The first time I went to the Manchester Literature Festival, I bumped into Lady Antonia Fraser coming out of the toilet. That was 14 years ago, but you don’t forget meeting a literary icon in the bogs. In fact, I once had a wee in a cubicle recently vacated by Dame Vivienne Westwood, so I have game when it comes to anecdotes about meeting the ennobled in bathrooms. 

In Manchester Literature Festival‘s 20th anniversary year, I ask its co-directors for their recollections. Cathy Bolton, who has been involved with the festival since 2005, remembers Margaret Atwood’s first appearance back in 2009. Held at Manchester Cathedral, the event centred on Atwood’s novel, The Year of the Flood. 

“It was quite an ambitious event,” says Bolton. “It featured three actors, three community choirs, and us having to make all these cardboard banners featuring pictures of endangered species. In the end, it went really well. When the doors opened, it was amazing to see 600 people queueing all the way round the cathedral to see Margaret Atwood. That is definitely one of my highlight moments from the last 20 years.” 

For co-director Sarah-Jane Roberts, exciting moments have come from unusual pairings, from people who wouldn’t usually share a stage. 

“We had Bill Ryder-Jones [from The Coral] with Manchester Camerata at Manchester Cathedral,” she says. “That was incredible. It was the first time he’d done his album If…, which was inspired by Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveller. It was a really, really special event.

“In recent years, events like Edward Enninful [former Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue] in conversation with Bernadine Evaristo was a very empowering and inspiring conversation. And other really magical pairings are things like Kamila Shamsie and Maggie O’Farrell in conversation. So, two Women’s Fiction Prize winners together talking about fiction. It was unique and memorable.”

A literary beacon in the North

With two decades under its belt, the Manchester Literature Festival (MLF) is prominent in the region’s calendar. In autumn, literature events take place all over the country, but MLF shines a light on Manchester. Unlike other literature festivals, which often take place under temporary canopies and hastily constructed edifices, MLF makes the most of the city’s cultural venues, from world-renowned libraries and art galleries to theatres and museums.

Looking back at the creation of MLF, its origins may come as a surprise. The festival we know today was borne out of the Manchester Poetry Festival, run by Henry Normal and Ric Michael. Building on the success of its predecessor, MLF has welcomed a stellar cast of some of the world’s finest writers and thinkers to Manchester. Luminaries include Colm Toíbín, Jung Chang, Margaret Drabble, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Kazuo Ishiguro, Alan Hollinghurst, Jo Nesbo, Kate Mosse, Elif Shafak, and Sarah Waters. The list goes on, and on, and on. 

But how do you even begin to organise an annual two-week festival featuring dozens of events with award-winning authors?

“The final programme is probably about a tenth of the work that goes on behind the scenes,” says Roberts. “There are always some particular authors and creators that we’d really like to have at the festival. Sometimes it’s about timing if they happen to have a new book or happen to be in the UK. We do get things pitched to us but I wouldn’t say we pick up a lot of the pitches. Most of it is that we have an idea, we think a book or a particular item is special, and we’d like to do something with them.

“I’m a great believer in the combination of having a really strong author and host on stage together. We don’t really want to replicate what the other festivals are doing. So, we really think about the artist and the host. The deep thinking behind it is how you end up with really special events.”

She’s not wrong. I recall being spellbound by Jeanette Winterson talking to American author A.M. Homes, a conversation that propelled me to hoover up Homes’ books. This year, Slow Horses’ novelist Mick Herron in conversation with Tom Gatti (Literary Editor of The Observer) was an absolute belter, in particular the pair sharing their favourite P.G. Wodehouse lines (‘I was left in no doubt about the severity of the hangover when a cat stamped into the room’). But the best bit is that it all happens in the North.

Bolton says: “Some of our regular attenders will go to other festivals. But, over time, more and more of our audience have expressed how exciting it is to have world-class authors on their doorstep. And obviously it helps the profile of Manchester as a city of cultural excellence to have those really big names here…but we do try to keep that balance of having big, high-profile names that bring in audience and media attention, but also still giving a platform for exciting new talent. We’ve seen a lot of writers that have come through the festival, perhaps to launch their first book, who have gone on to be megastars.” 

Roberts agrees that it’s important to have Northern festivals. “Festivals bring people together, they bring readers together, they bring writers, they bring aspiring writers. I think they’re really pivotal. And I think that we’re extremely lucky in Manchester. Not only do we have such a rich cultural heritage, we have this incredible literary community.”

A passion for storytelling and connection

For a tiny team, every October the MLF organisers achieve something extraordinary. Roberts, who joined MLF in 2014, admits that it’s “incredibly hard work and not without its challenges” but also very rewarding. 

“We’ve existed on very little funding and sponsorship for a long time. More generous, long-term funding would obviously give us a lot more freedom and also free up quite a lot of time in terms of what we have to focus on.”

It’s the perennial problem: the most valuable elements in society attract the least financial support. But consider what MLF brings to the city and its people every October. Its myriad events evoke inspiration, laughter, introspection, reflection, joy, and love. And then there are the memories. I will never forget seeing Seamus Heaney recite his poems at MLF shortly before he died. And then there was Antonia Fraser in 2011, talking about her life with Harold Pinter in her book Must You Go?, a letter to a lost love, written by the woman who knew Pinter best. Some three years had passed since Pinter’s death but it was clear to all in the room that the grief was still red-raw.

So, what price can you put on shared human experience? After all, that’s what literature and the festivals that celebrate books are all about. The answer is, there is no price. But there is value. 

By Helen Nugent, Editor of Northern Soul

Main image: Sarah-Jane Roberts and Cathy Bolton. Photo by Jon Parker Lee.

 

Manchester Literature Festival runs at venues across Manchester until October 26, 2025, with more events throughout the year. For more information, click here.

From Page to Stage: 20 Years of Manchester Literature Festival is at Manchester Central Library until December 16, 2025. For more details, click here.