Wordfest events

Wordfest 2019 runs during June. Events are being held in Trafford Libraries throughout this period. All are welcome to come to the events but booking is recommended.

Alan Turing's Manchester with Jonathan Swinton

Stretford Library, Tuesday 4 June, 7.30-9pm

In February 2019, BBC viewers voted Alan Turing the single most important man of the Twentieth Century. Drawing on extensive research, Jonathan brings to life the complexity of the city where Turing made his home, from 1948, when he arrived to take up a job working with the world’s first computer, to 1954 when he committed suicide. A lively and passionate account of lives lived, and one life ended tragically early, it takes the reader across the city from suburban Altrincham to industrial Moston via the University’s seminar rooms and the nearby Oxford Road pick-up sites.

Jonathan Swinton has a PhD in mathematics and has worked as a mathematical biologist for thirty years. This is his first book on Manchester, where he has lived, worked and loved since 2002.

Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

Pyjamarama

Wednesday 5 June, 4.30-6.30pm, Altrincham Library - book on Eventbrite

Saturday 8 June, 1.30-3.30pm Sale Library - book on Eventbrite

Saturday 8 June, 4.30-6.30pm Urmston Library - book on Eventbrite

Help us celebrate bedtime stories with Pyjamarama! Wear your favourite PJs and enjoy stories and activities, facepainting and snacks. We will also be giving away free copies of Car, Car, Truck, Jeep by Katrina Carman and Nick Sharratt.

A free, fun, family event aimed at children up to 7 years but older siblings very welcome.

Author Erin Kelly

Urmston Library, Thursday 6 June, 7.30-9pm

Join us for an evening with author, Erin Kelly.

Erin Kelly is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Poison Tree, The Sick Rose, The Burning Air, The Ties That Bind, He Said/She Said and Broadchurch: The Novel. He Said/She Said spent six weeks in the top ten in both hardback and paperback, was longlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculiar crime novel of the year award, and selected for both the Simon Mayo Radio 2 and Richard and Judy Book Clubs.

Stone Mothers is Erin’s gripping new suspense novel which moves back through time to reveal twists you’ll never see coming.

She has worked as a freelance journalist since 1998 and written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Red, Elle and Cosmopolitan.

Born in London in 1976, Erin lives in north London with her husband and daughters.

Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

Author Amanda Brooke

Sale Library, Thursday 13 June, 7.30-9pm

Join us for an evening with author, Amanda Brooke.

Amanda was in her mid-forties when she discovered her love of writing and in the last seven years has published nine books and two novellas. Her debut novel, Yesterday’s Sun, published in 2012, and selected as a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, was inspired by her experiences of motherhood and her understanding of how much a mother would be willing to sacrifice for the life of her child.

She continues to write commercial fiction with an emotional pull. Her latest book, Don’t Turn Around, is a heart-stopping, gripping, domestic suspense.

Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

Writer's day at Altrincham Library

Saturday 15 June, 11am to 5pm

How to get published workshop with Zosia Wand and Caroline Gilfillan

11.30am to 1pm, £2. Tickets can be booked at Eventbrite.

Authors, Zosia Wand and Caroline Gilfillan, describe their very different routes to publication and give the inside story on the traditional agent/mainstream publisher deal and the independent press/self-publication route. Discover how to navigate your way through the highs and lows of the publishing process and how to write quality fiction that has commercial potential. 1 hour workshop followed by a Q&A session.

The writer's toolkit - a workshop with Zosia Wand

2-5pm, £4. Tickets can be booked at Eventbrite.

Writing is a craft and after the initial inspiration, there is work to be done and that work requires tools. How does a writer shape their writing into a strong piece of writing? Join author, Zosia Wand, for an afternoon of creative exploration and editing. Looking at story structure, character, a sense of place and voice, you will have the opportunity to share your ideas with fellow writers and, using your new tool kit, offer feedback that will inform your own writing.

Songwriting workshop with Caroline Gilfillan

2-5pm, £4. Tickets can be booked at Eventbrite.

Have you always wanted to write songs but don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you’re a poet who would love to adapt your poems to song lyrics. In this workshop, poet, novelist and songwriter, Caroline Gilfillan, will show you how to craft lyrics and structure a song. Looking at how some classic songwriters tackle this, you will have the opportunity to start writing some songs in the session.

No need to play an instrument, but bring one along if that would be helpful. Please bring a recording device such as your phone, if possible. No experience necessary – suitable for everyone.

Author David Mark

Altrincham Library, Wednesday 19 June 7.30-9pm

Join us for an evening with author, David Mark.

David spent more than fifteen years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels.

He has written eight novels in the McAvoy series, including Dark Winter which was a Richard & Judy pick and a Sunday Times bestseller. His first historical thriller, The Zealot’s Bones, is out now.

David also teaches creative writing and has contributed articles and reviews to several national and international publications.

He lives in Northumberland with his family.

Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

An evening with poet Keith Hutson

Urmston Library, Thursday 20 June 7.30-9pm.

Keith has written for Coronation Street and for several well-known comedians. His plays have been performed at venues including The Royal Exchange in Manchester.

His debut poetry pamphlet, Routines, was published in 2016. Since beginning to submit his poetry five years ago, Keith has had over 150 poems published in journals.

He is co-editor of Poetry Salzburg Review and tours extensively with Carol Ann Duffy. He also teaches poetry and performance skills for the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.

A Mancunian until the seas boil dry, Keith now lives in Halifax with his partner and Eric the dog.

A Wordfest/ Umston Bookshop event. Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

Author Jo Baker

Altrincham Library, Friday 21 June 7.30-9pm

Jo Baker is the acclaimed bestselling author of Longbourn, due to be released as a feature film in 2020, and a Country Road, A Tree. Her new novel, The Body of Lies, is a layered and thrilling suspense novel that grapples with how to live as a woman in the modern world when the stakes are dangerously high. The novel has been optioned for television.

Jo says ‘from time to time, I meet someone who tells me that they love one or other of my books. It makes me very sheepish; I'm not good at taking compliments. But it's extraordinary and very moving, to hear that something I've made, quietly and alone, has had that kind of impact on someone else. It's a privilege’.

She lives in Lancashire with her family.

Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

Authors Libby Page and Richard Roper in conversation

Urmston Library, Tuesday 25 June 7.30-9pm

Join us for great evening of conversation with Libby Page, debut author of Sunday Times bestselling, The Lido, and debut novelist-to-watch, Richard Roper, whose first book, Something to Love For, is published in June.

Chaired by Helen Nugent, Richard and Libby discuss the shared themes in their two books - community, friendship and loneliness - as well as the modern pressure to fit in and appear to have the perfect life. An uplifting event perfect for existing fans of The Lido and for those looking to find their next read in Something to Live For!

Tickets are £2 and can be booked on Eventbrite or in the library.

The Peterloo Massacre: a Talk by Professor Robert Poole

Old Trafford Library, Wednesday 26 June at 2pm.

Join Robert Poole for an illustrated talk on The Peterloo Massacre of 1819 in this 200th anniversary year of commemoration.

Robert Poole is Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire and a leading authority on Peterloo and Chartism. He is the author of the new book Peterloo: the English Uprising, co-author of the graphic novel Peterloo: Witnesses to a Massacre and consultant historian to the Peterloo 2019 programme.

Dr Poole will be signing and selling copies of his books after the talk. 

A free event. Book your tickets on Eventbrite.