Exciting news! I will be hosting a programme of free writing workshops and an evening of performance funded by The Biscuit Factory Foundation Performers Grant! The grant itself was awarded back in January, but I decided to wait until the event details were finalized before talking about it here.
The Biscuit Factory Foundation is an arts charity closely linked to The Biscuit Factory itself, a wonderful gallery here in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Foundation aims to nurture the practice and appreciate of the visual and performance arts in the North East, through provisions such as studios, commissions and grants. Those grants include the Artist Grant, the Musician Grant and the Performers Grant – the last of which I was fortunate enough to be rewarded in recognition of my work as a poet and facilitator of workshops and live poetry events!
So, about that programme – it’s called Poetry Bites! My aim is to use this unique opportunity to bring together poetry, spoken word and visual arts in the wonderful setting that is The Biscuit Factory. I’ll be hosting three free writing workshops on the 24th February, 2nd March and 9th March, giving attendees the opportunity to engage with the many incredible works of local art that span the two floors of the gallery and write within the lovely Drawing Room.
The culmination of those workshops will be an evening of readings and performance in the Artisan space, featuring poems from workshop attendees and other local poets. Thanks to the grant, I’ll even be able to pay those performers without charging entry, and given the free, entry-level nature of the workshops, the event is likely to be several poets’ first professional reading! If you’d like to attend (assuming you’re reading this in late Feb / early March 2024), you can book yourself a slot via Eventbrite here (for the workshops) and here (for the evening event).
I intend to do a retrospective as well, when I have some findings and photos and hopefully new poems to share! But for now, take care, and I hope to see some of you down at The Biscuit Factory 🙂