Description

One of the best-loved and most vibrant spoken word nights in Yorkshire, Chelping has brought internationally renowned poets to Leeds’ now 251-year-old library. Guest spoken word artists have included Joelle Taylor, Sabrina Mahfouz, Theresa Lola, Cecilia Knapp,Toby Campion and Victoria McNulty.

Our September event will feature sets from Hannah Lowe and John Darwin, plus open mic slots, and compered by Matt Abbott.

Tickets cost £6 (includes admin and booking fee) and are available via the Eventbrite link. Doors open at 7pm.

HANNAH LOWE

Hannah Lowe has published two full collections of poetry – Chick, which won the Michael Murphy Memorial Award for Best First Collection, and Chan. In 2014, she was named as one of 20 Next Generation British poets. She has also published four chapbooks – most recently, The Neighbourhood – and a family memoir, Long Time No See. She lectures in Creative Writing at Brunel University.

JOHN DARWIN

John Darwin’s first solo collection ‘I meet myself returning’ was published by Flapjack Press in February 2019. He was the host of Write Out Loud Sale for two years, and a member of the acclaimed poetry collective A Firm of Poets which toured nationally and published two volumes of poetry ‘Holding your hand through hard times’ and ‘The People’s Republic of poetry’. He is currently co-host at Spoken Weird, Halifax.

MATT ABBOTT

Programmer of Chelping at The Leeds Library, Matt Abbott is a poet, educator and activist from Wakefield. His debut collection ‘Two Little Ducks’ was published by VERVE in 2018 and accompanied a 22-date UK theatre tour. His debut collection for children ‘A Hurricane in my Head’ was published by Bloomsbury in July. Matt runs spoken word label Nymphs & Thugs and fronts alternative act Skint & Demoralised.

OPEN MIC

There are six open mic slots available on a first come, first served basis. These can be reserved by emailing Matt Abbott at eyup@mattabbottpoet.com. The slots are 5 minutes in length, and performers receive a free drink in exchange.