Debut author and comedian Millican to ignite literary festival

Manchester Literature Festival 2017 is set to launch this evening (Friday, October 6) with a special “in conversation” event with comedian, broadcaster and debut author, Sarah Millican at the RNCM Concert Hall.

Sarah, a northern lass herself, will be sharing hilarious stories and advice on how to get past life’s embarrassing moments, like getting over IBS, how to deal with divorce and living in your childhood bedroom aged 30.

The 16-day event will centre around the theme “Divas, Dissidents, Pioneers and Radicals”, reflecting Manchester’s roots as a working-class city and touching on the topics of activism, class, protest, feminism and identity.

Across the event, which is now celebrating its 12th year, literary figures from across the UK will join together for a packed diary of talks, walks and performances.

The headliners for this year’s festival include Millican, who will be launching her debut book “How to be a Champion”, authors Jon Savage, Michael Morpurgo and Roddy Doyle, along with chefs Nigella Lawson and Shami Chakrabarti.

In addition, there will be walking tours to take visitors around the city and allow them to enjoy its rich literary history, including visits to Elizabeth Gaskell’s old house, in South Manchester and a Gothic Literature tour where people can relive the city’s dark history while walking its streets.

For families, there is an array of activities which are sure to pry the kids away from their iPads and encourage them to get their noses in a novel.

Tomorrow, children between ages eight and 11 can attend Sean Mason and Kate McCabe’s Comedy Club 4 Kids at Z-arts at 2pm, where they will learn how to write and perform good stand-up and sketches.

This event is for kids only – so no parents allowed until the last 15 minutes when you can come back and enjoy a performance from your talented sprogs.

Towards the end of the festival, on October 20, another stimulating show will be performed at Z-arts, but this time kids can sit back with their adults and enjoy ‘Child of the Divide’ without any audience participation.

The play marks the 70th anniversary of the partition of India and follows people on the move from India to Pakistan in the summer of 1947.

Full details of the packed line-up are available on the Manchester Literary Festival website and although many events are sold out, some tickets are still available.