@mattabbottpoet

poet, educator & activist

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Since the beginning of May 2020, we’ve been hosting weekly Insta sessions with guests from all over the UK and further afield. These relaxed 30-minute sessions blend performance with insightful conversations from leading and emerging poets.

Up next, we welcome Penny Pepper! Penny is an acclaimed author, poet, performer and disabled activist. A genre-defying and versatile writer, her work focuses on the examination of difference, class, inequality and identity. She tells stories we haven’t heard, making others see life differently – always with humour and wisdom.

Nymphs & Thugs | Penny Pepper
Insta sessions #40: Penny Pepper on Tuesday 13 April

Penny published her groundbreaking memoir ‘First in The World Somewhere‘ with Unbound and a début poetry collection ‘Come Home Alive‘ with Burning Eye Books. Recent successes include Penny’s work in Byline Times, a short story in Mslexia magazine and actor Liz Carr performing Penny’s monologue ‘Letter to Paul‘ as part of the newly launched YouTube channel Penny on The Telly. Penny is delighted this piece won The Cyber Performance Institute Award last week (March 2021).

An original-era punk old-timer, she cut her poet’s teeth in early fanzines, and keeping those ethics throughout her life, Penny now lives in the quirky arty town of Hastings with a black cat called Pixie.

This session will be hosted by Matt Abbott. Our previous sessions are available to stream back in full on our Facebook page, YouTube channel and IGTV channel. Find more information and share the event over on Facebook. Our recent session with Charlotte Lunn is available to view below.

Insta sessions #39: Charlotte Lunn

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Since the beginning of May 2020, we’ve been hosting weekly Insta sessions with guests from all over the UK and further afield. These relaxed 30-minute sessions blend performance with insightful conversations from leading and emerging poets.

Up next, we welcome Charlotte Lunn! Charlotte is a poet, bookseller, and workshop facilitator living with chronic illness. After completing her Creative Writing degree at The University of Derby, she became the Events Co-ordinator at Scarthin Books and has regularly reviewed literature for BBC Radio Derby.

She recently became a guest poetry facilitator with Derbyshire Writing School and also offers editing and mentoring services. Her début poetry collection ‘Metamorphosis‘ is due for publication with Verve Poetry Press in May 2021 and explores abuse, mental health and recovery.

Nymphs & Thugs | Charlotte Lunn
Insta sessions #39: Charlotte Lunn on Tuesday 6 April
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Since the beginning of May 2020, we’ve been hosting weekly Insta sessions with guests from all over the UK and further afield. These relaxed 30-minute sessions blend performance with insightful conversations from leading and emerging poets.

Up next, we welcome Mariam Saeed Khan! Mariam is a poet, writer, journalist and digital storyteller based in Lahore, Pakistan.Three of her poems have appeared in wave five of Iambapoet 2021. Mariam’s journalistic features have appeared in publications locally.

She also appeared alongside other international poets in read poetry‘s National Poetry Month video, ‘What does poetry mean to you?’ in 2020. Mariam is currently at work on her début collection.

Nymphs & Thugs | Mariam Saeed Khan
Insta sessions #38: Mariam Saeed Khan on Tuesday 30 March
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Since the beginning of May 2020, we’ve been hosting weekly Insta sessions with guests from all over the UK and further afield. These relaxed 30-minute sessions blend performance with insightful conversations from leading and emerging poets.

Up next, we welcome Leilah Jane King! Leilah is a half Iranian gay footballer, mental health advocate and stand-up poet.Leilah’s début poetry collection ‘Midnight Picnics in Tehran‘ was published by Burning Eye Books in 2019. It’s a tale of two countries, three cities and an innumerable amount of drinks being thrown in people’s faces.

Leilah paints striking imagery of the bustling cities of Shiraz and Tehran, the former her mother’s birthplace.She conveys a melancholic nostalgia and love for a culture still novel to her that is remembered warmly from childhood summers spent in Iran’s beautiful mountains and parks. ‘Midnight Picnics’ does not only focus on Iran but talks about Leilah’s time living in Bristol and Brighton. She shares an open, honest and raw account inviting you to navigate your way through sexuality, androgyny and anger.

Insta sessions #37: Leilah Jane King on Tuesday 23 March
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Since the beginning of May 2020, we’ve been hosting weekly Insta sessions with guests from all over the UK and further afield. These relaxed 30-minute sessions blend performance with insightful conversations from leading and emerging poets.

Up next, we welcome Tobi Abiodun! Tobi is a poet and spoken word artist born and raised in Benin City. His poetry cuts across the personal, social and political. Tobi is a multiple Slam Champion, holding titles in major Nigerian cities, including Lagos, Abuja and Portharcourt.

His short story They Say He Had Eyes Like The Burning End Of A Cigarette was longlisted for the Poets in Nigeria prize for Short Fiction and published in the Odour Of Death Anthology. He was a guest at the 2019 editions of both the Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, South Africa and the Lagos International Poetry Festival in Lagos, Nigeria.

Insta sessions #36: Tobi Abiodun on Tuesday 16 March
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Could this be the last one that we record remotely…? Who knows. Today marks a year to the day since we were last in the Soho Radio studio, and yesterday’s episode of Roaring 20s Radio is now available to stream back in full as a podcast.

Including highlights from our LIVEwire x #IWD2021 event at Leeds Fest, exclusive author readings including Stella Duffy, plus a look at NFTs and their impact on the art world. It should be available wherever you usually listen to podcasts, but if not, it’s on our Anchor.fm page. Enjoy!

Roaring 20s Radio episode 16 is now available as a podcast

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Since the beginning of May 2020, we’ve been hosting weekly Insta sessions with guests from all over the UK and further afield. These relaxed 30-minute sessions blend performance with insightful conversations from leading and emerging poets.

Next up, we welcome Jamie Thrasivoulou on Tuesday 9 March. Jamie is an award-winning writer and educator. He is also the official poet for Derby County Football Club. In 2018 he was a winner of the Culture Matters: Bread & Roses award. In 2019 he won the Saboteur award for Best Spoken Word Artist in the UK. Jamie’s latest collection ‘Our Man‘ was published by Burning Eye Books in 2019.

Nymphs & Thugs | Jamie Thrasivoulou
Insta sessions #35: Jamie Thrasivoulou on Tuesday 9 March
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