Manchester is a proud to be a UNESCO City of Literature. Join us for a fun tour to celebrate all the things that make our city such a dynamic, diverse and inspiring place for the written and spoken word.

This 1 ½ hour walking tour will take you on a journey to see some of Manchester’s most iconic literary heritage. Taking a route up Oxford Road we’ll be enjoying literature in all it’s forms, whether that’s poetry painted up walls, restored Victorian houses or memorialised in the minds of the locals… in Manchester literature jumps off the page, it’s not just kept books!

On this tour, suitable for those new to Manchester or locals keen to know more, you’ll find out more about Manchester’s radical literary tradition that makes free expression central to our civic identity. Starting at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House at 1pm, you’ll begin with one of Manchester’s most famous and radical writers. There’s a picture of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House below, so you know what to look for when you arrive. Please arrive promptly for a 1pm start.

Elizabeth Sibbering (Sibby) has been running tours of the city for 15 years and is well-versed in Manchester’s literary ways.

This event is part of Oxford Road Corridor’s Cultural Welcome Week.