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.
matt abbott
November’s ‘LIVEwire’ column in The State of the Arts
onThis month’s spoken word poetry column for The State of the Arts looks at the political poets to take us through these dark days, and the importance of political poetry in general.
Matt looks at the work of Jess Green and Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, as well as sharing videos from our very own Kevin P. Gilday and Luke Wright. You can read it here.
LIVEwire Leeds No.1 media
onThe first of our ‘LIVEwire’ Leeds residency nights took place at Hyde Park Book Club on 2 October, with Salena Godden and Nafeesa Hamid going down a storm in West Yorkshire. The start of the event was delayed as we had to bring about 20 extra chairs down to accommodate everybody, and Matt Abbott was on hosting duties, including open mic.
As well as the video highlights from Idle Work Factory, they’ve also taken some ace photos (below). Huge thanks to our open mic performers: Lence, Sally Anne Earl, Claire Crossdale, Tahira Alia Rehman, Joe Williams, Natalie Davies and Camille McCawley.
Our next ‘LIVEwire’ Leeds event stars Joelle Taylor and Ollie O’Neill on Wednesday 4 December, and tickets are on sale here.
LIVEwire Leeds No.2 | Joelle Taylor & Co. on 4 Dec
onAfter a raucous launch event starring Salena Godden and Nafeesa Hamid, we return to Hyde Park Book Club on 4 December with internationally-renowned icon Joelle Taylor, plus fellow Out-Spoken Press poet Ollie O’Neill. Tickets are on sale here.
Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet, playwright, author and editor who has recently completed a world tour with her latest collection ‘Songs My Enemy Taught Me’. She is widely anthologised, the author of 3 full poetry collections and 3 plays and is currently completing her début book of short stories ‘The Night Alphabet’.
Joelle will be the editor of Out-Spoken Press from September 2020 – September 2021, commissioning five new titles with a focus on women’s writing.
Ollie O’Neill is a London based poet and writer. She is a former UK Youth Slam Champion, and current Barbican Young Poet. In March 2019, her debut pamphlet ‘Ways of Coping’ was published by Out-Spoken Press. Her work explores themes of female sexuality, desire, and psychiatry.
She has previously read in venues such as The Institute of Contemporary Arts, Soho Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, and The 100 Club, as well as at Cheltenham Literature Festival, The Verve Poetry Festival, and Wilderness Festival.
As usual, there are 6 open mic slots up for grabs – each of which is 5 minutes in length, and can be reserved on a first come, first served basis by emailing Matt at eyup@mattabbottpoet.com. Please feel free to share the Facebook event here!
LIVEwire Leeds No.1 | Salena Godden & Co. on 2 Oct
onFirstly, if you haven’t read the blog about our new series of ‘LIVEwire’ events, check it out here. This is our biggest series of events yet and we’re absolutely buzzing that they’re finally out there in the world.
The first of our resident nights at Hyde Park Book Club pulls no punches, with globally renowned renegade poet Salena Godden headlining, and Birmingham-based rising star Nafeesa Hamid in support.
