See Myself in Books Festival 2026
After a successful launch last year, the See Myself in Books Festival is back!
From 9 to 20 March 2026, the festival will celebrate diversity in children’s literature and introduce children across Manchester to inspiring books with characters they can truly relate to.
This year, 13 bestselling authors will visit schools, libraries and community venues across the city, taking part in a vibrant programme of talks, readings and interactive events designed to spark a love of reading.
Festival highlights include:
- A flagship primary school event at Stoller Hall on 12 March, welcoming 350 pupils to hear from three headline authors
- Satellite events in Manchester libraries, inviting pupils, teachers and families to explore the See Myself in Books collections
Families can also explore our carefully curated book recommendations and borrow featured titles for free from their local Manchester library.
Download our Ethnic Diversity book list here.
Download our Neurodiversity book list here.
Follow Read Manchester on Facebook for the latest festival news, author updates and event highlights.
Teaching resources
Schools can access teaching resources to support the ethnic diversity and neurodiversity collections and the use of these books in the classroom.
Highlights from last year's launch
The first See Myself in Books Festival welcomed hundreds of pupils to Stoller Hall, schools and community venues across the city.
Watch four brilliant young reporters from Birchfield Primary School, who came to Stoller Hall, talk about the campaign and its importance, and interview some of the authors involved.
The impact on teachers and children
We received some fantastic feedback about the festival and how it has inspired local schools and children.
We came back to school and had a big chat about our favourite authors, and unpicked how diverse (or not!!) they were. We all agreed that diversity and representation in books is really important…We voted for our next class text and chose Onyeka by Tola Okogwu - the 2 Nigerian children in my class were besides themselves! They love teaching us how to pronounce the Nigerian words in the story.
Teacher, Manchester
The authors were very inspiring because they made me want to be myself and stand up for myself.
Pupil from Manchester school at the Stoller Hall event
It was great to see Black authors and illustrators. It made me remember I could be whatever I want to be when I grow up.
Pupil from Manchester school at the Stoller Hall event
Why is See Myself in Books important?
Reading for enjoyment brings so many benefits, but too many children are missing out on them because they don’t feel represented in the books they read.
