Why not bring a cocktail and canape upstairs to spend an informal early evening with some of the most exciting, new, spoken word voices in the North. Featuring The Writing Squad and friends, an Open…

An evening of vibrant readings by four emerging Northern poets. Beth Davies was appointed Sheffield Poet Laureate in 2024. To mark the end of her tenure, Off the Shelf has commissioned Beth to write…

7 artists x 7 artworks x 7 minutes = 7 Small Acts

Once upon a poem, making your own mythologies poetic as folk.

Join us at Stockroom for our first poetry evening, celebrating National Poetry Day on the 1st of October!

Open Works Festival presents a rehearsed reading of A Sound Is Still A Sound, a play by CJ Simon.

Broken Sleep August 2026 releases, with readings from:

When they were fifteen, Ash made Jess a promise she never imagined she’d have to keep.

One Mic Stand, a night put on by Young Identity, brings together Manchester’s spoken word and music scene for a special competitive night of performance. In this special edition in collaboration with…

A Night of Stand-Up Comedy and Sleepover Games – for girls, gays, theys, and emotionally intelligent men – 3rd Birthday Special!!

Fourteen Poems is celebrating Issue 20 (!) of their contemporary queer poetry anthology, with readings from some of the poets featured!

Hosted by Char Bailey and Em Hunter, The Big Queer Poetry Show 2026 promises a poetry night like no other. We have a fabulous line-up of 14 established and emerging LGBTQ+ poets, who will each share…

Some of the Voicebox crew go on tour to Northwich Pride, and Squad writer Holly Thorpe has a set! Want to hear about being outed by your own supernatural fan account, or mullet dreams, or food…

4 days of independent cinema, Q&As, workshops, live events and community.

A musician, a doctor, and a traumagenic personification of God walk into a hospital. Tale as old as time.

A musician, a doctor, and a traumagenic personification of God walk into a hospital. Tale as old as time.

The ‘I’ve Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell’ exhibition features work by three young writers Georgia Affonso, Princess Arinola Adegbite and Guruleen Kahlo, who completed a residency at Elizabeth Gaskell’s…

Kym will be busy this Autumn touring with readings for their debut collection, Folkish, and a number of other workshops and events. Find the details below, with all links to book in their Linktree on…

An evening of serious (and not-so-serious) poetry and spoken word, showcasing London’s hottest up-and-coming poets, and UK slam champions.

An afternoon of poetry with Kate Boston-Williams, Elaine Cusack, Tallulah Howarth and Greg Freeman

How do you actually see other people?

The August writing session at Talk About Loss is on the theme of trans and non-binary grief, which will be co-facilitated by Squad writer and CORE2 mentor, Lauren Vevers. They’ll talk a little about…

Celebrating the incredible versatility of brass, Brassed On will perform a show featuring North East local artists. Including Dilettante, the art-pop project of multi-instrumentalist Francesca…

Join Hartlepool’s Reader-in-Residence for a chance to explore the archives at The Local and Family History Centre.

Join Hartlepool’s Reader-in-Residence, Theodore Forcer, to explore the stories of our coast through creative writing!

Podcast Episode · Booklings Chat · May 15 · 34m

Squad grad Georgia Hinkley’s ‘black comedy about transsexuals’ will be shown alongside other fantastic plays as part of 53Two’s OFFCUT Festival in Manchester. Bad Hair Day will be showing on both the…

A Night of Stand-Up Comedy and Sleepover Games – for girls, gays, theys, and emotionally intelligent men!!