It's Homotopia time again and this year the Homotopia Liverpool gay festival has theatre, film, talks and comedy. Writer Sarah Waters will be talking about the importance of lesbian writing and performances of new work by award-winning playwrights.

Girls Go Down
This month-long festival is a mix of theatre, art, film and talks. You can lose yourself in the hedonistic delights of club nights such as Girls Go Down, which kicks off this year's Homotopia Liverpool events, or give your mind something to mull over with documentaries and talks.

Sarah Waters
One of the highlights of this year's Homotopia Liverpool festival is a talk by Sarah Waters, the author of Tipping the Velvet and The Little Stranger, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She'll be talking about the importance of lesbian writing. Charlotte Mendelson and Joanna Briscoe will also be giving talks about lesbian literature and their novels, for which they have both won awards.

Stand Up
Comedy this year comes in the form of Clare Summerskill, who shows include stand-up, original songs and comedy characters. There's also the return of the sell out show Lavender Girls which this year has Rosie Wilby, Jane Townend, Emma Bowley and Norma KC on the bill.

Charles Hawtrey
There's also theatre with a show about the life of Charles Hawtrey, one of the Carry On actors and a performance of Little Boy, the critically acclaimed play about identity and coming of age. And there's the new play from award-winning playwright Billy Cowan - Caretakers - about a young boy who is bullied for being gay.

Polari
Talks include an exploration of the secret language of gay men - Polari - by Dr Paul Baker. There's also a provactive lecture/performance of striptease by Pere Faura, and on the final day of Homotopia Liverpool festival there's Gay Sunday, an exhibition and talk about the work of gay filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Michael Causer
There's film screenings, with a documentary about Yankel Feather, artist and former club promoter, who died early this year as well as a short film examining the media coverage of homophobic hate crime, in particular Michael Causer's murder and trial. There's also a screening of the unforgettable The Grand Vogue Ball - the vogueing contest and costume ball held in the Adelphi Ballroom last year.

The Homotopia Liverpool festival takes place at FACT, Contemporary Urban Centre, Studio 2, The Bluecoat, Unity Theatre, Merseyside Maritime Museum, The Actors Studio and 3345 Parr Street and runs from 31st October - 30th November 2009. For tickets click on the link below.

Homotopia Official Site