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Manchester is having a moment. Once something of an underdog, where industry outweighed charm, this northern metropolis recently became England's most visited city after London and plans to be in the top 20 European destinations by 2030.
Despite its growing popularity, the city is still perhaps best known for soccer and bands such as Oasis, who made global headlines this year with a reunion tour. But did you know it's also a UNESCO City of Literature and ideal for bookworms?
As Jo Flynn, Manchester City of Literature's director of external affairs, says, "Manchester is proud of both its writerly heritage, with greats like Elizabeth Gaskell and Anthony Burgess, and its status as a contemporary literary hotbed. The spoken word scene is thriving, more than 10 indie publishers call us home, local bookshops are multiplying and our world-class libraries are some of the busiest in the U.K. You could visit Manchester as a literature lover and find something new to see and explore every single day."
With the widely renowned Manchester Literature Festival taking place this month, I thought it was an apt time to highlight this literary powerhouse I once called home -- and enlisted the support of local author Sarah Tierney, whose poignant debut Making Space is one of my favorite Manchester novels.
Sarah also edits lifestyle website Confidential Guides and has her finger on the pulse of North West England, making her an ideal companion for a literary tour around Manchester. Suggestions below span hip bookshops to historic libraries, and are also a great way to explore this dynamic city-region: from its bohemian neighborhoods and lively pubs to world-renowned arts centers like Aviva Studios.
Unlike in England's South, where big bookshop brands are more common -- Daunt Books and Foyles, for instance -- Manchester's chain bookstores are limited to Waterstones and its smaller, academic cousin Blackwell's. Fortunately, the city's dearth of literary superstores is made up for in part by its independent scene, characterized by treasures like the House of Books & Friends on grand King Street and LGBTQ+ bookshop Queer Lit in trendy Ancoats. Away from the center, in the leafy suburbs, you'll find Chorlton Bookshop and Urmston Books and Board Games; while further south, in the picturesque village of Bramhall (also home to the half-timbered Tudor mansion of Bramhall Hall), Simply Books is a beloved institution.
Longstanding second-hand shops include Paramount and -- in the affluent neighborhood of Didsbury, also well worth a visit -- E J Morten, plus bookstore-cafe The Art of Tea. Meanwhile, Alexandria Library on Rusholme’s culturally diverse “Curry Mile” sells new and second-hand books in English, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Kurdish and Hindi.
From The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett to early Coronation Street playwright Jack Rosenthal, Manchester is the birthplace of many iconic writers; consider Jonathan Schofield’s popular Literary Manchester tour to learn about three centuries of written word in the city. There’s a foundation dedicated to Clockwork Orange creator Anthony Burgess, with a dedicated archive and regular events program, while the home of Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell (who wasn’t Manchester-born but settled in the city for several decades) has been made into a museum honoring her life and work.
Organizations dedicated to honing a new generation of writers include Cultureword, writing schools at the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan (MMU), Aviva Studios and fellow arts center HOME. All host a regular calendar of events, including workshops and courses for aspiring wordsmiths.
The city center is home to four historic libraries, all within walking distance of each other. The most famous is John Rylands on Deansgate: a towering, neo-Gothic wonder whose collection spans early fragments of the New Testament to Ian Curtis' handwritten Joy Division lyrics. Funded by philanthropist Enriqueta Rylands, it's often compared to the Hogwarts school in Harry Potter and celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.
On nearby St Peter's Square is the iconic Central Library with its huge, domed reading room. And few minutes' walk away is the Portico Library: a beautiful private members' library, intriguingly situated above a pub, that is nonetheless open to the public and free to enter. Finally, Chetham's Library near Victoria Station is another stunning space. Founded in 1653, it's the oldest public library in Britain; book a tour in advance if you want to visit.
Just outside the city center, on the MMU campus, is the modern Manchester Poetry Library, which houses an extensive collection of contemporary poetry from 1900 to the current day.
With some writers now commanding more attention than their books, literary festivals reflect the trend for "brand authors," providing a great way for readers to meet the person behind the pages. Manchester Literature Festival has the highest profile, but several smaller events attest to the growing popularity of fests on a particular theme; Louder than Words examines the cross section of music and words, the Love Stories Etc Festival at Central Library celebrates romance fiction and MMU hosts a popular Gothic fest. Other regional affairs include Chorlton Book Festival and the Stockport Noir Crime Fiction Festival.
Poetry runs through Manchester's veins; former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy heads up MMU's writing school, while John McAuliffe is a codirector of the Centre for New Writing and John Cooper Clarke commands impressive crowds for his distinctive punk poetry. It's little surprise that local writer and lecturer Adam O'Riordan reckoned Manchester has "more poets per square mile" than anywhere else in the U.K.--many of them award-winning.
Dovetailing as it does with spoken word, this has spawned events including Poets & Players at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, The Poetry Place at Aviva Studios, Word Central at Central Library and Verbose at The Kings Arms.