Bolton is set to play host to a range of literary talents over the coming months with a series of live events.
Live Literature will feature a selection of established writers and new and upcoming voices who will be reading from their works across three days in October, November and December.
One of the most anticipated events will feature poet, playwright, and editor Clare Pollard, who will visit Bolton Central Library on Tuesday October 4 to read from her new novel, Delphi, published by Penguin Books.
A statement from the University of Bolton said: “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 from the University of Bolton, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to literature.”
Organised by the University of Bolton’s English and Creative Writing Department in partnership with Bolton Library and Museum Services, Live Literature will then feature contemporary poets Kim Moore and Carola Luther on Tuesday November 8.
Ms Moore’s second volume All the Men I Never Married, published by Seren Books, is shortlisted for the prestigious Forward Prize while 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.”
The season concludes on Tuesday 6 December with a script-in-hand drama event.
This comes after last year’s events brought s literary names to Bolton, including Okechukwu Nzelu, whose novel Here Again Now was praised by Brit Bennett as “a beautiful exploration of grief and family”.
Audiences also enjoyed a script-in-hand performance from The Salford Docker, a new play by Sarah Weston and nights of live poetry, featuring prize-winning writers John Challis, Suzannah Evans, and University of Bolton lecturer Ben Wilkinson, who launched his second collection of poems, Same Difference.
The first night of Live Literature will begin at 6pm at Bolton Central Library on Tuesday October 4, entry is free and all are welcome.
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