This week at WoWFEST26, conversations about power, resistance and storytelling unfold across Liverpool and online - from revolutionary music and radical hope to dystopian fiction and democratic rights.
On 20 May, Juno joins us to celebrate her explosive new YA dystopian thriller Survival Show, set inside a sinister global reality TV competition where survival comes at a brutal cost. In conversation, she explores media spectacle, censorship and what it means to write back against systems of control. Free spaces are available for young people who may need them, because access matters.
The conversation about change continues on 19 May, when internationally acclaimed writer and activist Rebecca Solnit joins us online in conversation with Chitra Ramaswamy to discuss The Beginning Comes After the End - a powerful reflection on hope, backlash and the slow revolutions reshaping our world.
That same evening, music becomes memory and resistance as Francisco Carrasco brings Nueva Canción Chilena to life through live performance and testimony rooted in exile and solidarity. Also on 19 May, Pariah Productions present Jimmy Rose - a radio play staged for a live audience, offering a rare and resonant collective listening experience.
The week culminates on 21 May with Democracy on Trial, where Chris Nineham, Basma Ghalayini and Stephen Kapos examine protest rights, civil liberties and what recent legal developments signal for democratic freedoms in Britain today.
From dystopia to democracy, from revolutionary song to shared storytelling, it’s a week shaped by urgent questions and powerful voices.
#wowfest26 #newworlddisorder
.uk/wowfest-26/
✨ Still buzzing from this one ✨
We were so proud to celebrate Tony Wailey at #WoWFEST26 as we launched Rhythms (The Diary of the Smyth-Wailey’s Vol. 3) to a packed Friends Meeting House.
📖 A mesmerising reading
💬 A thoughtful audience Q&A
A powerful reminder of why we create spaces where stories, heritage and lived experience can be shared and preserved.
👏 Huge congratulations to Tony, and thank you to everyone who made it such a special night.
🔗 Event details linked in our story!
#WoW #WoWFest26 #LiverpoolCulture #LiverpoolWriting #CommunityVoices #BookLaunch #Rhythms
Coming up next week at WoWFEST26: New World Disorder — a bold programme of literature, performance and urgent debate.
🌍 Cultural Fallout: Writing Chornobyl
Philippa Holloway, Alex Lockwood, Mario Petrucci and Kateryna Keim reflect on memory, displacement and nuclear legacy.
📖 Rhythms: Volume Three of the Diary of the Smyth Wailey’s
Tony Wailey launches the latest volume of his powerful Liverpool family saga.
✊ Against All Odds: Class and Resistance in the Arts
Joelle Taylor Oliver James Lomax, Bea Freeman and Roger Hill explore working-class creativity and cultural access.
🎭 Joelle Taylor: Maryville
A searing staged reading excavating 50 years of lesbian counterculture, followed by a conversation chaired by poet Jess Green.
🖊 Toxteth Writer’s Bloc Sharing Event – New World Disorder
Local writers share new work inspired by this year’s theme.
Join us across Liverpool and online.
.uk/wowfest-26/
We’re delighted to welcome four new Trustees to the Writing on the Wall board: Maggie O’Carroll, Sue Oshikanlu, Lloyd Smith and Lynne Jones.
These appointments mark an important step in strengthening our governance as WoW continues to grow as an organisation rooted in creativity, community and social justice.
Our Board plays a vital role in guiding the organisation—bringing together expertise from across sectors including education, social enterprise, community development and the arts.
Our new Trustees join with a wealth of experience, fresh perspectives and a shared commitment to WoW’s mission: using writing and storytelling to empower individuals and communities.
Together, they further strengthen the diversity, insight and leadership of our Board as we look ahead to the future.
We’re excited about what’s to come. Read more about our Trustees: .uk/about/trustees-2
A fantastic turnout at Writer’s Bloc, Toxteth for our recent session with scriptwriter Maurice Bessman.
Participant feedback says it all:
“Wonderful session! Great to hear Maurice talk about his experience and share insights into being a scriptwriter. Thank you!”
Our next Writer’s Bloc session at Toxteth Library takes place on 8 May, 11.00–13.00 and will be a relaxed ‘Time to Write’ session, led by Max, our MA placement student.
📧 Email [email protected]
to reserve your place.
What a night at the Palm House in Liverpool!
We welcomed nearly 100 people to celebrate the launch of Pulp Idol – Firsts 2025 and preview #WoWFEST26: New World Disorder.
We heard brilliant readings from Pulp Idol winner Amber-Page Moss, and runners-up Sue Hooton & Sarah Hinks, and powerful reflections from our Pulp Idol finalists on the journey of writing, confidence and finding their voice.
This is what we love to do - create space for new stories, new writers, and new audiences.
Next up: #WoWFEST26 featuring Colm Tóibín, Joelle Taylor, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Rebecca Solnit & many more.
Thank you to everyone who joined us — and to our supporters who make this work possible
.uk/wowfest-26/
What a night at the iconic @seftonparkpalmhouse
We were absolutely delighted to be part of such a packed house for the launch of Pulp Idol -Firsts and a special preview launch of @wow_fest WoWFEST26: New World Disorder. The energy in the room was electric a real testament to the power of storytelling and the strength of Liverpool’s creative community.
Huge congratulations to the brilliant writers featured in Pulp Idol and the team behind the scenes who made the evening such a success. It was inspiring to see so many bold new voices being celebrated and supported. This felt like the perfect launch moment for WoWFEST26, and if last night is anything to go by, we’re in for something truly special throughout the month of May
Here’s to championing diverse voices, connecting communities, and creating space for powerful conversations. 🎉📚
@aceagrams@culture_liverpool@lstmnews@dotartliverpool@54stjamesstreet@sheahalson@madelineheneghan@georgegarrettarchive
Against All Odds brings together @jtaylortrash@oliverjlomax83 and Bea Freeman, hosted by Roger Hill, for a powerful conversation on class, creativity and resilience in the arts.
In partnership with the Poverty Research Advocacy Network (PRAN), this dynamic panel explores what it means to create as a working-class artist in an often exclusive cultural landscape - and the strength it takes to be heard.
📅 Wednesday 13 May
🕕 6pm
📍 The Black-E, Liverpool
🎟 £5
.uk/myevents/against-all-odds-class-and-resistance-in-the-arts/
🎨 Liverpool City Region artists: If cost is a barrier, free tickets can be made available. Email [email protected]
Looking for something special this half term?
Join Writing on the Wall for a joyful morning of storytelling and performance with @claireweetman , @judelennonbooks and @black_out_productions . Through captivating tales, poetry and creative expression, children will be inspired to listen, imagine and create adventures of their own.
Set in the beautiful Palm House in Sefton Park, this free event celebrates community, creativity and the power of stories brought to life aloud.
📅 Wednesday 27 May
🕚 11.00–12.30
📍@seftonparkpalmhouse
🎟 Free
Perfect for families seeking an enriching half-term activity.
#WoWFEST26 #FamilyEvent #LiverpoolKids #Storytelling
MONSTER CAPITAL LAUNCH! 🎉📚
📅 May 6 at 7pm
📌 @theblack_e_liv
🎫 Tickets just £5 - Link in bio!
There is something monstrous about capital, something alive and creeping about it...
Through folk horror, body horror and the surreal, 13 authors embark on a gothic reckoning with capitalism.
Join us at The Black-E, Liverpool as part of @wow_fest , for readings & discussion with editor Ra Page alongside authors @kiareladner , Ian Carrington @fat_roland & @sarah.eleanor.schofield .
ABOUT THE BOOK 📘
There is something monstrous about capital, something alive and creeping about it. Marx called it a vampire that ‘lives only by sucking living labour’ and even its defendants invoke eerie concepts like the market’s ‘invisible hand’.
The philosopher Mark Fisher argued that only the most gothic depictions of capital are accurate, comparing it to the alien in John Carpenter’s The Thing: ‘infinitely plastic’, unbeatable, unstoppable.
In the spirit of this gothic accuracy, Comma has invited thirteen fiction writers to explore this emergent, monstrous property of capital through supernatural or surreal means.
Thus, we see characters disappearing into algorithm-driven spending sprees, buildings given priority over the people living in them, and citizens so addicted to their parasocial relationships their real-world ones simply fall away.
We may think of capitalism as the ghost in the machine, driving things forward, but what if it’s us who are the ghosts, condemned to haunt its shopping malls and online checkouts forever?
Featuring: @bronte.schiltz , @xan.brooks , @andyhedgecock , Matthew Holness @mrmholness , Christine Poulson, @sanjida.kay , Ian Carrington @fat_roland , Adam Marek, @jessglaisher_writer , @sarah.eleanor.schofield , Lillian Weezer, @kiareladner & @luangoldie ✍️
Cover design by David Pearson @typeasimage 🎨
#horror #horrorstory #horrorstories #shortstory #shortstories #anthology #horrorreader #newbook #newbooks #capitalism #capitalismsucks #latecapitalism #latestagecapitalism
Family, friendship and alcohol. Drinking to remember. Drinking to forget.
How do you navigate sobriety in a culture where drinking is the norm?
Join playwright Helen Jeffery for the launch of the published playtext of Buckled, released by Salamander Street Press as part of WoWFEST26.
Originally commissioned by Unity Theatre and touring across the North West, Buckled is a deeply humane and unflinching examination of alcohol dependency and the quiet social pressures that sustain it. At this intimate event, Helen will share extracts and reflect on the play’s creation, development and journey to publication.
📅 Wednesday 27 May
🕠 5.30–6.30pm (Doors 5pm)
📍 Unity Theatre Bar
🎟 Free
Trigger warning: Alcohol dependency | 14+
#WoWFEST26 #NewWorldDisorder #LiverpoolTheatre #Buckled
