LIVEwire Poetry

As promised, we’re going to be delivering a few small series of poetry writing workshops, alongside our series of live events.

Each led by a different guest facilitator, these sessions will create a safe and supportive space to explore your poetic voice, whether you’re an experienced writer or just want to try something new.

Having first introduced Clevedon, we’re now introducing a trio of workshops at TEN Queen Street in Huddersfield. These are paired with a series of live events that we’re continuously announcing in Leeds.

The first session takes place from 12.30-2.30 on Saturday 23 March and will be delivered by Simone Yasmin. Tickets are available here. They’re Pay As You Feel (£3, £5, £7) and are capped at 12 participants.

Everybody is welcome, but we particularly encourage writers who identify as working-class or as coming from a working-class background.

There’ll also be workshops at TEN Queen Street on Saturday 27 April and Saturday 25 May from 11am-1pm, so save those dates if you’re game! Elsewhere, we’ll be announcing a series in Blackburn and online.

Simone Yasmin

Simone Yasmin (she/her) is a writer and spoken word artist born and based in Leeds. Both her written and vocal work raise awareness for issues many choose to ignore in order to sit in comfort. Simone brings that discomfort into the centre of the room, pulling no wool over eyes with her blunt and realistic words.

Simone is an artivist and the intersection of race and feminism is often central to Simone’s work. Her own experiences navigating the world – a white, male world – as a Black woman, largely act as a catalyst for this. Her interlocking identities cannot be separated or extracted. Simone connects dots many are scared to, creating parallel lines to highlight injustice and amplify marginalised voices.

With every piece she produces, Simone hopes to make people feel. This quote from Anne Lamott chimes strongly in Simone’s ears as she imagines every piece.