Live Literature returns this Autumn in University and Library & Museums partnership

The University of Bolton’s English and Creative Writing department are proud to again partner with Bolton Library and Museum Services for a new season of exciting live literature events this Autumn/Winter.

Last year’s events brought some of the most exciting new literary names to Bolton and beyond, including up-and-coming star Okechukwu Nzelu, whose bold new novel Here Again Now was praised by Brit Bennett as “a beautiful exploration of grief and family”. Bolton audiences also enjoyed a script-in-hand performance from The Salford Docker, a vital new play by Sarah Weston that tells the tale of the Salford docks. There were memorable nights of live poetry, too, featuring prize-winning writers John Challis, Suzannah Evans, and UoB lecturer Ben Wilkinson, who launched his second collection of poems Same Difference.

For the first event of this new season on Tuesday 4th October, poet, playwright, and editor Clare Pollard will join us at Bolton Central Library to read from her new novel, Delphi (Penguin Books). Clare will talk to Creative Writing lecturer Valerie O’Riordan about her new work, which has been hailed in the Guardian as “a sharp debut novel that uses the pandemic and ancient myths to cast a philosophical eye on how we live”. Clare recently received an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the University of Bolton, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to literature.

On Tuesday 8th November we will be treated to two exciting new voices in contemporary poetry, Kim Moore and Carola Luther. Kim’s second volume All the Men I Never Married (Seren Books) is shortlisted for the prestigious Forward Prize, and has already been praised by Fiona Benson as “a revolutionary and subversive requisition of the female gaze”. Carola Luther’s new collection On the Way to Jerusalem Farm has been described in the Harvard Review as “finding a sense of wonder in our interconnectedness at this perilous moment of human existence”, following her two volumes with Carcanet, Walking the Animals (2004) and Arguing with Malarchy (2011).

The season concludes on Tuesday 6th December with an exciting script-in-hand drama event. An excerpt from a distinctive play will be presented, and the audience will also gain insight into the scriptwriting process. Details are to be announced, so watch this space.

Everyone is welcome to join us at Bolton Central Library on Tuesday 4th October at 6pm, for what promises to be a fantastic night of Live Literature to begin the season. Entry is free. Please visit https://boltonenglish.com/live-lit/ for further information.

Tuesday 4th October: Live Literature

Delphi: award-winning writer Clare Pollard reads from her new novel

6 – 7:30pm @ Bolton Central Library, Le Mans Crescent, BL1 1SE.

Tuesday 8th November: Live Literature

All the Men I Never Married and On the Way to Jerusalem Farm: poets Kim Moore and Carola Luther read from their new collections

6 – 7:30pm @ Bolton Central Library, Le Mans Crescent, BL1 1SE.

Tuesday 6th December: Live Literature

Script-in-hand drama event TBC

6 – 7:30pm @ Bolton Central Library, Le Mans Crescent, BL1 1SE.