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.

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. 

The Johnson era will be remembered for a series of scandals that severely eroded trust in the British government. 

From questionable PPE tenders and public appointments to the ‘partygate’ fiasco, every aspect of public life seemed tainted. 

How did this downward spiral begin, and what can be done to reverse it?

Monique Charlesworth’s mother Inge was German, half-Jewish and a Holocaust survivor, all of which she chose to deny. Talented and able, charismatic and infuriating, she surged through life constantly reinventing herself. Sent out of Nazi Germany, she eventually arrived in London and a new start until her past caught up with her.

Yorkshire has been the battleground for some of the bloodiest, treacherous and the most vicious battels ever fought in Britain. In this talk Josh Flint will explore the battels, sieges and naval battles that have been found in Yorkshire from the 7th to the 20th- centuries and how these extraordinary events are represented in the Leeds Library's Collection.

There will also be an opportunity to browse items from the Yorkshire Battles Leeds Library Collection.

This event is part of the Armed Forces Festival. 

A special event to mark Refugee Week 2024. Author Anna Nyburg joins us to tell the fascinating story of those who fled Nazism and found a new life at M&S.

This is a free, in-person event with light refreshments.

Booking essential.

Each year of the decade is represented by a piece of popular music. 

Themes from the songs are enlarged upon, so by the end of the talk, subjects covered include fashions back then, the Cold War, Vietnam, flower power, the space race – and more! 

A light-hearted and nostalgic look back at a decade many remember fondly!