Manchester Lit&Phil Annual Percival Lecture

Posted on: March 10th, 2026 by Alan Wareham

The Percival Lecture

From Manchester, for the world: The University of Manchester’s 2035 strategy

Professor Duncan Ivison: President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester 

The University of Manchester was born as an answer to a question posed amid the Industrial Revolution: what kind of new knowledge and citizens were needed for Manchester to thrive in a world undergoing profound change? As it enters its third century, it stands at a similarly pivotal moment. Technological, geopolitical, economic and social revolutions are reshaping the world. What knowledge and skills does the digital age demand? What big leaps lie ahead for the University?

Since arriving in Manchester in 2024 to become its President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison has led the development of a new strategy, Manchester 2035, following a year-long process of consultation with staff, students, alumni and external partners. Published in 2025, this new strategy addresses the question: what it means to be a truly great civic university for the 21st century?

In this talk, Professor Ivison will outline how the University plans to work with its city and region in new ways, where this deep-rooted sense of place is matched by global reach, through researchers, partners and alumni who share its purpose to improve lives, strengthen communities and tackle the world’s biggest challenges. He will talk about the importance it will place on partnerships, academic freedom, freedom of speech, teaching and research excellence, and inclusion.

 

Manchester Li &Phil Annual Percival Lecture

Manchester Lit&Phil is nearly 250 years old, which makes it one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom. Its members have been sharing knowledge and ideas ever since the first meeting in 1781, paving the way for giant leaps forward in the way we understand the world. Past members include Ernest Rutherford, John Dalton and James Joule.

Thomas Percival was the Manchester Lit&Phil’s first President, and the Percival Lecture was established in 1947 to celebrate his legacy.

 

Location

Lecture theatre G.003, Alliance Manchester Business School, Booth St W, Manchester M15 6PB

 

Event schedule

Drinks reception for members and special guests: from 6.00 pm at The Mill. (Located directly opposite G.003.)

Talk starts: 6.45 pm 

Event ends: 8.00 pm

 

Practical Information

Booking is essential. This is a Lit&Phil Members Only Event: We recommend logging into the website to make booking and paying for your ticket quicker and easier.

 

We are very grateful to The University of Manchester for hosting this year’s Percival Lecture. This is a members-only event and places are limited.

Manchester City Centre Peace Trail

Posted on: March 1st, 2026 by Alan Wareham

Curious about the hidden stories of peace in our city? Come along with Steve Roman, passionate peace activist and storyteller, as we wander through Manchester’s streets uncovering the remarkable Peace Trail. 

Meeting Point: Manchester Victoria Station, underneath the large, tiled map 

Duration: 2 hours 

Accessibility: It is suitable for people in wheelchairs. The route is paved and flat, apart from one slope. When we go through the Library there are lifts for those who need them. 

The Walk along the Peace Trail will bring alive Manchester’s radical history, its growth as the world’s first industrial city and its importance as a centre for peace, tolerance and promotion of social justice in the city and around the globe. 

Memorials and locations will gain new meanings as we learn about their peace history and the relevance for civil rights movements. What might we discover about our city’s evolving role—from industrial powerhouse to global advocate for justice and peace? Each stop invites us to see Manchester through fresh eyes. 

The walk will include the following themes / sites with perhaps some new perspectives: 

  • Migration and the movement of peoples 
  • Gandhi, Manchester Cathedral, the campaign against Chattel Slavery, and Abraham Lincoln 
  • John Dalton, the “Nuclear Timeline”, the Peace Garden, MAG (Mines Advisory Group) and the Nobel Peace Prize 
  • The Hidden Gem and religious tolerance, Free thinking and Science 
  • Elizabeth Raffald, Margaret Ashton, Erinma Bell, Lydia Becker, Suffragists and Suffragettes 
  • and, subject to time, Peterloo, the popular reform movement and Engels 

The guide is donating his fee to charity 

Manchester Lit&Phil Literary Book Club

Posted on: March 1st, 2026 by Alan Wareham

Adapted into a sumptuous, star-studded movie that won seven Academy awards, the memoir Out of Africa recalls Danish socialite Karen Blixen’s time as a coffee farmer in Kenya in the early part of the last century.

The Times described it as ‘Compelling. . . a story of passion. . . and a movingly poetic tribute to a lost land’. The New York Times begged to differ, saying ‘the country’s history seems to begin with the arrival of Europeans like Karen Blixen . . . her sojourn in Africa, is depicted through a haze of romantic sentimentality that obscures its most obvious and obnoxious features.’

Join us for what is likely to be a lively discussion about Out of Africa, and help us to kick off the first of our non-fiction books on our reading list.

The Lit & Phil Literary Book Club is free and exclusively for members, operating on a first come first serve basis, up to a maximum of 15 people.

Save the date and start reading.

April 28 book club: Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell. (Classic fiction)

May 26 book club: A Handful of Dust, by Evelyn Waugh. (Contemporary fiction)

June 30 book club: The Places in Between, Rory Stewart (Non-fiction)

Airwaves to Algorithms

Posted on: February 9th, 2026 by Alan Wareham

Manchester Lit&Phil in association with Salford University present Airwaves to Algorithms: How broadcasting and media is changing in Manchester.

Greater Manchester has long been home to some of the most famous broadcasters and programmes in the country, from the birth of commercial television at Granada Studios, to the BBC’s first regional television and radio site being based in Rusholme. Now, Salford hosts MediaCity, one of the largest hubs for the creative and broadcast industries in Europe.

So many of the most iconic and influential television and radio programmes in the world have Manchester running through their DNA – and the media and creative industries have long run through Manchester’s DNA too.

Now, though, things are changing. Viewing and listening habits have shifted, the media ecosystem has fragmented, traditional platforms have given way to, or been forced to join, an array of new and thriving digital platforms.

In a world where everyone is a content creator, and everyone is a publisher, where does this leave Manchester and its creative industries? What role does the region play in this new world order? And is traditional broadcast media as we knew it… dead?

Join us for a drinks reception and an interactive panel discussion, chaired by Times Radio’s Darryl Morris.

Our Panel

Darryl Morris – Times Radio – Chair
Seamus Simpson – Prof Media Policy, Salford University
Stuart Morgan – Founder of Audio Always
Matty White – TV & Radio Producer/Presenter

On The Night…

18.00 – 18.30 Venue opens for ticket holders to arrive for a welcome drink in the foyer (Included in ticket)
18.30 – 19.15 Panel discussion/speakers
19.15 – 19.45 Q&A
20.00 Event Closes

Venue

University of Salford, Plot B4, Orange Tower, Media City, Salford M50 2HE.

Plan Your Visit

Full details for Parking, Active travel (walking/cycling), access via Tram, Car and Bus, plus information regarding EV Car Charging can be found at https://www.mediacityuk.co.uk/visit-us/

Accessibility

The venue is fully accessible.

Under attack: 15 Years spent photographing Britain

Posted on: February 3rd, 2026 by Alan Wareham

Joel Goodman will talk about his specific experiences as a photojournalist, framed with the context of his photographs and publications. He will be discussing why it should matter to him beyond his own self-interest, what success and failure look like to him, what values he tries to bring to his practice and the pressures of working independently in sometimes hostile and unforgiving environments.

Most of his photography involves politics and “hard news” – unscheduled coverage of breaking stories or of live events – and, when he does his job well, the work can be published widely in print, online and on television, around the world. Often this coverage results from images photographed and then transmitted directly from his camera, where the only editing is in the focal length and composition he chose at the moment of capture.

Questions to Reflect On

  • What does “success” versus “failure” look like for a hard‑news image?
  • Walk us through one frame shown tonight: where you stood, focal length, and timing—why those choices?
  • How do you stay safe and de‑escalate in hostile or fast‑moving situations?
  • What pressures do independent freelancers face – from subjects, police, editors, or online audiences – and how do you keep your independence and values?
  • In the UK context, how do you balance public interest with minimising harm – handling consent, privacy, minors, victims, and arrestees?
  • With images sent straight from camera, how do you caption and verify under time pressure and prevent miscontext?

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is strongly advised.

Access

Access to the event is via the Altrincham Street entrance.

Accessibility Information

Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

Manchester Lit&Phil Literary Book Club

Posted on: February 1st, 2026 by Alan Wareham

When A Clockwork Orange was first published in 1962 it divided the critics. Time magazine called it ‘a nasty little shocker’ while the New York Times called it ‘a brilliant novel’. One thing everyone could agree on was its inventiveness.

It was thanks to Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation that Burgess’ dystopian satire interrogating free will became a cult classic. The film, however, was mired in controversy and removed from cinemas at Kubrick’s own request. The book has since been recognised as a literary masterpiece.

Join us to discuss A Clockwork Orange, Manchester-born Anthony Burgess’ best-known novel, as part of our contemporary fiction reading list.

The Manchester Lit&Phil Book Club is free and exclusively for members, operating on a first come first serve basis, up to a maximum of 15 people.

Save the date and start reading

March 31 book club: Out of Africa, Isak Dineson/Karen Blixen. (Non-fiction)

April 28 book club: Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell. (Classic fiction)

The Material City: Urban Air

Posted on: January 24th, 2026 by Alan Wareham

City air is full—full of buildings, birds, and more. Wind flows and shifts around skyscrapers; airborne pollution damages buildings and people; and machinery whirrs away to cool, heat, and filter the air in our offices and living spaces. This tour shows that, although air may be the most ephemeral element, its properties have influenced us and Manchester throughout history in ways we might not expect. Join us to explore a vanished hospital in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester’s alleys and their visible ventilation, old mills and their floating cotton fibres, and more.

The tour will start at the Queen Victoria statue at Piccadilly Gardens and end at Mayfield Park.

Charlotte will already be known to members from her talk ‘Magic, Science, and Spirit of Place in the Stones of Alderley Edge’ and her fascinating guided walk ‘Stone: An Historical Walking Tour of Manchester’, which opened our eyes to a number of our city’s corners to which we had previously paid no attention!

Practical Information

Booking is essential. We recommend logging into the website to make booking and paying for your ticket quicker and easier.

What’s in a Name?

Posted on: January 23rd, 2026 by Editor-Jo

How do we know Shakespeare was Shakespeare? Could a glover’s son who left school at fifteen really be the author behind such masterpieces as Hamlet, King Lear and The Tempest?

Yes! says historian Susan Amussen. She transports readers back to early modern England, to travel the path that carried William Shakespeare from humble origins in Stratford to literary greatness on the London stage. This was a society undergoing rapid change. Grammar schools made education in Latin and Greek available to commoners, while touring players brought the latest dramatic productions to the masses. And in London, a metropolis filled with European visitors, ordinary people had the opportunity to see courtly life up close.

No serious historian doubts that Shakespeare was the author of the plays that bear his name. Susan Amussen shares what they know: that Shakespeare’s England was a complex and cosmopolitan place, with everything a talented young playwright needed to develop his craft and furnish his imagination.

Practical Information

Booking is essential. Lit&Phil members: we recommend logging into the website to make booking your free member ticket quicker and easier.

Accessibility Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

Why Plato Matters Now

Posted on: January 23rd, 2026 by Alan Wareham

In this talk Professor Angie Hobbs explores three of the key ways (there are many more!) in which Plato’s methodology, arguments and ideas can help us articulate, think through and address contemporary challenges.

Firstly, through his selection of the dialogue form he shows us how difficult issues can be discussed in constructive ways, where the interlocutors collaborate in a search for truth; he also deliberately offers models of how not to do it — dialogues in which one of the interlocutors aims not at truth, but victory by any means — whether through bullying or verbal tricks. Plato thus offers us the tools to help bridge current political, religious and cultural divides and to spot and combat fake news and fallacies; these tools are already proving of great benefit in primary and secondary education and are being expanded: for example, Professor Angie Hobbs has recently been giving training sessions in the question-and-answer technique to the civil service.

Secondly, Professor Angie Hobbs will look at Plato’s ethics of individual and communal flourishing — ‘flourishing’ is a more objective concept than happiness — and indicate how it can assist greatly in matters of healthcare, education, the training of AI systems and urban and environmental planning; Professor Angie Hobbs will briefly discuss work she has been doing with the NHS Strategy Unit in how to apply an ethics of flourishing at various points in the care pathway, such as in the prioritisation of waiting lists.

Finally, Professor Angie Hobbs will outline Plato’s brilliant analysis in the Republic of how a democracy can be subverted to tyranny by a cynical demagogue (although Plato was not a great fan of direct democracy — the only kind he knew — he nevertheless thought it greatly preferable to tyranny, of which he had had direct experience in Syracuse, at the court of Dionysius I).  This incisive analysis enables us to remain alert and spot problems in our own democracies before it is too late; in particular, we need to pay attention to Plato’s warning to watch out for the corruption of language (he highlights the abuse of  ‘freedom’) and the subversion of moral terms (such as ‘courage’), and the importance of remaining proactive agents, and not simply reacting to events.

Interview

Read our interview with Professor Angie Hobbs HERE

Book Signing

There will be a book signing event after the talk, hosted by House of Books and Friends, so attendees can meet and buy a signed copy of Professor Hobbs’ Book – ‘Why Plato Matters Now’

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is strongly advised.

Access

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

Manchester: One City, Many Voices

Posted on: January 8th, 2026 by Alan Wareham

Join the Manchester Lit & Phil and MACFEST for a vibrant evening celebrating the power of words to bridge cultures, spark understanding, and illuminate the rich tapestry of our city.

Manchester: One City, Many Voices brings together a distinguished panel of poets whose award-winning works span continents, traditions, and lived experiences.

Through live readings and personal reflections our guest writers will explore what diversity and inclusion truly mean in a city shaped by migration, creativity, and community. Their stories – rooted in memory, identity, struggle, joy, and hope – offer a compelling portrait of Manchester as a place where many cultures not only coexist, but flourish.

This unique event invites audiences to reflect on the ways literature can build empathy and connection, celebrating Manchester as an exemplar of multiculturalism at its best. Come prepared to be inspired, challenged, and uplifted by voices that reflect the city’s past, present, and ever-evolving future.

This is a free public event, designed to welcome audiences from all backgrounds and to highlight the unifying power of literature and the spoken word. There will be time for discussion and questions to the poets.

 

One City, Many Voices brings together four writers – Nasima Bee, Nóra Blascsok, Pamela Galloway and Peter Kalu.

 

Nasima Bee is a performance poet, producer and creative practitioner who uses art as a means of activism and her work is an exploration of the everyday through a personal lens that connects to its audience through inquisition and conversation. Nasima focusses on the human, centring stories that are unheard, misrepresented or ignored.

Nóra Blascsók is a Hungarian poet based in Manchester and one of the Manchester Multilingual City Poets in 2025. Manchester Literature Festival and Manchester UNESCO City of Literature co-commissioned Nóra to create a new work responding to the themes of ’sanctuary’ and ’welcome.’ Her powerful and playful response is ‘Guernica Children’.

Pamela Galloway divides her time between Canada and Manchester having grown up in Longsight. Each of her two homes provides rich inspiration for her poetry, and she writes about the people she encounters in daily life and the landscapes around her.

Peter Kalu is a poet, fiction writer and playwright who grew up in Manchester. In 2024 he received the Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship award and his acclaimed lyrical essay-memoir collection Act Normal was published in 2025 by Hope Road. Much of his writing reflects the UK second-generation migrant experience.

 

 

Event registration details will be shared between Manchester Lit&Phil and MACFEST.

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