Telling Tales with Jenn Ashworth, hosted by Joanne Sefton

Telling Tales is a live literary evening which brings together a select handful of new writers to share the stage with an invited guest author. The event is quickly gaining a name for its friendly atmosphere and literary networking. So, whether youre an avid reader, or an aspiring or established author, come along for a fantastic evening.

For the final Telling Tales of 2025 we are thrilled to be joined by a superstar of the northern literary scene Jenn Ashworth.

Jenn was born in Preston and now lives in Lancaster. Her novels include A Kind of Intimacy, The Friday Gospels, Fell and Ghosted: A Love Story. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018 and she is a Professor of Writing at Lancaster University. Her writing has won numerous awards, including a Betty Trask Prize.

Our event forms part of the launch tour for Jenns latest book The Parallel Path a memoir of Love, Grit and Walking in the North, published in July 2025. The Parallel Path tells of Jenns attempt to complete the Wainright coast-to-coast walk, and a life-altering diagnosis she receives along the way.

We also delighted to announce that our panellists for the second half of the show will be crowd-pleasing Chorley favourites Al Ramsay, Kay Backhouse and Susan Osborne. All three panellists will be talking about how they have turned their real-world experiences into successful literary work be that fiction, memoir or poetry and what being a northern writer means to each of them.

Unreserved Seating in the Studio