Olivia Stevens heads to the Martin Harris Centre to hear celebrated writers Ali Smith and Jackie Kay reflect on the legacy of Sylvia Plath

Paul Reilly talks to award-winning poet, novelist, playwright, biographer and translator Elaine Feinstein about her new book It Goes with the Territory: Memoirs of a Poet

Don’t be put off by literary classics. Paul Reilly provides an introduction to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray

Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury invites you to hop on a train to Hathersage and walk in the footsteps of Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet

In celebration of the release of the third instalment in the Bridget Jones’s Diary series, Andrew Websdale reveals his favourite fictional diaries of all time

Favourite to win the Man Booker Prize 2013, Jim Crace’s Harvest is a beautifully written tribute to those affected by the Enclosure Acts, says Shanda Moorghen

Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary gnaws away at previously held beliefs and convictions as only good literature can, says Katie Myerscough

Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being is a beautiful expression of trying to capture an exact moment of time in writing, says Elizabeth Linsley

With this year’s Man Booker Prize winner soon to be revealed, Annie Muir discusses one of the six contenders, Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland

Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries has the all the traditional features of a good mystery and is truly a masterpiece of our time, says Elizabeth Mitchell

NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names juxtaposes the bleak backdrop of a Zimbabwean shantytown with the warmth that Darling and her friends radiate with their bright outlook and youthful energy, says Maisie Boggild-Jones

The reviews are in! Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury invites readers to vote for their favourite

Olivia Stevens revisits the novel that captured the Jazz Age – and our imagination

Elizabeth Mitchell muses on Britain’s favourite singleton becoming a widow

Books Editor Annie Muir talks to the poet, scholar and editor-extraordinaire, Michael Schmidt

From 7th October to 20th October, celebrated authors will be descending on venues across Manchester. Books Editors Esmé Clifford Astbury and Annie Muir reveal their top picks

New writers make their mark in The Manchester Anthology

Books Editor Annie Muir looks back at the ultimate Booker Prize winner, Midnight’s Children

Emerging poet Helen Isserlis talks to Books Editor Esmé Clifford Astbury

If you thought the rainy city didn’t have much to offer in terms of literature, think again. Manchester has inspired generations of great writers and is now home to a vibrant literary scene.