Front Room Poetry ONT Road 2021
Tales and truths in our living room. A series of Front Room Poetry events in various locations around Bradford.
From skate parks to the estate, this is real poetry on the streets of BFD with some of the most exciting spoken word artists, wordsmiths, storytellers and rappers of our time. If you have something to say, but not sure how to say it- this event is for you.
Imagine vintage sofas, electric firesides, Persian rugs and freestanding lamps. An outdoor sitting room with cuppas, pot dogs and some of the best poets and lyricists from around the UK sharing words and sitting comfy with the bestest Bradford backdrops.
Community champions will co-host spoken word workshops alongside headline poets in their own community settings, and later on we will hear workshop participants and other local poets on the open mic ahead of the headline act. We encourage family, friends and the community to come down and listen, while tempting intrigued residents to see what’s going down in their community living room.
Note: Arrival to the events from 7pm. Limited sit down seats available on a first come first served basis.
Audience members will be encouraged to remain social distancing during the event and can choose to wear a mask as recommended by the government. If you develop any potential COVID symptoms prior to the workshop or evening events, please do not attend to help keep our staff, artists and other audience members safe.
Poetry Performances
Wednesday 28 July 7-9pm Girlington
Yomi Sode, Suhaiymah Manzoor Khan and Nabeelah Hafeez at West Park (in the Skate Park).
Wednesday 25 August 7-9pm Holmewood
Joelle Taylor, Toria Garbutt and Ursula Sutcliffe next to TFD (footy pitch on Broadstone Way)
Wednesday 29 September 7-9pm Shipley
Chiedu Okara, Matt Abbott and Zakia Jabeen at Asda in Shipley in the undercover carpark.
Please register below for the open mic. If you need any help please contact Kirsty Taylor at kirsty@bdproducinghub.co.uk
Workshops
Wednesday 28 July 3.30-5pm
Workshop with Yomi Sode at Girlington Community Centre.
Wednesday 25 August 3.30-5pm
Workshop with Joelle Taylor at TFD Centre.
Wednesday 29 September 3.30-5pm
Workshop with Matt Abbott at Shipley Library, 2 Well Croft, Shipley BD18 3QH.
Please register below for the workshops. If you need any help please contact Kirsty Taylor at kirsty@bdproducinghub.co.uk
Yomi Sode is a Nigerian British writer, performer, and facilitator. He is a recipient of the Jerwood Compton Poetry fellowship 2019. He has read his poems internationally at various festivals, as well as performed his debut solo show (COAT) to sold-out audiences. Yomi has been published in Rialto Magazine, The Poetry Review, Bare lit and 10: Poets of the New Generation, Bare Lit Anthology as well an essay contribution in SAFE: On Black British Men reclaiming space. Yomi’s first collection ‘Manorism’ will be published by Penguin Press in May 2022 and his play ‘and breathe…’ is currently on at The
Almeida Theatre.
Joelle Taylor is an award-winning spoken word artist who has written poetry and plays. She has performed at hundreds of venues nationally and internationally with the British Council.
She was recently awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of the Arts and in 2015 The Southbank Centre in London named her as one of the Nelson Mandela 67 Change Makers who have altered the face of Britain. She is widely anthologised and her poetry is included in the English GCSE syllabus. Her short stories and flash fiction have been published in various literary journals.
Matt Abbott is a poet, educator and activist from Wakefield. His debut solo show ‘Two Little Ducks’ earned 5* reviews at Edinburgh Fringe 2017 and on a 2018 UK theatre tour. The show’s poems were published as his debut collection by Verve in 2018. Matt’s debut kids’ poetry collection ‘A Hurricane in my Head’ was published by Bloomsbury in 2019 and was a National Poetry Day selected title. He was a patron for The Poetry Society’s Foyle Young Poets award in 2020. He formed spoken word record label Nymphs & Thugs in 2015 and fronts indie band Skint & Demoralised.