WoWFest 2026 explores the 'New World Disorder'

Author Colm Tóibín is among the first names announced for WoWFest which returns to Liverpool venues this May with a month-long programme of events.

The theme of the 2026 festival is New World Disorder, with organisers Writing on the Wall describing it as ‘bold, urgent and unmissable’ and a 'festival of resistance'.

Events take place from May 1-31 at venues including the Black-E, British Music Experience, Philharmonic Hall Music Room and online.

Actor Cathy Tyson, playwright Helen Jeffery, musician and author John Robb and poet and performer Joelle Taylor are also set to appear during the festival month which promises “powerful conversations, fearless writing and urgent debate”.

Comma Press presents The Monster, Capital at the Black-E on May 6 with Ian Carrington, Kiare Ladner and Sarah Schofield. The Monster, Capital is a bold new anthology from the acclaimed Theory Horror series, edited by David Sue and by Ra Page who will chair the event.

April 26 marks the 40^th anniversary of the Chornobyl (using the Ukrainian spelling) nuclear disaster, and in Cultural Fallout: Writing Chornobyl, online on May 12, four authors who have engaged deeply with its human and political legacy will come together to explore the complex realities faced by those affected. Profits from the event will go to the Clean Futures Fund.

Joelle Taylor presents a staged version of her new collection Maryville in the Music Room at the Philharmonic Hall on May 14, and on May 21 there is a festival event featuring Chris Nineham, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos and editor, translator and activist Basma Ghalayini.

The Women’s Organisation hosts Black Women Speak Volumes on May 26, featuring Cathy Tyson, Yvvette Edwards, Maria O’Reilly and Linda Loy, chaired by Dr Rebecca Loy.

Join playwright Helen Jeffery in the Unity Theatre bar on May 27 for the launch of the published play text of Buckled, released by Salamander Street Press as part of WoWFEST26.

And on May 28, poet and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson comes to the British Music Experience for Desert Island Dissent — a powerful in-conversation event exploring art as a force for resistance.

The festival concludes at The Black-E on May 31 when Colm Tóibín will be in conversation with Professor Frank Shovlin, discussing his striking new short story collection, The News from Dublin — a profound and deeply moving sequence of stories that span continents and generations, from wartime Ireland to Barcelona, Argentina and beyond.

Now in its 26th year, WoWfest is Liverpool’s longest-running radical wring and literary festival and brings together writers, artists, activists and influencers. The 2026 theme aims to reflect a time of global turbulence and ‘confronts the forces reshaping our world’.

WoWFest runs from May 1-31 at venues across the city. More details HERE