You will find all the information you need regarding visiting the IABF on their website here. The event is free and everyone is welcome (no need to book tickets). Performers often bring along books and CDs to sell, please note we are only able to accept cash payments.
You can read about the poets and musicians below:
Fiona Benson
Fiona Benson is the author of four poetry collections: Bright Travellers, Vertigo & Ghost, Ephemeron and Midden Witch, and one poetry script Infamous Offspring in collaboration with the Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus. Between them, her books have won numerous accolades including the Forward Prize and the Seamus Heaney Prize. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Cholmondeley Award recipient. She has edited two books of Ukrainian poetry in translation – We Were Here by Artur Dron, translated by Yuliya Musakovska, and Dasein by Yaryna Chornohuz, translated by Amelia Glaser. She lives in mid-Devon, UK with her husband and their two daughters.
Evan Jones
Canadian poet Evan Jones [Ευριπίδης Ιωάννου] lives in Manchester. His first collection of poetry, Nothing Fell Today But Rain (2003), was a finalist for the Governor-General’s Literary Award for Poetry. He co-edited Modern Canadian Poets (2010) and has since published Paralogues (2012), Later Emperors (2020), and Men of the Same Name (2025). His translation from the Modern Greek, The Barbarians Arrive Today: Poems and Prose of C.P. Cavafy (2020), was a TLS Book of the Year.
Nóra Blascsók
Nóra Blascsók is a Hungarian poet based in Manchester. She is a current Manchester Multilingual City Poet commissioned by Manchester City of Literature for 2025 and also part of the New Northern Poets 2025 cohort, a scheme run by the University of Leeds Poetry Centre. Her debut pamphlet ‘<body>of work</body>’ was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2022. Her most recent poems can be found in Propel, Under The Radar and The Poetry Review.
Adam Fairhall
Adam plays jazz and free music on the piano, harmonium, accordion and organ. He has released five albums as leader or co-leader on the SLAM, Bruce’s Fingers and EfPi labels, to widespread critical acclaim (including an Album of the Year accolade by influential website Bird is the Worm for his 2012 album The Imaginary Delta). He receives frequent BBC Radio airplay, and a programme dedicated to his work was broadcast on Concertzender (Dutch radio) in 2014. He has been interviewed for The Wire and Jazzwise.
“A hugely accomplished instrumentalist” – The Wire
“Adam Fairhall is a total star” – Independent on Sunday
Poets & Players 