Manchester University Press (MUP) are hosting two FREE public events in the coming months.

On the evening of the 18 October, join (MUP) for a very special panel discussion event as they explore the cultural tapestry that makes up modern Manchester with local authors who have written extensively about the city.

The panellists will include local author Andy Spinoza (Manchester unspun), David Scott (Mancunians) and Hayley Flynn (writing a history of the Northern Quarter, which will publish in 2025). They will discuss how modern Manchester has developed over the last three decades, what the cultural and literary landscape looks like now, how it’s influenced their writing about the city and what the future of Manchester could look like.

This event is hosted by Manchester University Press in partnership with Oxford Road Corridor.

On the evening of the 27 November, join MUP to celebrate the launch of a new book Walking in the dark: James Baldwin, my father, and me, and the James Baldwin centenary. Academic and author Douglas Field will be in conversation with historian and writer David Olusoga.

Since James Baldwin’s death in 1987, his writing – including The Fire Next Time, one of the manifestoes of the Civil Rights Movement, and Giovanni’s Room, a pioneering work of gay fiction – has only grown in relevance.

Walking in the dark is a moving exploration of the life and work of the celebrated American writer, James Baldwin, blending biography and memoir with literary criticism.

Douglas Field was introduced to Baldwin’s essays and novels by his father, who witnessed the writer’s debate with William F. Buckley at Cambridge University in 1965. In Walking in the dark, he embarks on a journey to unravel his life-long fascination and to understand why Baldwin continues to enthral us decades after his death.

Tracing Baldwin’s footsteps in France, the US and Switzerland, and digging into archives, Field paints an intimate portrait of the writer’s life and influence. At the same time, he offers a poignant account of coming to terms with his father’s Alzheimer’s disease. Interweaving Baldwin’s writings on family, illness, memory and place, Walking in the dark is an eloquent testament to the enduring power of great literature to illuminate our paths.

Books will be on sale at both events, and the authors will be signing copies.

• Tickets for both events are limited so please visit MUP’s Events page for more information and to book your free ticket.