Part of Leeds Lit Fest 2024

Join author George Severs and activist Mick Ward to talk about AIDS Activism at the next Queer History Club.

George's recently published book, Radical Acts, is a detailed history of the radical HIV / AIDS movement in England. It draws on activist campaign literature, broadcast media and oral history interviews, breaking new ground by studying everyday activism alongside marches and protests.

Join us at The Open Book Club, a monthly gathering for anyone who loves a good natter about books. We meet up to discuss a chosen book in a friendly and inviting atmosphere.

Reservation Details:

To secure your spot, a non-refundable deposit of £10 is required. This deposit covers venue expenses and a free drink for you! Please reserve your place through Eventbrite, as spaces are limited.

Questions:

If you have any questions, feel free to fire us a direct message on our Instagram page (@theopen_bookclub). We're happy to help!

Sharan Hunjan is a poet and teacher from London. She is part of the literary collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE, whose first collaborative book was published by FEM Press, and has had work published in the poetry anthology Slam! You’re Gonna Wanna Hear This (Pan MacMillan 2020). 

She published her pamphlet, ‘Hatch’, as part of the 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE publication with Rough Trade Books in 2020. 

With 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE she has performed at Stoke Newington Literary Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, British Library and Tate and appeared in British Vogue. 

Helen Lederer was a regular on the stand-up circuit and new-wave sketch shows in the decade that launched the careers of today’s comedy household names and national treasures.

From the iconic Absolutely Fabulous to Bottom,  Happy Families,  Naked Video,  French and Saunders and Girls on Top; it is difficult to think of a comedy show that Helen wasn’t a part of. So... plain sailing then? Well, not really.

Join poets and fellow Dream Catcher editors Hannah Stone and Joe Williams in conversation on Hannah's most recent collection, The Invisible Worm (Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2023). 

'Part threnody, part celebration of friendship’, these poems celebrate Hannah’s friendship with Rosemary Mitchell, and explore how we face end of life.

Hannah is Poet-Theologian to Leeds Church Institute, and convenes poetry/music collaborations. Last year she featured in the Guardian’s Poem of the Week, and won the David Oluwale Memorial Association Writing competition.

Join Leeds-based author Sarah Brooks as she talks about and reads from her stunning debut novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands. Read more here.

It is the end of the Nineteenth Century, and the world is awash with marvels. But there is nothing so marvellous as the Wastelands: a terrain of terrible miracles that lies between Beijing and Moscow.

Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met – and grew up in ten different foster homes in California. When he is finally adopted into a loving family, he is hopeful that life will finally be stable and safe. 

But divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence mark his adolescence, and Henderson enters the military upon completing high school. 

UK general practice has reached crisis point. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has placed a strain on an already crumbling primary care service, leaving both patients and NHS staff struggling. Seventy-five years after the NHS was created, Dr Ellen Welch lifts the curtain on general practice. She looks back on the history of the profession exploring how the job has changed – particularly since the pandemic – then ahead to what the future of general practice might look like.