Jun
16
Chelping @ The Leeds Library, featuring Amy Acre & Abdullah Adekola
by
Description
Join us in the stunning surrounds of 254-year-old The Leeds Library for one of Leeds’ leading poetry nights! The 17th instalment of ‘Chelping’ stars Amy Acre and Abdullah Adekola, plus open mic hosted by Matt Abbott.
Previous headliners have included internationally renowned performers such as recent T.S. Eliot Prize winner Joelle Taylor, Sabrina Mahfouz, Anthony Anaxagorou, and Theresa Lola. We’ve also had nationally renowned poets including Cecilia Knapp, Jess Green, and Toby Campion.
Amy Acre is a poet and freelance writer from London, and the editor of Bad Betty Press. Her pamphlets And They Are Covered in Gold Light (Bad Betty, 2019) and Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads (flipped eye, 2015) were each chosen as a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. Her poem ‘every girl knows’ won the 2019 Verve Poetry Competition. She featured on The Last Dinosaur’s 2020 track, ‘In The Belly of a Whale’, streamed over 600,000 times on Spotify. In 2021, she wrote and recorded Radio 4’s The Ballad of the Bet; a BBC Pick of the Week. Her debut collection, Mothersong, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2023.
Abdullah Adekola is a writer and performer, based in Leeds, UK. He was selected for the New Creatives North talent development program by Arts Council England and BBC Arts. A proud Black and British and working-class artist, he believes you should tell your story or risk being ignored or misrepresented. Adekola is interested in decolonisation, creative wellbeing, social justice, mental health recovery, and healthy masculinities. He tries to be playful, curious, and kind. Adekola is a board member of the David Oluwale Memorial Association.
Open mic slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. We’re limited to 6 open mic slots, each of which is 3-5 minutes in length.
Matt Abbott is the host and has programmed Chelping since April 2018. A nationally established poet in his own right, his debut collection Two Little Ducks was published by Verve Poetry Press in 2018 and his debut kids’ poetry collection A Hurricane in my Head was published by Bloomsbury in 2019.
Date and Time
Thu, June 16, 2022
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location