Join Leeds-based author Sarah Brooks as she talks about and reads from her stunning debut novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands. Read more here.

It is the end of the Nineteenth Century, and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous as the Wastelands: a terrain of terrible miracles that lies between Beijing and Moscow.

Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met – and grew up in ten different foster homes in California. When he is finally adopted into a loving family, he is hopeful that life will finally be stable and safe. 

But divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence mark his adolescence, and Henderson enters the military upon completing high school. 

UK general practice has reached crisis point. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has placed a strain on an already crumbling primary care service, leaving both patients and NHS staff struggling. Seventy-five years after the NHS was created, Dr Ellen Welch lifts the curtain on general practice. She looks back on the history of the profession exploring how the job has changed – particularly since the pandemic – then ahead to what the future of general practice might look like.

The Johnson era will be remembered for a series of scandals that severely eroded trust in the British government. 

From questionable PPE tenders and public appointments to the ‘partygate’ fiasco, every aspect of public life seemed tainted. 

How did this downward spiral begin, and what can be done to reverse it?

Monique Charlesworth’s mother Inge was German, half-Jewish and a Holocaust survivor, all of which she chose to deny. Talented and able, charismatic and infuriating, she surged through life constantly reinventing herself. Sent out of Nazi Germany, she eventually arrived in London and a new start until her past caught up with her.

Join us in the shop as we meet Leeds based author Sarah Brooks and talk to her about her debut nostalgic fiction novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands.

‘A woman on the platform with a borrowed name. A disgraced naturalist determined to discover miracles. A child with a dangerous secret.’

Filled with wild imagination, and a fantastical twist, this piece of gloriously nostalgic fiction takes you on a wild and thrilling ride on the Great Trans-Siberian express during the golden age of steam.

Join debut author Claire Carroll for a workshop on creating fiction that reflects the varied experience of living through the climate crisis.

Claire will help participants explore how their writing can reflect the looming changes and complex emotional states brought about by global warming and the capitalocene.

Young adults are welcome to join the workshop but there is potential for some adult themed content.

This event is part of Leeds Litfest.

Founded in 2007 by author and activist Paul Burston, Polari is a multi award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon. Known for its high energy, thought-provoking performances, Polari is a heady mix of live literature and cabaret, in which the performers happen to be writers.

Described by The Huffington Post as “the most exciting literary moment in London”, the salon also tours regularly, supported by Arts Council England.