our 18th installment of Chelping at The Leeds Library sees a Chesterfield-themed line-up, with Helen Mort and Matthew Hedley Stoppard occupying the feature slots! we’re convinced that the stunning 254-year-old library is one of the best poetry venues in the country and love bringing our favourite poets to wow audiences there.

as always, there’s a handful of 3-minute open mic slots available on a first-come, first-served basis. click here for tickets and more info.

Helen Mort

Helen Mort is a poetry, fiction and non-fiction writer. She has three poetry collections, the latest of which (The Illustrated Woman) has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize 2022. She won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and in 2015 was chosen as one of the Next Generation poets. She loves to collaborate with other artists and recent projects have included working with a flamenco guitarist, a baroque orchestra, photographers, philosophers and football teams and works as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Matthew Hedley Stoppard

Matthew Hedley Stoppard lives in Otley in West Yorkshire where he is the UK’s first official Town Poet. His first collection A Family Behind Glass (Valley Press, 2013) was a Guardian Readers’ Book of the Year. His poems have appeared in Butcher’s Dog, Iota, Magma, The Morning Star and Shearsman, and he has appeared on programmes for BBC Radios 3, 4 and 6. His second full collection The Garland King (Valley Press, 2020) explores the traditional customs and rituals of the working/labouring classes