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Tubthumping at The Constitutional, 29 September 2022, from £10.00 - Book now
Featuring a showcase of some of the UK’s most dynamic spoken word poets both emerging and renowned, Tubthumping at The Constitutional is now fully into its stride and, following a month off for the summer holidays, in September returns with number five of its “rip-roaring” events. Presented by Nymphs & Thugs, the evening is hosted by the spoken word label’s founder Matt Abbott alongside poet and performer Maria Ferguson.
Tubthumping – meaning “the expression of opinions in a loud or aggressive way” – promises “poetry as you’ve never seen it before”. The new term kicks off with Kevin P Gilday and Sophie Sparham.
Taking place in Farsley, between Leeds and Bradford, Tubthumping – meaning “the expression of opinions in a loud or aggressive way” – promises “poetry as you’ve never seen it before”. The new term kicks off with Kevin P Gilday and Sophie Sparham.
Award-winning poet and performer Kevin P Gilday has performed all over the world, from Hollywood to East Kilbride, including major festivals (BBC 6 Music Festival, Glastonbury) and festival fringes (Edinburgh, Toronto, Vancouver) as well as large-scale tours of the UK, Germany, Canada and the US. He has supported artists and public figures such as Akala, Saul Williams, George the Poet, Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Sage Francis, The Silencers and even Jeremy Corbyn MP.
Sophie Sparham is an award-winning poet and writer from Derby who has written for BBC Radio 4 and The People’s History Museum in Manchester. She has shared the stage with punk legends such as Crass’s Steve Ignorant, Subhumans, Inner Terrestrials and Alan Moore. Her poetry mainly focuses on political and social subjects, such as depression, LGBT+ and feminism. She co-hosts the night Word Wise, which won best spoken word night at the 2019 Saboteur Awards. Her latest collection, The Man Who Ate 50,000 Weetabix, came out in 2021 on Verve Poetry Press. Her poem ‘Sunrise Over Aldi’ won third place in the 2020 Charles Causley International Poetry Competition.
Foward Prize-shortlisted poet Helen Mort says: “I don’t believe there’s anything ordinary, anything commonplace about Sophie. In fact, since reading her poetry, I’ve come to believe that – in the same way that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just unsuitable clothing – there’s no such thing as an ordinary moment, only ordinary ways of looking. Reader: you’re in for a treat.”
Matt Abbott founded Nymphs & Thugs in 2015 to produce spoken word events around the UK – featured artists include Wigan-based writer and performer Louise Fazackerley, Salena Godden and Luke Wright. Matt’s one-man show Two Little Ducks received rave reviews when it debuted at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe, leading to a 22-date UK theatre tour in autumn 2018 and resulting in both a studio album and a debut poetry collection of the same name, which was published by Verve Poetry Press.
Maria Ferguson is a writer, performer and multi-award-winning theatre-maker from Romford. She has been a resident artist for Roundhouse and Battersea Arts Centre and commissioned by Royal Academy of Art, Stylist and BBC Radio 1. Her debut solo show, Fat Girls Don’t Dance, won the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show and her second show, Essex Girl, was shortlisted for Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award and won Show of the Week at VAULT 2019. Her debut poetry collection Alright, Girl? was published by Burning Eye Books in 2020 and was highly commended for the Forward Prize for Poetry, while her poem ‘My Letters’ was highly commended in the Forward Prize 2021.
Tubthumping is part-funded by Leeds Inspired, and organised in partnership with the team behind Trouble At Mill and The Old Woollen.
Doors 7pm. Show starts 8pm. A booking fee of £1.50 may be added to the ticket price.
Tubthumping at The Constitutional
29 September 2022 8:00 pm
From £10.00
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