Poetry Emergency Festival at New Adephi Studio Theatre and No 70

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Book now

Poetry Emergency: A North West Radical Poetry Festival

23-24 November 2018

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Poet Amy McCauley. Credit Francesca Sophia.
Book now

To give it its full title, Poetry Emergency: A North West Radical Poetry Festival is a two-day festival bringing together some of the most challenging and surprising poets and performers of the moment for readings and performance, workshops and discussions, displays and even a pop-up book fair.

A rare and exciting creative and learning event for the North West, the festival aims to explore emergency and liveness in radical poetic art, asking: can poetic art intervene against passivity and fear in order to agitate and inspire? In the emergency-prone moment of anxiety and disaster-creation, how can the mini-revolutions of language art snowball into communities of support and resistance?

Split across two days and two sites, you can choose to attend either or indeed both. Tickets are £8 for the whole weekend or £3 for Friday evening (keynote and poetry readings) and £6 for Saturday. Workshops are free to attend, but numbers are limited and – take note – you need to sign up in advance.

Friday takes place at Salford University’s New Adelphi Studio Theatre, with registration at 10am and sessions running 10.30am-9pm. The morning workshop, led by Newcastle-based artist, arts educator and researcher Nicola Singh, looks at performance, emergence and the body; in the afternoon, Leeds-based poet Gloria Dawson will be delving into mischievous dissemination and the poetry of 1968, the year of the Paris Riots. Starting at 4pm, Sean Bonney presents a keynote performance after the work of Greek poet and anarchist Katerina Gogou. Sean is also one of the poets reading in the evening from 6.30pm – and will be joined by Amy McCauley, Claire Potter and Stuart Calton.

On Saturday, the festival moves across to Manchester and, more precisely, the Metropolitan University’s 70 Oxford Street building (formerly Cornerhouse). Sessions run 10.30am-9pm and you can expect a day packed with poetry readings, poetry-adjacent performance, discussions and displays.

Poetry books and pamphlets of interest will be available to view in the Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections reading room at All Saints Library during the afternoon (12.30-3.30pm), and there will also be de facto displays of slogans and snippets and other materials contributed via international mail by Bhanu Kapil, while a mini book fair will give you the opportunity to get your hands on work by some of the performing poets and publishers involved.

Various performance sessions will take place throughout the day, including Young Identity, Gloria Dawson and Nicola Singh (presenting a brand-new performance piece created following her workshop on Friday) in the morning and, starting at 3.30pm, readings in association with regular avant-garde reading series Peter Barlow’s Cigarette, featuring Zoë Skoulding, Lila Matsumoto, Nathan Walker, Rhys Trimble and Maggie O’Sullivan.

Also in the afternoon, following readings by Nat Raha and Nisha Ramayya, Danny Hayward will facilitate a discussion on poetry and anti-fascist culture, then after a break for dinner, the evening will be filled with musical and other sound performances from Tear Fet, THF Drenching and Food People.

Props surely must go to Joey Frances and Nia Alban Davies for organising the event, developed in collaboration with Salford University and the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership, Manchester Metropolitan University, and in association with Poetry Wales and Peter Barlow’s Cigarette. Now get online and book your tickets!

Where to go near Poetry Emergency Festival at New Adephi Studio Theatre and No 70

Interior of George St Chapel
Manchester
Event venue
George Street Chapel

This beautifully restored former Independent Methodist Chapel in the heart of Oldham is as much a creative hub as a heritage landmark.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Pho Cue

Family-run Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. Prepare to queue for Pho Cue.

Come to Swithens Farm for a great family day out in Leeds. Our farm has plenty to offer whatever age you are!Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around. We now have a farm shop, café, playbarn and petting farm. When we first opened we only had the usual farm animals – cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and it was free entry. We now have llamas, alpacas, meerkats, rabbits, guinea pigs, donkeys and a pony.On the working farm, we breed our own cows, pigs and sheep and we sell the meat through the farm shop and the café. If you buy a sausage sandwich from the café the sausage will be from the butcher who has made the sausage by hand using our own pork. We also produce our own free-range eggs.
Leeds
Swithens Farm

Swithens Farm is a working farm. For many years now Ian and his wife Angela have built a following that they welcome in all year around.

Peak District
Restaurant
The Chequers Inn

The Chequers Inn is a 16th century, family-run, traditional country inn with an impressive dining space. The Peak District at its best.

Testbed Main Space
Leeds
Event venue
TESTBED

TESTBED is a newly renovated 10,000 sq foot event venue in Leeds that offers endless possibilities for creating unique and inspiring experiences.

Manchester
Restaurant
Salt & Pepper

Chinese inspired British food in the centre of Manchester, backed up by plenty of well-deserved local hype.

Morning Glory - Coffee Cup
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Morning Glory

Morning Glory positions itself as a grab-and-go spot, with just 12 seats inside serving coffee, bagels and sweet treats.

The Warehouse In Holbeck
Leeds
Event venue
The Warehouse In Holbeck

Run by acclaimed theatre company Slung Low, The Warehouse in Holbeck is home to boundary-pushing performance and community projects.

What's on: Literature

Deryn Rees-Jones. Credit Alison Dodd Photography
LiteratureLiverpool
Deryn Rees-Jones at Open Eye Gallery

For the seventh Matt Simpson Memorial Reading, hosted by Liverpool Poetry Space (LiPS), Deryn Rees-Jones will be reading from her new collection, Hôtel Amour.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Hofesh Shechter - Theatre of Dreams at Lowry
Theatre in the North

Theatre this month bursts with contrasts - from bold new writing and Black History Month highlights to contemporary arts and reimagined classics.

Poet Helen Mort.
Literature Events in the North

One to add to your TBR pile, our latest round-up is a bumper edition and features some amazing events in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and beyond...

Music in the North

From New York’s experimental underground to the most exciting sounds coming from local scenes, we're lining up a noisy autumn of gigs.

A white mattress is burning in a black rocky landscape.
Exhibitions in the North

Galleries in the North are far from spooky this October - instead you'll find tactile sculptures, plant magic and curatorial experiments.

Cinema in the North

A host of Halloween horrors, experimental shorts, plus pioneering black British cinema make our October Cinema Guide.