LIVEwire Poetry

As part of this year’s Leeds Storytelling Festival programme, we’re excited to present two more Poems for Parents events. These are relaxed, baby-friendly events designed for new parents — with poems targeted at them, as opposed to nursery rhymes for the little ones!

• Toria Garbutt at Seven Arts on Friday 20 February (tickets)
• Liz Berry at Sunny Bank Mills on Friday 27 February (tickets)

Liz Berry is an award-winning poet from Birmingham. Her critically acclaimed collections include Black Country, The Home Child and The Republic of Motherhood, a pamphlet which charts the transformative experience of becoming a mum. Described as “raw and beautiful” (Emma Jane Unsworth) and “an electrifying collection of poems that makes your heart sing” (Jessie Burton), Liz’s poems explore the joys and challenges of motherhood, from its darkest hours to its brightest days.

Toria Garbutt is a poet and spoken word performer from Knottingley, West Yorkshire. Her work, rooted in themes of class, identity and personal experience, has been featured on BBC platforms and widely across national stages. She has published two collections with Wrecking Ball Press: The Universe and Me and Another Time in Space. Toria works within the criminal justice system, using poetry as a tool for connection, reflection and rehabilitation. She was writer-in-residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in 2020.

Both events will run between 10-11am, and tickets are Pay As You Feel. Leeds Storytelling Festival is produced in partnership between Leeds Libraries, Wrongsemble, and LIVEwire Poetry.