Trafford's Celebration of Reading
Saturday 6th June, 10:30am - 3:30pm
Trafford’s Celebration of Reading is a day of free literary events held in Urmston Library, co-organised by Trafford Libraries and Urmston Books and Board Games. A blend between a book fair and festival, the event offers talks and workshops across all ages as well as a chance for local authors to exhibit their latest books and introduce them to a local audience.
Entry to the event and book fair is entirely FREE and we'd love to see lots of you there, but spaces are limited for author talks and workshops, so do reserve your ticket in advance. More details below.
Events programme
Our team are busy working with the library team to plan and programme a whole day of fantastic book events and workshops. Bear with us! More details of the programme will be revealed closer to the date, but tickets are now open for booking for selected sessions. Tickets are limited, so do book early!
Local author exhibition
Learn more about our local authors and their books! From children's books, history to memoir, literary fiction to horror and romantasy, there's wealth of local talent to be explored. Meet and greet the authors at their exhibition stands and browse and buy their books.
Heidi Hinda Chadwick
An enchanting tale where Manchester’s familiar streets tilt toward the uncanny. The Story of the Deer Woman is a strange, sensual and fiercely imaginative novella from writer and performer Heidi Hinda Chadwick.
Calum Dewsbury
Calum Dewsbury is a first-time children’s book author with another on the way. The dad of two takes great inspiration from his girls when it comes to his writing; and has even stolen an idea or two from them while playing games with them.
Keith Dickinson
Keith Dickinson is a lifelong lover of hats and the Lake District. When he’s not up a mountain, he likes to write stories about airships, murderers, thieves, and talking cats. A writer since he was eight-years-old, his first two novels, Dexter & Sinister: Detecting Agents, and its sequel, The Dragonfly Delivery Company, are out now.
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Lou Gibbons
Born in Urmston, Lou now lives in the south of France. A corporate content creator by day, she writes quirky uplifting fiction by night. She has published two novels: The World Happiness Organisation (2024) and Tuesday (2025).
Anita Frost
Anita Frost, multi-award-winning author and entrepreneur, created Green Bean Studios—the home of the Green Bean character—in 2020. Green Bean appears in a series of books, toys, games, and more. The collection has sold millions of copies and is set to be translated into many languages, with new books still being launched.
Drew Halfpenny
Drew Halfpenny is an author of speculative fiction. His trilogy, The Connickle Conundrum, The Brunswick Brawler and The Avalon Artifice are published under Gunmetal and Gilt Publishing.
Stephen Howard
Stephen Howard (he/him) is a writer of speculative fiction from Manchester, now living in Cheshire with his wife, Rachel, and their daughter, Flo. With over thirty short story publications, he's the author of six books, including This House Isn’t Haunted But We Are (Wild Hunt Books, 2025), and An Invincible Summer, coming via Infested Publishing in June 2026.
Phil Moulton
Phil Moulton is a World and European karate champion and a 9th Dan black belt, as well as being a teacher and author of two books – The Bodyguard and Discipline and Duty – drawn from his own life experiences.
Kristina J. Turner
Kristina J. Turner is the author of I Am Heidi Skogkatt, a thriller and an epic tale of love, betrayal, transformation and the search for identity, spanning Lancashire to Norway — all from the perspective of a cat.
Patricia Karengesha
Patricia Karengesha is an accountant of over 30 years and a passionate storyteller and author known for intricate narratives of stories. When she is not writing she enjoys, gardening, swimming, travelling, fashion following and spending time with her family.
Jamie Ryder
Jamie Ryder grew up in Manchester with a comic in one hand and a Stoic quote in the other. Now he writes stealth help books like Japanese Fighting Heroes and Norse Fighting Heroes, where ancient wisdom and battles meet pop culture and personal growth lessons.
1428 Publishing
1428 Publishing is new independent micro publisher based in Manchester. Their first book, Darkest Margins, is a collection of twenty four essays from leading and up-and-coming genre writers exploring expressions of liminality and liminal spaces in the horror genre, across cinema, literature, television, art and video games.
Michael Knaggs
Michael Knaggs is the author of the Hotel St Kilda trilogy – Catalyst, Heaven’s Door and Lost Souls. Number four – The Blue Men – came out in 2021, and is a sequel to the original trilogy. The Moorstone (2025) is his first stand-alone crime thriller.
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John Storey
John Storey is an award-winning author of 14 academic books, some existing in multiple editions, translated into 19 languages. He has written two published novels – The Case of Rebecca Morney, and The Fall of Jack and Jill.
Maddison House Press
Maddison House Press is an independent traditional publisher of non-fiction. They work with a huge variety of book stores, authors and more and have an easy-to-browse directory of them available on their website.
Northodox Press
Northodox Press is an independent publisher established in 2020, based in Sheffield. Their mission is to elevate northern voices and represent the diversity of writing from Northern England.