Join us for an evening of spoken word, prose, poetry, and visual arts!

Expect powerful words, creative energy, and a welcoming space to share and experience art in all its forms. 

Whether you’re performing or just soaking it in, we’d love to see you there!

Presented by All Wax All Wick.

Live in the Assembly Bar + Kitchen!

Readings by a different local published poet each month. This month we’re delighted to welcome TIM BROOKES.

Tim has lived in West Yorkshire most of his life. He started writing after recovering from a Stroke in 2017. Now he helps run a food bank and Under the Lobby Lights (previously Getting Gobby in the Lobby) spoken word night in Wakefield. His first pamphlet Taking 6 away from 100 was published in December 2023.

Chemistry is back on Friday 28 March, with another night of poetry and spoken word, two brilliant headliners and our amazing open mic. This time round our headliners are the brilliant Helen Kay (with her sidekick Nigella the hen) and all the way from Suffolk, Sue Wallace-Shaddad.

The events are themed on the elements of the periodic table, so this time it’s element number 18, which is Ar for Argon. The theme is entirely optional, but we hope you might use it as a creative prompt to come up with some new work to reveal on the night.

Join us for this brilliant double-header as two truly distinct and unflinching voices, Rob Miles and Kath McKay, read from their new collections, and explore the creative process in conversation with writer and Senior Librarian Stu Hennigan.

Both Kath and Rob are teachers and will also be keen (indeed nosey) about attendees sharing their own experiences of reading and writing poetry, so there will be a chance for questions from the floor too.

Join us for a special evening of remembrance and celebration.

Watch Mark Currie’s film “Memories of Wartime” and celebrate the re-launch of Dr Jason Knowles’ book “Otley - Memories of World War Two”.

The evening will feature guest speakers and live music from a brass quintet and singer, all honouring the enduring spirit of VE Day.

Join us for a tasty event raising funds for Kirkstall Art Trail 2025.

It will soon be Pancake Day, and what better way to celebrate than to serve up some homemade pancakes with all the toppings.

And that’s not all! We have got some fun crafty activities for the children. We will draw, cut out, and stick pancakes onto paper plates. Then, with lots of colourful toppings, decorate your yummy pancake masterpiece.

Live in the Assembly Bar + Kitchen!

Readings by a different local published poet each month, and this month we’re delighted to welcome ROB MILES

Rob Miles is from Devon, and he has lived in Leeds. He is Fellow in Film Studies at the University of Leeds. His poetry has appeared widely in magazines and multiple anthologies, and he has won various competitions including the Philip Larkin Prize, judged by Don Paterson, the Resurgence International Ecopoetry Prize, judged by Imtiaz Dharker and Jo Shapcott, and the Poets & Players Prize, judged by Sinéad Morrissey.

We’re bringing poetry and spoken word to the Thackray Museum of Medicine as part of their Thackray Lates programme on Thursday 13 February.

For one night only, the museum will be pumping with a programme filled with the red stuff (and we don’t mean roses). Join us for an anti-valentine evening like no other, one that embraces the visceral life force of all beating hearts: blood!

A completely made-up true story!

“The most generous of hosts… a mesmerising personality… a gifted storyteller… a natural comic” - The Guardian

When the world goes mad, do we inevitably go mad too?