More Song at The Record Cafe Bradford
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Hosted by Manchester Cathedral writer-in-residence Tom Branfoot, Bradford’s More Song has been running since early 2023 and features an open mic as well as invited guests from the world of poetry, the likes of Zaffar Kunial and Will Harris.
Taking place at The Record Café (an independent vinyl shop that does a mean sideline in local and world beers plus Spanish charcuterie and cheese), the programme for More Song 2024 is panning out nicely, with Holly Hopkins lined up for February and Fran Lock in March.
Holly Hopkins grew up in Berkshire, grew up even more in London and now lives in Manchester. Holly’s first collection The English Summer (Penned in the Margins) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Seamus Heaney Prize and The Laurel Prize. It was awarded the Poetry Book Society’s Special Commendation and was named one of The Guardian’s ‘Best Poetry Books of 2022’. Her debut pamphlet, Soon Every House Will Have One, won the Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition and Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. Holly has been an assistant editor of The Rialto. She has received an Eric Gregory Award, a Hawthornden Fellowship and was shortlisted for the inaugural Women Poets’ Prize. Her poems feature in Carcanet New Poetries VIII and have been published in The Guardian, The Telegraph and The TLS.
Alongside Holly Hopkins, February’s More Song will be welcoming Qudsia Akhtar and Naoise Gale, and the featured readers will be followed by a curated open mic. More Song just received funding from Bradford City Council – hurrah! – so the organisers are producing some one-off zines available at the night, featuring poems from Holly, Qudsia and Naoise.
