The Embassy of Utopia came to Manchester Central Library in June 2024 as part of Festival of Libraries for its UK premiere, and was a collaboration between Manchester UNESCO City of Literature and Capital of Culture 2024 Tartu UNESCO City of Literature. Due to popular demand, we are running this event again for Festival of Libraries 2025.

Artist and writer David Hartley will host over 50 performances throughout the day, where bold individuals and community groups have been invited to share reflections on the theme of ecology in the broadest sense. Extended performances from our multilingual city poets Nóra Blascsók and Charlotte Shevchenko Knight, sharing from Let’s Talk Rochdale community members, work from international artists from Quebec and Nanjing, and writing developed via a special collaboration with the Sonder Radio Community of over 60s will be programmed throughout the day. Expect short stories, poetry, music, and much more.

Please note that no hate speech will be tolerated and that there will be photography on the day.