Manchester Poetry Library: Festival of Libraries and revered Yiddish poet exhibition form packed programme

Manchester Poetry Library is part of the Festival of Libraries

Manchester Poetry Library is celebrating how libraries foster a love of reading and showcasing new research into an influential Yiddish poet as part of a packed summer schedule.  

The celebration will also feature outstanding new work from University writers.

The Poetry Library is part of the city-wide Festival of Libraries (June 15-19), a programme of activities that champion the role that libraries play in society, culture and wellbeing.

They include special readings of work from University writers Andrew McMillan and Lara Williams, as well as events that celebrate how libraries have influenced well-known writers and artists.

Throughout June, the Poetry Library is also hosting an exhibition on one of Britain’s foremost but now largely forgotten Yiddish poets, Avram Nachum Stencl, informed by research from University academic Dr Rachel Lichtenstein.

There are also a host of family-friendly activities to enjoy at Manchester Poetry Library – only the fourth such library in the country and the first within a university.

Becky Swain, Director of Manchester Poetry Library, said: “Expect the unexpected this week for the second Festival of Libraries in the city. As the newest public library in the city, we invite you to book an event or drop by and delve into the shelves and our exhibition exploring the exceptional life and work of influential Yiddish poet Avram Stencl.”

Festival of Libraries

Festival of Libraries events included ‘Love to Read: 100 Queer Poems with Andrew McMillan’, the University lecturer and award-winning poet who has edited an anthology of “thrilling contemporary voices and visionary poets of the past”. McMillan and curator Mary Jean Chan will read poems as part of ‘Love to Read’, a programme encouraging University students to read for pleasure.

Tutor and prize-winning novelist Lara Williams led a Love to Read event to celebrate publication of The Odyssey, her new “wickedly funny and slyly poignant new satire on modern life”.

Special events were also held with the poet Jackie Kay and artist Abigail Reynolds on the importance of libraries on their work and art, and an online discussion of the importance of poetry libraries with representatives of other centres from across the UK and internationally.

As the newest public library in the city, we invite you to book an event or drop by and delve into the shelves and our exhibition exploring the exceptional life and work of influential Yiddish poet Avram Stencl

The first family 'Love to Read' session will round off the Poetry Library’s involvement in the Festival, with multi-lingual storytelling and activities for younger children and drop in discussion groups for teens and young adults.

A.N Stencl

Also, at the Poetry Library in June, is ‘The Poet A.N. Stencl and the Friends of Yiddish’, a new exhibition that investigates the life and work of the Yiddish poet Stencl, which coincides with the launch of a specially commissioned short film for the Poetry Library, which has been researched and produced by Dr Lichtenstein from the Manchester Writing School.

I have been researching the life and work of Avram Stencl for decades now, having heard stories about him since childhood. He is a mythical and romantic figure to me, whose remarkable story and body of work reflects his continuous struggle, as a stateless refugee, to find a place to call home

Dr Lichtenstein’s grandparents were Polish Jewish emigres, who became personal friends with Stencl after fleeing to East London from Nazi persecution in the 1930s.

This exhibition examines Stencl's amazing personal story, his contribution to the canon of Yiddish literature and his connection to Manchester.

Dr Lichtenstein said: “I have been researching the life and work of Avram Stencl for decades now, having heard stories about him since childhood. He is a mythical and romantic figure to me, whose remarkable story and body of work reflects his continuous struggle, as a stateless refugee, to find a place to call home as well as his determination to preserve and champion the language of his birth through his poetry and literary activities. His story I hope will resonate with many other people from across the world living in Manchester today.”

Other events

Later in June, the Poetry Library hosts the launch of Visiting Lecturer André Naffis-Sahely's most recent collection High Desert, a “psychedelic journal of end-times and an ode to the American Southwest”, as well as the launch of 'Respect the Mic: Celebrating 20 Years of Poetry from a Chicagoland High School'. The event will feature readings from founder of Respect the Mic, Peter Kahn, as well as some of the UK’s best poets and educators of poetry, including Manchester Metropolitan lecturer Malika Booker.

You can find out more about the events on the Manchester Poetry Library website.