Saturday 14th September: My Name is Why – In Conversation with Lemn Sissay. 8pm. In partnership with The Square Chapel.
This is Lemn’s life story: a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph.
Lemn Sissay will be reading from his new Memoir, reflecting on a childhood in care, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so exploring the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Infused with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation’s best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely event is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.
To celebrate the publication of My Name is Why: A Memoir by Lemn Sissay. Published by Canongate Books.
Lemn Sissay MBE is a poet, playwright and broadcaster. He has read poetry all over the world and was awarded an MBE for services to literature. He is the Chancellor of The University of Manchester and was the first poet commissioned to write for the London Olympics. He is a regular contributor to radio and TV and a prolific speaker, inspiring audiences on a daily basis across the globe.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A session
40 minutes reading & 20 minutes Q&A
Tickets here
Monday 23rd September: An Evening with David Constantine. 7pm. In partnership with The Square Chapel.
An evening celebrating a new collection of stories by David Constantine, the author of the short story behind the Oscar-nominated film 45 YEARS, who has been hailed as one of the greatest writers of the short story form. David has previously been awarded the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award.
The stories in David Constantine’s fifth collection all orbit around a moment of personal crisis, a pressure point where the weight of the past or the present becomes unbearable. These crises may be brought on by a bereavement, a personal failure or trauma, or a crisis of identity. But in all cases, what’s at stake is a life worth living, a space that tolerates us as humans, regardless of how intolerant we’ve been towards it of late: that is to say, a hospitable, rather than a hostile environment. Many of the protagonists in these stories are children: loved, abused, in danger, they represent the fragile, threatened hope for a better future. In other stories, children appear as an encouragement in an adult world that appears to be drifting inexorably towards ignorance and isolation. Whether set in Paris in the early 19th Century, on the Pennine moors, these stories remind us that even in the darkest of times new germs of hope are quietly taking root.
Hosted by writer and Leeds-based arts organiser SJ Bradley
Tickets here.
Friday 27th September: Arthur Smith – Laughs, Stories, a song and a poem. 7.30pm. In partnership with The Square Chapel.
Join comedian, writer, broadcaster and all-round British institution ARTHUR SMITH and bask in an evening of laughter and off the wall humour with one of the ‘alternative comedians’ who shook up the world of light entertainment in the nineteen eighties and nineties.
Expect an evening of sublime playfulness, crammed with jokes, anecdotes, short stories, poems, songs (at least 1 from Leonard Cohen) and readings from his recently published memoir ‘My Name Is Daphne Fairfax’ which has won praise from literary critics. He will also tell the story, as well as a portrait of his late father PC Sad Smith, survivor of Colditz POW camp and London copper.
A BBC regular, well-known for his appearances on TV’s ‘Grumpy Old Men’, ‘Q.I.’, ‘Have I Got News For You’, ‘The One Show’, Radio 4’s‘Loose Ends’, ‘Balham Bash’, and host of Radio 4 Extra’s Comedy Club, and Radio 2’s ‘Smith Lectures’. He is a ‘Spirit of The Fringe’ award-winning Edinburgh Festival stalwart and Olivier nominated playwright for ‘An Evening With Gary Lineker’
Arthur is simply one of our funniest and most original comic performers and is guaranteed to bring you a night of hilarity, mirth and scandal…with a touch of rudeness thrown in for good measure.
Warm-up from comedian and BBC Radio Leeds host NICK AHAD
Tickets here.
Friday 4th to Sunday 6th October – Halifax Festival of Words.
The Halifax Festival of Words 2019 Programme has now been announced. Please visit the Halifax Festival of Words website for full details.
Saturday 26th October: Ashley Jackson – Watercolour Sketches Book Signing. 2:30pm til 4:00pm. Free.
Join Yorkshire Artist, Ashley Jackson, as he signs copies of his new book, Watercolour Sketches, ahead of the official publication date. No booking necessary, just turn up!
Ashley Jackson, Yorkshire’s favourite artist, has been capturing his artistic passion for God’s County in his paintings and sketchbooks for over fifty years. Since opening his first gallery back in 1963, he has become one of the country’s leading and most successful landscape watercolourists. His unique evocative and distinctive paintings of brooding moorlands have become synonymous with Yorkshire, and more particular the moors above and around his Gallery situated in the heart of the Pennines, Holmfirth.
Further information can be found at http://www.ashley-jackson.co.uk
Previous Events
2019
Saturday 7th September: Julia Chapman – Dales Detective Series Book Signing.
Thursday 15th August: Turn The Page 12. Poetry and Open Mic night.
Saturday 10th August: The Moss House book signing with Clara Barley.
Thursday 1st August: The Iron Man book signing with Chris Mould.
Sunday 14th July: A History of the World in 21 Women by Jenni Murray partnering with The Square Chapel.
Saturday 13th July: Who was the real Anne Lister? Jill Liddington and Helena Whitbread event as part of Anne Lister Weekend.
Friday 5th July: A Fabulous Creation: David Hepworth talks both rock and roll.
Thursday 4th July: Anna Best – Aunt Grizelda’s Fairy Tales of the Unexpected. Book launch and talk.
15th-22nd June: Indie Bookshop Week
Friday 14th June – An evening with Simon Armitage partnering with The Square Chapel
Tuesday 11th June: We Share The Same Skies – What kind of region do we want to live in?
15th June: TotallyLocally Fiverfest
Thursday 6th June: Will Self partnering with The Square Chapel.
Friday 31st May: The Wandering Poet Tour – Ben Guilfoyle.
Thursday 23rd May Jill Liddington Writing Anne Lister
Thursday 16th May Turn The Page 11 Open mic night
Saturday 11th May – Dragon Daughter book signing with Liz Flanagan.
Monday 29th April – D-Day Dog by Tom Palmer launch.
April 2019 – Proudly supporting Independent Publishers:
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Thursday 18th April Built on Sand by Paul Scraton book launch with Influx Press.
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Thursday 11th April Zebra by Ian Humphreys poetry launch. Supported by Natalie Burdett and Zaffar Kunial with Nine Arches Press.
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Friday 5th April Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession UK book launch with Bluemoose Books.
Thursday 28th March Turn The Page 10. Poetry, music, open mic night.
Friday 15th March – Carol Ann Duffy and Friends, partnering with The Square Chapel
Saturday 9th March – -Book signing with Linda Green.
Thursday 21st February – Story time with Cathy Calvert and Ned.
Sunday 3rd February – Dirty Bertie event with Alan MacDonald, partnering with The Square Chapel
Thursday 17th January – Turn The Page 9. Poetry, music, open mic night.
2018
Saturday 15th December – Book Signing with Penny Thorpe, author of The Quality Street Girls
Thursday 6th December – Book signing with Ben Myers and Bluemoose Books.
Saturday 24th November – Book signing with Martine McDonagh
Friday 9th November – The Light in The Dark: A Winter Journal with Horatio Clare
Thursday 1st November – Book signing with Andrew Bibby
Sunday 28th October – Book signing with The Yorkshire Vet – Peter Wright
Saturday 20th October – Burning Brightly: Northern Voices in YA with Liz Flanagan, Mark Illis, Danielle Jawando and Melvin Burgess
Friday 12- Sunday 14th October – Halifax Festival of Words
Saturday 6th October – Afternoon Tea with Alexander McCall Smith
Saturday 29th September – Book signing with Mary Jayne Baker
Thursday 27th September – S.R. Whitehead Launch
Wednesday 12th September. Gaia Holmes Where The Road Runs Out launch
Monday 28th August. Poet’s Corner with Keith Hutson and Mark Pajak
Thursday 23rd August.Turn The Page 7 . Poetry, spoken word, open mic night
Monday 30th July. WordPlay Summer Special Ft. Andrew McMillan, Professor Michael Symmons Roberts & Mark Pajak partnering with WordPlay and The Square Chapel
Thursday 5th July. Four Poets and Environmental Thinking poetry evening
Saturday 30th June. The Tiger Who Came to Tea Party
Thursday 21 June. Turn The Page 6. Poetry, spoken word, open mic night
Tuesday 29th May. Glow Anthology book launch with Gaia Holmes
Sunday 27th May. Benjamin Myers: Under The Rock book signing
Saturday 19th May. Roger McGough: As Far As I Know Tour partnering with The Square Chapel
Monday 14th May. Jill Liddington: Winning Votes For Women in Halifax and Beyond. Talk, Q&A, book signing
Wednesday 26th April. Hollie McNish Plum Tour partnering with The Square Chapel
Thursday 19th April. Turn The Page 5. Poetry, spoken word, open mic night
Wednesday 18th April. Launch of Light After Light by Vicky Gatehouse
Saturday 14th April. Book signing with Julia Chapman
Saturday 7th April. Book signing with Mary Jayne Baker
Thursday 7th December. Book Signing with The Yorkshire Vet – Julian Norton
Saturday 20th January. Stuart Maconie Long Road From Jarrow Tour partnering with The Square Chapel
2017
Sunday 26th November. George Costigan in conversation with Willy Russell partnering with The Square Chapel
