Burgess Events for May and June 2025
Find out what's happening at the Burgess Foundation in early summer 2025.
Highlight Events
Books at the Burgess: Ian Fleming – The Complete Man | Thursday 5 June, 6:30pm, £5
Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture, but Fleming’s life was more mysterious than anything he wrote. Only a writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal experiences and career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction.
Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering new material that casts fresh light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography.
Nicholas will tell the story of his quest for Ian Fleming, and talk about his wider career as a novelist and biographer.
This new book has been awarded the Crime Writers' Association Golden Dagger for Non-Fiction (more information).
James Joyce on Film | Sunday 15 June, 1pm, free
In collaboration with the Irish Consulate for the North of England, we will be screening a selection of films about James Joyce and his famous novel, Ulysses.
100 Years of Ulysses (2022) – released to mark the centenary of the publication of Joyce's novel, 100 Years of Ulysses is a 60-minute documentary devised by historian Frank Callanan and directed by Ruán Magan, which sets out to unlock one of most complex and explosive books of modern times.
We will also be screening a selection of short films about Joyce from the archive of the Anthony Burgess Foundation (more information).
Bloomsday at the Burgess | Monday 16 June, 6pm, free
You are invited to attend a Bloomsday celebration on 16 June 2024, celebrating Anthony Burgess’s favourite book, James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Joyce’s novel is set in Dublin on 16 June 1904. ‘Bloomsday’ is so called because two of the book’s protagonists are called Leopold and Molly Bloom.
Anthony Burgess wrote two non-fiction books, a stage musical and many articles in response to the work of James Joyce. He even wrote the forward to a Joyce-themed cookery book. His novel Earthly Powers features Joyce as a character and includes a performance of Blooms of Dublin, his musical based on Ulysses.
The event runs from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester, M1 5BY.
The Bloomsday social will include music, speeches, short films, and traditional Irish hospitality.
Tickets for the Bloomsday social are free, but numbers are strictly limited (more information).
Events for May and June 2025
Concert: Holst’s ‘The Wandering Scholar’ | Tuesday 6 May, 7pm, £7 | Fenwold Opera presents Holst’s comic opera in one act, with cast and orchestra from the Royal Northern College of Music (more information).
Concert: Joseph Houston Plays Bryn Harrison | Thursday 8 May, 7:30pm, £10 | A performance of Bryn Harrison’s epic solo piano piece Vessels by Berlin-based pianist Joseph Houston (more information).
Concert: Songs of Love and Separation – A Journey of Courtly Love | Sunday 11 May, 6:45pm, £10 | Troubadour Ensemble’s debut concert is a journey from Medieval Occitania to Spain, Portugal and the Middle East through a dramatic reimagination of medieval troubadour, Sephardic Jewish and Arabic songs (more information).
Talk: Manchester Lit & Phil present ‘How Can We Create a Good Food Future?’ | Monday 12 May, 6:30pm, £15 | A talk by Dr Lesley Mitchell, leading thinker on the future of food systems (more information).
Literature: Nobody Can Give You Freedom Book Tour | Tuesday 13 May, 6:30pm, £7 | The launch of Kehinde Andrews’ new book and film that undoes the myths and presents the real mission of Malcolm X, 100 years since he was born. In partnership with the Muslim Social Justice Initiative (more information).
Talk: The Sex Lectures | Thursday 22 May, 7pm, £16 | An intimate and thought-provoking evening where speakers with bold, cutting-edge perspectives will share their ideas in six compelling 12-minute talks (more information).
Talk: Sexuality Summer School | Monday 26 May, 4pm, free | The Sexuality Summer School is a week-long event consisting of seminars and workshops for 40 postgraduate students, alongside a public events programme open to all (more information).
Concert: Katmuss & Taylor Hay – A Concert of Differences | Saturday 31 May, 6:30pm, £20 | Join the Kettner Society for an extraordinary evening showcasing the remarkable talents of Katherine “Katmuss” Browning (bass clarinet) and Tyler Hay (piano) in a diverse program spanning classical masterpieces and contemporary works (more information).
Literature: Am I Having Fun Now? – Suzi Ruffell in Conversation with Jon Richardson | Wednesday 4 June, 6:30pm, £8 | Serenity Books presents a special evening with award-winning comedian Suzi Ruffell celebrating the release of her brilliantly funny and incredibly moving memoir (more information).
Concert: Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi | Friday 6 June, 7pm, £10 | Join performers from the Royal Northern College of Music for the unforgettable experience of Harawi, Messiaen’s last song cycle (more information).
Concert: Sound Sculptures | Wednesday 11 June, 8pm, £10 | Composer Simon Knighton, PRiSM and the House of Bedlam present a concert which blends art installation and live performance (more information).
The Burgess Foundation Online
Visit the Burgess Foundation’s website to find out more about Anthony Burgess’s life and work, and see online exhibitions, reading resources, insights into the Foundation’s collections, blogs, and more.
Our podcast channel is available at your favourite podcast provider. It has mini-documentaries about Anthony Burgess, his writing and his music, interviews with people who knew Burgess and experts in his work, and our popular series based on Burgess’s book Ninety-Nine Novels, in which he selected his favourite books of the mid twentieth century:
Our YouTube channel contains a cornucopia of content about Anthony Burgess, including recordings of Burgess talking about A Clockwork Orange, examples of his music, and his readings from other writers’ work. Our latest video has Burgess reading Shakespeare in original Elizabethan pronunciation:
And, of course, our Substack continues to release free newsletters every Friday that explore the world of Anthony Burgess and share original pieces of his writing, many of which are not available elsewhere. See some recent favourite posts:
If you enjoy our work, you can help support it by buying books from the Burgess Foundation bookshop (powered by bookshop.org). Here, UK-based readers can buy all of Burgess’s available books, books about Burgess, and novels recommended by both Burgess and the staff of the Burgess Foundation.