Anyone Who Had a Heart - Launch Event + Fundraiser

We are thrilled to announce this special event taking place at the beautiful Manchester Cathedral on Tuesday 24th November 2026, 7:30-10pm.
We invite you to celebrate the publication of Anyone Who Had a Heart: An Epistemology of Women's Heartbreak, co-edited by Blair James and Lucy Wilkinson and published on 24th November 2026 by death of workers whilst building skyscrapers
We are proud to be collaborating with Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH). There will be fundraising opportunities at the event and a portion of the profits from every sale of the anthology will be donated to MASH to aid their frontline work. The anthology includes a poem written by a collective of women at MASH.

💔 ✧. The event will feature an all-women/nonbinary exhibition of visual art curated based on the theme of women’s heartbreak, as well as prints of entries from the anthology.
💔 ✧. We'll have a publisher's table selling the anthology and also books, prints, & goods from death of workers whilst building skyscrapers and women/non-binary artists (including our anthology contributors, exhibitors, & performers) and women/non-binary run presses. Presses joining us on the publisher's table include Team Trident Press; Saraband; and Fly on the Wall Press.
💔 ✧. After attendees have had chance to check out the exhibition and publisher table and do a bit of mingling, we will present a live showcase with an all-women/nonbinary orchestra led by conductor Naomi Isaacs and performing with a range of women/nonbinary vocalists, followed by readings from some of our brilliant anthology contributors.
💔 ✧. The live segment will also include a welcome and thank you from the editors, Blair and Lucy, and a representative from the incredible MASH team.
Keep an eye out for updates on Instragram, where we will be revealing our full list of anthology contributors, exhibitors, musicians, vocalists, and readers in the run up to the event.

We are thrilled to announce that Babycham is an official sponsor for the night, kindly donating their nostalgic drink for all of our guests to enjoy on them! Babycham's place in history as the first alcoholic drink to be specifically marketed towards women and its role in changing the access and landscape of social spaces in terms of gender makes it the perfect beverage for the event.

Literary Emporium are generously donating some of their Women Writers notebooks to sell at the event to raise funds for MASH.

More sponsors to be announced.

This event is highly anticipated and so we strongly recommend booking your free ticket as soon as possible.

While we will be selling the book at the event, to make sure that your copy is reserved and ready to collect on the night, pre-order here. This is a limited edition run of 200 copies and we cannot guarantee that unreserved stock will last at the event.

Anyone Who Had a Heart: An Epistemology of Women’s Heartbreak, co-edited by Blair James and Lucy Wilkinson, is a new anthology of over 50 pieces of writing from a diverse range of women across the globe focusing on the central theme of heartbreak, broadly conceived.
Heartbreak is a manifold category of human experience which alters our very modes of being, of living, and of connecting, for better or for worse. It cannot be quantified. The anthology seeks to create a deeply qualitative collection of the rich and myriad lived experiences shaped by heartbreak.
The project focuses on women’s experience of heartbreak, gathering individual stories as a way of tracing the collective waves felt by women over time. By collecting these intimate accounts, the book explores what they reveal about the wider conditions of women’s lives across different societies and cultures. Anyone Who Had a Heart asks “what does it mean to feel heartbreak as a woman in this contemporary world?” and offers women a chance to respond in their own words.
The anthology functions as a multifaceted artefact, made up of poems, stories, essays, songs, letters, and other responses across genres to the concept of heartbreak through a woman’s lens, reflecting a rich variety of interpretations via channels including romantic love; personal grief; and philosophical, political and social turmoil.
Included in the centre of the anthology is an original, commissioned artwork by Sophia Hopfenbek.
A portion of the profits from every book sale will be donated in aid of dedicated Manchester women’s charity Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH) and their crucial frontline services. We are proud to include work from MASH service users and volunteers in the collection and an introduction to the work that they do at the beginning of the anthology.

Find out more on the publisher's website

Event venue & nearby stays

Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street, Manchester, United Kingdom

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