversation
Friday 6 October, 6pm
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Join the University of Liverpool for the opening event of their Literary Festival which sees bestselling authors Jonathan Coe and Anthony Quinn in conversation with Dr Lucienne Loh, Reader in the University’s Department of English, to talk about their shared interests in time, memory, film, music and art.
Arranged marriages and debut fiction with Dr Amir Khan
Saturday 7 October, 10am
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Following his sell-out event in 2021, where he discussed his fly-on-the-wall account of a GP’s role in the bestseller The Doctor Will See You Now, Amir has now turned his hand to fiction. How (Not) to Have an Arranged Marriage is due to be published this September, so join us to hear excerpts from his forthcoming book alongside a Q&A with the audience.
The John McGahern Annual Book Prize
Saturday 7 October, 11.30am
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Now in its fourth year, the Prize was established by the University’s Institute of Irish Studies to promote new Irish fiction and to celebrate the memory of one of Ireland’s greatest masters of prose fiction, John McGahern (1934-2006).
Locks: Ashleigh Nugent
Saturday 7 October, 1pm
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Ashleigh’s one-man-show won a bursary from Live Theatre, Newcastle and has received rave audience reviews following showings in theatres and prisons throughout the UK. For the past 22 years he has used rap, poetry and literature to help the most vulnerable to develop positive mindsets, empowering prisoners to turn their lives around by taking control of their own thoughts, feelings and actions.
True crime and the writing process with Emma Flint
Saturday 7 October, 2.30pm
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Join us to hear Emma talk about her latest novel Other Women, based on the true story of a love triangle in 1920s London that ended in a horrific murder. The book was selected as a Zoe Ball BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. Emma will also be talking about her writing process, how she became a writer and the process of finding an agent. This event will be chaired by Dr Melissa Raines from the Department of English.
Hannah Lowe: Writing Arrivals
Saturday 7 October, 4pm
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In this event, poet Hannah Lowe will be reading from her latest book The Kids which won the Costa Poetry Award and Costa Book of the Year in 2021. She will also be talking about the importance of Liverpool as a port city, reflecting on her father’s experience of arriving here from Jamaica on the SS Ormonde.
The Full English with Stuart Maconie
Saturday 7 October, 5.30pm
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Stuart’s latest Sunday Times bestseller The Full English follows in the footsteps of novelist, playwright and social commentator J. B. Priestley’s English Journey. Join us to hear Stuart discuss the timeliness of his travelogue with Dr Matthew Bradley from the Department of English.
Psychology, security…. and the odd criminal heist with Jenny Radcliffe
Saturday 7 October, 7pm
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Jenny Radcliffe, AKA ‘The People Hacker’, is a world-renowned ethical social engineer, con-artist and burglar for hire. She joins us to talk about some of her most memorable assignments and career highlights.
Between the Acts – a performance from a script in progress
Saturday 7 October, 8.30pm
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In this stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s final novel, Between the Acts, an ordinary family in contemporary Britain is tasked with performing a pageant of the nation’s history by the mysterious director Miss La Trobe. Funny, frightening, tender, and provocative, their version of our story compels us to think deeply about who we are, what we should remember, and what we choose to forget. It holds a mirror up to possible futures and asks: how will we get there?.
Professor Dame Averil Mansfield: Life in Her Hands
Sunday 8 October, 10am
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University of Liverpool graduate Professor Dame Mansfield is a key figure in the medical world. One of the leading vascular surgeons in the country and the UK’s first ever female Professor of Surgery, she fulfilled a lifelong dream to become a surgeon at a time when just 2 per cent of her colleagues were female.
Q & A with debut novelist Aidan Cottrell-Boyce
Sunday 8 October, 1pm
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Join Liverpool-born Aidan Cottrell-Boyce who will be talking about his debut novel The End of Nightwork with Danny O’Connor, Colm Toíbín Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University’s Department of English.
Making Orlando Live: Neil Bartlett in conversation with Dr Eleanor Lybeck
Sunday 8 October, 2.30pm
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British novelist, playwright and theatre director Neil Bartlett created the script for the acclaimed staging of Orlando at the Garrick Theatre in London in 2022-3. In this event he’ll be talking to Dr Eleanor Lybeck, Senior Lecturer in Literature at the University’s Institute of Irish Studies and Department of English (herself adapting Woolf’s Between the Acts), about the nuts and bolts of theatrical adaptation, the process of creating that script in particular, about his own very personal relationship with Woolf – and what it’s like to work with actor Emma Corrin, who played the lead in his adaptation. Neil’s recent work includes publishing his fifth novel Address Book, a meditation on queer courage, and creating a live staging of Derek Jarman’s final film Blue with much-loved British actor Russell Tovey.
Illuminated – with Melanie Sykes
Sunday 8 October, 4pm
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Writer, speaker and former TV presenter Melanie Sykes was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 52. In her memoir Illuminated: Autism and all the Things I’ve Left Unsaid she tells her story in full for the first time, discussing how her autism diagnosis has shed new light on her life, and how she believes society needs to completely change its understanding of neurodivergent minds.
Writing the beautiful game: in conversation with former footballer Pat Nevin and author Anthony Quinn
Sunday 8 October, 5.30pm
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For our festival finale, we’re delighted to welcome broadcaster and former Everton, Tranmere and Chelsea FC star, Pat Nevin, who’ll appear alongside Anthony Quinn, author of Klopp, for a lively discussion on the beautiful game. Whether you’re a red, a blue (or any other colour), join us for what promises to be an excellent talk of two halves.