Nymphs & Thugs 'LIVEwire'; Class of 2019

on December 20, 2019December 20, 2019

What a year it’s been for our ‘LIVEwire’ events. We’ve been building them up for nearly 3 years now, and I’m proper chuffed to present our class of 2019. These are all of the poets who’ve performed at one of our events this year.

It’s mad to think that we didn’t actually start until August. All of the time until that point had involved planning behind-the-scenes. We ran our ‘LIVEwire Salon’ at Byline Festival over August bank holiday; launched our biggest ever series of ‘LIVEwire’ events in Manchester in September; and also co-hosted a Día de los Muertos party in London on 1 November.

Huge thanks to everybody that performed at, attended, shared and worked at one of these events. And also to Arts Council England for co-funding the series that we launched in September. Can’t wait to see what happens in 2020…

LIVEwire Leeds No.2 media

on December 11, 2019February 11, 2020

We pulled no punches with our second LIVEwire Leeds event at Hyde Park Book Club, as Out-Spoken Press duo Joelle Taylor and Ollie O’Neill performed to another packed room. All photos and highlights video by Idle Work Factory.

LIVEwire Leeds No.2 highlights by Idle Work Factory

The third LIVEwire Leeds event will take place at Hyde Park Book Club on Wednesday 5 February, with Louise Fazackerley performing a headline slot.

December's 'LIVEwire' column in The State of the Arts

on December 1, 2019December 3, 2019

This month’s column looks back at Matt Abbott‘s career trajectory over the 2010s; reflecting the huge growth of the UK spoken word scene in general. Click here to read it.

LIVEwire Bristol media

on November 26, 2019November 26, 2019

Our second regional ‘LIVEwire’ event saw us team up with Raise The Bar to put on a storming night at Arnolfini. Sets from Salena Godden, Jess Green and Kevin P. Gilday made a truly amazing night, as captured by Alex Sheppard in these photos.

We’ve also got this brilliant highlights video, courtesy of Raise The Bar! The video is available to view on our YouTube channel (embedded below) as well as our Facebook page, IGTV channel and Twitter account, so please give it a share. Ta.

LIVEwire Bristol by Raise The Bar

Roaring 20s Radio launching on Soho Radio

on November 15, 2019November 19, 2019

Welcome to Roaring 20s Radio: a brand new programme on Soho Radio created to amplify the best of art, culture, books, poetry and activism as we roar into the next decade. Roaring 20s Radio is presented by Salena Godden, Amah-Rose Abrams and Matt Abbott. Our first episode will be broadcast on Soho Radio on Saturday 16 November 2019 at 2pm, featuring special guest Rookes talking about her incredible new EP with a live interview in the studio. Following this first broadcast, we air at 2pm on the third Saturday of each month.

Our monthly residency will celebrate and champion the people that are roaring in the face of adversity. Each episode will feature exciting live studio guests, round-ups from our specialist fields and the Roaring ‘20s quiz. Plus we’ll play some of our favourite tunes and chat our way through the political turbulence that dominates the world. The Roaring ‘20s quiz involves sharing a series of extraordinary quotes, facts and news items from past and present and discussing and guessing who said it and which decade it was from: proving no matter how far back we go, there’s always been resistance in the shape of formidable literature, powerful art movements and people of courage fighting apathy and inspiring us all to ROAR more!