James Blower introduces the BBC’s new scheme #lovetoread and encourages students to take up the challenge

Roma Havers previews Louder Than Words Festival and its events this weekend

Beth Woods reviews the Manchester Literary Festival talk with Eimear McBride concerning her new book The Lesser Bohemians

Elizabeth Gibson gives us an insight into how to get your work accepted into literary journals and introduces her new magazine Foxglove Journal

Hope Abbott reviews the new English translation of Aimée de Jongh’s graphic novel: The Return of the Honey Buzzard

Danielle Kosky reviews The Book of Dhaka, a new collection of short stories from Comma Press

Dale Edwards reviews Lemn Sissay’s performance at the 8th Black and Asian Conference on the 8th of October 2016 at Contact Theatre and his new book Gold From the Stone

Rhys Walker lists his favourite Mancunian authors

Roma Havers celebrates the news of the new Nobel Prize for Literature winner Bob Dylan, and considers the state of mind of the contemporary literary scene

Always feel like you have got no free time, especially when it comes to sitting down with a good book?

Roma Havers details the Penguin Random House new scheme Write Now, aiming to mentor writers from under-represented backgrounds

Charlotte Smith praises Qaisra Shahraz for her work as an author and humanitarian and shares thoughts on her Lifetime Achiever Award from the National Diversity Awards

Elizabeth Gibson recommends books to inspire and comfort, whether you are a newcomer to Manchester or a returning student

Roma Havers previews Tiphaine Rivière’s Notes on a Thesis, as translated by Francesca Barrie

Students from different areas of the university offer up their suggestions for a book to read this semester

Elizabeth Gibson quizzes Young Adult superstar Maggie Stiefvater on art, mythology, books and bagpipes

Jack Blenkinsopp reviews The University of Manchester alumnus Alfie Bown’s newest fast and witty critical theory novel, Enjoying It: Candy Crush and Capitalism.

Elizabeth Gibson updates us on the thriving Young Adult books scene

Hope Abbott reviews the new crime novel by Manchester-born author Marnie Riches

Benjamin Mortimer takes a look at the 19th Century essayist Thomas de Quincey’s view of drug culture, highlighting parallels with the present day