Looking for a chill space to celebrate Pride and also love to support queer bookshops?

Out + Loud is coming to Leeds for our first ever event in collaboration with The Bookish Type!

Pride Unplugged aims to create a space for queer people to share creativity in a relaxed environment as an alternative to often overstimulating Pride events. To sign up to perform simply email Out + Loud, there will also be a few spaces to sign up on the night if inspiration strikes. The setup will be mic-free, so everything will be acoustic.

Join us at Terminus for this showcase of poetry and spoken word, featuring Meanwood writers Su Ryder and Ian Harker, reading work from their recent books. Your compere is Joe Williams, another local writer and the host of regular poetry night Chemistry. There’s also the chance for you to share a poem or two of your own on our open mic.

This event is part of Meanwood Festival 2024.

Chemistry is back on Friday 26 July, with another night of poetry and spoken word.

We’re doing something a bit different this time – instead of our usual two headliners, we’ll be showcasing five of our regulars, who have all had books out within the last few months. So it’ll be longer sets than usual from familiar faces Bill Fitzsimons, Tonnie Richmond, Colin Day, Kathleen Strafford and Tim Brookes.

Join us at Wellington Place where we’ll be hosting a poetry writing session for adults. 

In this hour-long creative workshop you’ll work with our experienced host to practice new techniques as well as developing existing skills sets.

Join us at Wellington Place as we host a children’s workshop from 10–11.30am, where little ones will learn how to think creatively and engage their imagination to create beautiful short poems.

Finishing with an inspiring and entertaining reading by the host.

Join nationally acclaimed poet Matt Abbott for a relaxed and engaging creative writing session. Whether you have a story to tell, or you just want to explore your creative potential, Matt will provide the building blocks for vivid and effective poetry and creative writing. All abilities and levels of experience welcome.

This workshop is free but booking is essential, see Tickets below.

The Summer is finally here! And we’re ready to celebrate in the only way we know how.

By letting children fuel our storytelling with their crazy, creative minds. So if your children would like nothing better than to tell a bunch of supposed grown ups what to do and say then come join us and bring their make believe to life.

LET'S MAKE SOMETHING SPECIAL

“I literally had tears in my eyes from laughing so much! Your team are so talented and downright hilarious!”

"Love this idea! A fantastic way to capture imaginations and great entertainment" Scarlet (Mum)

an event to celebrate stories about nature!

“Our story is in the land ... it is written in those sacred places.” Bill Neidjie of the Bunitj clan, Australia.

Hey! welcome and thanks for arriving here!

With current challenges both in England and globally, it feels like stories of anger and confusion dominate our communities. The Story Gathering aims to offer a supportive remix to this narrative by meeting in community with the natural world and co-creating the stories we choose to live with.

The poems and folk songs of Sh@nty tell a story of discovery, betrayal, obsession and recovery. Using language borrowed from traditional navigation as well as the jargon of digital space, the narrative is enriched by songs of the sea and original music for concertina.

Poet Lydia Kennaway and musician Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne present ‘… a form of contemporary metaphysical poem where scientific and technological vocabularies are brought into the service of the poetic imagination.’ – Sean O’Brien.

Part of Leeds Lit Fest 2024