Northwest Book Highlights – May 2015

Community writing organisation Writing on the Wall (WoW) hosts its annual festival this May, promising a diverse programme of spoken word, theatre, film, discussion and debate. This year, the festival takes on Liverpool's transatlantic literary heritage with the theme of American Dreams, coinciding with the city's seven-week celebration of the historic Cunard Shipping Line's 175th anniversary.

Among the festival’s highlights, see illustrator, scriptwriter and editor Tim Quinn at Marvel Mayhem: Unmasking the Real Superheroes, a panel discussion exploring the links between UK and American graphic novels. Having worked for British classics including The Beano and The Dandy as well as a number of Marvel Comics titles in the US, Quinn is joined by prolific comic book artists Charlie Adlard and Emma Vieceli at Liverpool Central Library on 16 May.

Elsewhere, immerse yourself in the cultural and artistic explosion of the Harlem Renaissance on 9 May at WoW’s Strictly Harlem event. A day of 1920s-inspired activities culminates in an evening of spoken word and music, with special guests including celebrated British writer and broadcaster Lemn Sissay and spoken word poet Salena Godden.

Meanwhile, hip-hop gets a distinctly literary twist in Salford this month at the Dead Poets’ Death Match. Former Peterborough teacher Mark Grist and rapper MC Mixy revive a selection of famous dead poets to battle against each other, challenging stereotypes of both poetry and rap. Head to The Lowry on 27 May to hear literature's greats like you've never heard them before.

Literature and the visual arts leave reality behind at The Speaking Trumpet, hosted by Tate Liverpool on 16 May. Hear readings of fantastical new writing inspired by British-born Mexican painter and novelist Leonora Carrington, whose surrealist work is currently on display at the gallery. Readers include short story writer and critic Ailsa Cox and James Byrne, a translator, poet and editor of Liverpool-based poetry magazine The Wolf.

If you're more interested in the factual than the fantastical, two celebrated non-fiction writers will be in discussion across the Northwest this month. Bestselling military historian Antony Beevor comes to Manchester on 26 May with his latest book on the Second World War, Ardennes 1944. Beevor’s impressive record of titles has not only won him several prizes, but has also landed him with a potential five-year prison sentence in Russia for his criticisms of the Red Army. This is not history for the faint-hearted.

For a few more trolls than troopers, Jon Ronson brings his An Evening of Public Shaming tour to several venues across the region, coinciding with the publication of his much anticipated book So You've Been Publicly Shamed. The journalist and author behind The Men Who Stare at Goats, Ronson explores the renaissance of public shaming in an age where a misjudged tweet lost New York publicist Justine Sacco her job in the space of an 11-hour flight to Cape Town. Chronic over-sharers, be warned.