WoWFEST26: New World Disorder moves into its second half this week, with a run of events rooted in community voice, cultural resistance and solidarity, across Liverpool and online.
Tomorrow, Joelle Taylor returns to the festival for Maryville – a staged reading excavating fifty years of lesbian counterculture, followed by a post-show conversation chaired by poet Jess Green. Then on Friday, the festival turns the mic back to the city with the Toxteth Writer’s Bloc Sharing Event – New World Disorder, showcasing bold new writing created locally in response to this year’s theme.
Next week brings a trio of events on the 19 May, with Nueva Canción Chilena with Francisco Carrasco, blending live music and testimony shaped by exile and solidarity, alongside Rebecca Solnit online discussing The Beginning Comes After the End, and Pariah Production’s Jimmy Rose – a radio play in a theatrical setting offering a unique collective listening experience.
Online on 20 May Juno Dawson: Survival Show explores dystopia, censorship and resistance and in Liverpool’s Caribbean Centre “Sumud versus the Sword”: Solidarity, Direct Action, and Palestinian Liberation brings together organisers and human rights observers from ISM, YFFP and Jordan Valley Solidarity (with some speakers joining remotely from Palestine and names withheld for safety)
As part of WoW’s vibrant children and young people’s programme, we’re committed to making creativity accessible and inclusive.
We’re offering free spaces for anyone who may need them at our online event to launch Juno Dawson’s new YA hit Survival Show on 20 May at 7pm. If cost is a barrier, we want you there for this bold, fast-paced conversation about dystopia, media culture and the power of young voices to challenge the status quo. Just get in touch to request a free place – everyone deserves a seat so please email info@writingonthewall.org.uk.
And this half term, families are warmly invited to a free storytelling morning at the beautiful Palm House, Sefton Park on the 27 May from 11–12.30. With Claire Weetman, Jude Lennon and Patrick Graham, expect big stories, brilliant imagination and plenty of creative spark – a joyful celebration of tales told aloud and shared together.
Because stories belong to everyone – and so does the festival. Find out more at https://writingonthewall.org.uk/wowfest-26/
Categories: 2026 | Festivals & Events | In Conversations & Talks
