Way with Words

As our society ages, questions of how we care for our loved ones are more urgent than ever. Join authors Caleb Klaces and JT Welsch for a vital, compassionate conversation about navigating the ‘final chapters’ and the ethics of care in later life

Join Jonathan Brockbank of the University of York as he explores two fictional responses to the bombardment of Scarborough in 1914 - Osbert Sitwell's Before the Bombardment and Winifred Holtby's The Crowded Streets.

Go behind the scenes of the Channel 5 drama All Creatures Great and Small with its Script Executive Donna Metcalfe and the series’ historical consultant Mark Roodhouse.

Join Navigators Art and a range of local talent in an eclectic programme of music and words celebrating the beauty, peace and wild inspiration of the garden.

With a new series of Riot Women in production, BAFTA-winning creator Sally Wainwright discusses the origins of the hit BBC drama. Join her in conversation with award-winning journalist Emma Barnett.

Mysterious, roguish and endlessly lovable. From ancient gods to witches' familiars, writer Charlie Creed explores the global folklore of our beloved feline friends.

A retinue of reciters perform a selection of Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry and prose, both in translation and in the original. Come and join us in the beorsele or beer-hall of the Black Swan.

Lost in Joyce? Postgraduate researcher Chris Wogan of the University of York reveals how you can use trees as your map, including for his most difficult texts, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

Why does the way we speak matter? Explore why language - and the analysis of language - is crucial to creating inclusive spaces for diverse populations.

Dive into the stubbornly unplaceable world of King Lear with Namratha Rao and James Williams of the University of York as they explore one of Shakespeare’s greatest works.

Which Shakespeare play speaks to our moment in the early 21st century? Hamlet? Not according to Emma Smith of the University of Oxford who proposes an alternative.

Welcome to Mr Kendrew's printing shop on Colliergate - a true family enterprise in early 19th-century York. Step back in time and explore some of the pamphlets, primers, ballads and children's chapbooks produced there.

In 1914, 11 girls leaving the Mount School in York began a round robin diary. Historian Krista Cowman and playwright Bridget Foreman present staged extracts from this 20th-century Quaker ‘WhatsApp Group’.

Journey through space to discover how layout, scale and placement can change the meaning of words at our out-of-this-world hands-on children’s workshop.

Discover how and why Britain's best-loved writer styled herself as the consummate craftswoman through a wide-ranging, illustrated talk on Jane Austen's novels and needlework.

Explore how 18th-century domestic travel rose to rival the famous European Grand Tour with Jim Watt and Alison O’Byrne of the University of York.

Meet author-illustrator Salomey Doku for an interactive exploration of the world of graphic novels and gain the tools you need to create a book.

Discover the remarkable legacies of David Whitaker and Terrance Dicks, two giants of Doctor Who and British popular culture, with biographer Simon Guerrier and enjoy exclusive insights into their work from their own archives at the University of

What is it that so fascinates us about the places where writers live and create? Join writer Katie da Cunha Lewin as she dismantles the familiar furniture of the writer’s room and opens it up to view.

Māori author Tina Makereti discusses the significance of place to Indigenous literatures at an event featuring readings from her work.

Join acclaimed author Alexander McCall Smith, creator of the iconic No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, for an in-conversation event as he discusses his work and the importance of kindness.

Lydia Kennaway, Poet-in-Residence at Thin Ice Press, introduces The Marker Committee, a collection of poems addressing the ephemerality of the written word.

Is pop megastar Taylor Swift an eco-icon or an environmental villain? Elly McCausland of Ghent University, Belgium, dives into the friction between the star’s massive carbon footprint and her ability to tackle ‘plant blindness’ through song.

Discover the pleasures and surprises of Viking verse, with poetry about journeys and landscapes, halls and battlefields, and the many places of the Viking world, with Alicia Maddalena and Matt Townend of the University of York.

Experience an afternoon of poetry and music at St Nicks Nature Reserve as Jonathan Brockbank and Freya Sierhuis of the University of York explore the life and work of the Romantic poet John Clare.

Join one of Britain’s favourite storytellers, Michael Morpurgo, for a spellbinding evening of words and music exploring our deep connection to the natural world.

It’s full steam ahead with children’s author Michael Morpurgo as he reads from his much-loved book 'Flying Scotsman and the Best Birthday Ever' - from a locomotive!

Enjoy spoken passages from the writings of Anne Lister and her contemporaries interwoven with live performances of music from her own collection at an intimate concert in the glorious setting of York Mansion House.

Find out about a York community creative writing project that used ‘thrutopia’ fiction as an alternative to dystopian/doom-laden narratives about climate change.