Interest area: Literature

Go Higher Lecture Series: The Seafarer...

‘The Seafarer’ is one of a handful of Old English poems surviving in a single manuscript collection known as The Exeter Book. Normally referred to as an Elegy, this 124 line monologue is regarded as the reflections of an old seafarer at the end of his days; the words of an old salt to a young man embarking on a life at sea; a contemplation on life couched in seafaring metaphor.

Reading the poem in modern English, this session will explore its resonances and the fascination it continues to exert, while suggesting (and seeking suggestions for) how we may read and understand it today.

This talk will be led by Professor Jill Rudd from the University of Liverpool.

Future Station: I’m Watching Out of ...

The Future Station talk by Metal Liverpool is back at Edge Hill station, 6pm on Tuesday 27 February, featuring writer Matt Colquhoun who will discuss how self-love can be reread as self-transformation.

In this talk, Matt will draw from their latest book Narcissus in Bloom: An Alternative History of the Selfie (Repeater Books, 2023) and the work of Arthur Russell to discuss their reflections on whether narcissism is positive and necessary and its relationship to queerness.

Matt Colquhoun is a writer and photographer from Hull, UK. Alongside their most recent work, Narcissus in Bloom: An Alternative History of the Selfie (2023), they are the author of Egress: On Mourning, Melancholy and Mark Fisher (2020) and the editor of Mark Fisher’s Postcapitalist Desire lectures (2021). Check out their blog: xenogothic.com.

This talk is in partnership with experimental fiction publisher and shop Dead Ink Books and radical writing publisher Repeater Books.

There will be a short Q+A with Matt after the talk. Free (vegan) food will be served after the talk where there will be a chance to discuss ideas further. As places are limited, we are asking for a deposit of £5 which will be refunded when you attend. Walk-ups are welcome, subject to availability.

Austen’s Women: Lady Susan

From the award-winning creators of Austen’s Women, A Christmas Carol, I, Elizabeth, Female Gothic, Christmas Gothic, and A Room of One’s Own.

Austen’s Women are back – in a brand-new show!  Devil-may-care Lady Susan, the coquettish black widow, hunting down not one, but two, fortunes; oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica; long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine; family matriarch Mrs De Courcy; and insouciant best friend, Alicia.

Return to the Regency (or rather, Georgian) in this darkly comic tale of society and the women trapped within it; their struggles, their desires, their temptations and manipulations – and at the vanguard, Lady Susan: charming, scheming, witty, and powerful; taking on society and making it her own.  But has she met her match?

Based on Jane Austen’s first full-length work from 1794, and created entirely from letters, the piece is performed by Rebecca Vaughan and directed by Andrew Margerison.   

Created in collaboration with The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead.

Liverpool Book Market

The legendary Liverpool Book Market returns to the Garden Room in the Bluecoat.

Browse a fantastic selection of books from a range of local booksellers, including still Out-of-Print of Smithdown Road, Kernaghan Books and the Bolshie Bargain Bookstall.

Bargains, rarities and a cornucopia of subjects for the literary mind! Look out for future dates: 1st & 2nd March

Enquiries: “still Out-of-Print” Antiquarian and Secondhand Bookshop 07440 501099

11am – 5pm. Free entry.

Fri 9th & Sat 10th Feb
Fri 1st & Sat 2nd Mar

An afternoon with local author JP Maxw...

JP Maxwell has a background ranging from studying Russian at University College London to working for a Californian Software company and running a newspaper kiosk, JP Maxwell settled back in Liverpool in 2001 and now teaches Screenwriting and Digital Writing at Liverpool John Moores University.

Although fictional, his writing directly links to an Irish and African family history in the port city and specifically Toxteth since the early 1800s. In addition to Water Street, based upon Liverpool’s clandestine involvement in the American Civil War/

Liverpool 1863. The American Civil War comes to the British Empire’s second city and the world’s richest port.

Confederate Commander Banastre X. Dunwoody has a plan to turn the conflict by securing advanced warships, but the U.S. Government is one step ahead of him. It seeks to sabotage his efforts through its covert agent – Harriet Dunwoody – Banastre’s pregnant wife.

A Date With Dickens

Charles Dickens was one of the most famous guests to ever stay with the Adelphi.

Join them to celebrate his birthday with a three-course Dickensian Lunch and some Lion & Jackel Guzzle Punch! Followed by live entertainment from the man himself.

Write to Work presents The Writers Blo...

Free Creative Writing Course

Write To Work Presents The Writer’s Bloc

Community, Creativity and Confidence

Are you economically inactive* but interested in joining a creative community where you can further your skills as a writer, develop your confidence, and have your stories heard?

Then a FREE one-day ‘Writer’s Bloc’ event could be perfect for you. Attend in person or take part via Zoom!

No writing experience necessary, a chance to work with professional writers, and everyone who attends will be able to submit their work for publication in a printed anthology available to buy online and in bookshops across the city.

This event is an online workshop exploring writing around personal experience and will be lead by the award-winning Artistic Director of the Graeae Theatre Company, Jenny Sealey (OBE). It will also include a trip to see Jenny’s autobiographical show, Self Raising, at the Everyman Playhouse the following week!

Priority places for Deaf, hard of hearing, and disabled applicants. BSL interpretation provided.

*Eligibility

18+

You must be economically inactive – (Not employed/self-employed, not actively looking for work, not waiting to start a job, not in full-time education (part time over 19+yrs is fine))

Living in Liverpool City Region including the parts of the Wirral listed as Merseyside, Liverpool, Sefton, Halton, St Helens, Knowsley

You must have the legal right to live and work in the UK

You cannot have already completed any Write to Work Course or mentoring previously.

If you have any queries then email at write2work@writingonthewall.org.uk.

An evening with Fiona Williams

West Kirby Bookshop are thrilled to welcome Fiona Williams to West Kirby to celebrate the publication of her debut novel, The House Of Broken Bricks.

Fiona Williams’ stunning nature-writing and poetic prose, turns a relatively simple story into a hauntingly beautiful experience.

Write to Work presents The Writer’s ...

Free creative writing course, Write to Work presents The Writer’s Bloc.

Community, Creativity and Confidence

Are you economically inactive* but interested in joining a creative community where you can further your skills as a writer, develop your confidence, and have your stories heard?

Then a FREE one-day ‘Writer’s Bloc’ event could be perfect for you. Attend in person or take part via Zoom!

No writing experience necessary, a chance to work with professional writers, and everyone who attends will be able to submit their work for publication in a printed anthology available to buy online and in bookshops across the city.

*Eligibility

18+

You must be economically inactive – (Not employed/self-employed, not actively looking for work, not waiting to start a job, not in full-time education (part time over 19+yrs is fine))

Living in Liverpool City Region including the parts of the Wirral listed as Merseyside, Liverpool, Sefton, Halton, St Helens, Knowsley

You must have the legal right to live and work in the UK

You cannot have already completed any Write to Work Course or mentoring previously.

If you have any queries then email at write2work@writingonthewall.org.uk.

Write to Work presents The Writers Blo...

Are you looking for new opportunities for 2024? Interested in joining a creative community where you can further your skills as a writer, develop your confidence, and have your stories heard?

Then a FREE one-day ‘Writer’s Bloc’ event could be perfect for you. Attend in person or take part via Zoom!

No writing experience necessary, a chance to work with professional writers, and everyone who attends will be able to submit their work for publication in a printed anthology available to buy online and in bookshops across the city.

Our next Writer’s Bloc events will be taking place at:

Spellow Library, Walton – 6 February 2024

Toxteth Library – 21 February 2024

Spaces are offered on a first come, first served basis. Apply today!

Applicant MUST read full Eligibility below before applying.

– 18+

– You must be economically inactive – (Not employed/self-employed, not actively looking for work, not waiting to start a job, not in full-time education (part time over 19+yrs is fine))

-Living in Liverpool City Region including the parts of the Wirral listed as Merseyside, Liverpool, Sefton, Halton, St Helens, Knowsley

-You must have the legal right to live and work in the UK

-You cannot have already completed any Write to Work Course or mentoring previously.

Write to Work is funded by Liverpool City Council and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund