Description
Join us in the stunning surrounds of 254-year-old The Leeds Library for one of Leeds’ leading poetry nights! The 18th installment of ‘Chelping’ stars Cecilia Knapp and Rommi Smith, 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.
CECILIA KNAPP
Cecilia Knapp is a poet and novelist and the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem. She is the winner of the 2021 Ruth Rendell award and has been shortlisted for both the Rebecca Swift Women’s Prize and the Outspoken Poetry Prize. She curated the anthology Everything is Going to be Alright: Poems for When you Really Need Them, published by Trapeze in 2021. Her debut novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press.
Her debut poetry collection Peach Pig was published by Corsair Books on 6 October.
ROMMI SMITH
Dr. Rommi Smith is a multi-award-winning poet, playwright, theatre-maker, performer, scholar and Cave Canem Fellow. Winner of numerous prestigious residencies and commissions from institutions ranging from the British Council to the BBC, Rommi is the inaugural British Parliamentary Writer-in-Residence and inaugural Poet-in-Residence for Keats’ House, Hampstead. She is winner of the Northern Writers Prize for Poetry.
OPEN MIC
These 3-minute slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please email eyup@mattabbottpoet.com to reserve yours!
MATT ABBOTT
Matt Abbott is a poet, educator, and activist from Wakefield. His début one-man show ‘Two Little Ducks’ earned a string of 5* reviews at Edinburgh Fringe 2017 and on a 2018 UK theatre tour. The show’s poems were published as his début poetry collection by Verve Poetry Press in 2018.
Matt’s début kids’ poetry collection ‘A Hurricane in my Head’ was published by Bloomsbury in 2019 and was a National Poetry Day selected title. He formed Nymphs & Thugs, the UK’s leading spoken word record label, in 2015. He also fronts indie outfit Skint & Demoralised. Notable commissions include TV ads for Nationwide Building Society and Leeds United FC’s centenary kit launch.
Date and Time
Thu, November 17, 2022
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
The Leeds Library
18 Commercial Street
Leeds,
England
LS1 6AL
United Kingdom