Unity Words Ft.Wordlife Anthology + Hollie McNish

Contact: joe@wordlife.co.uk

Unity Words | No.8
Hollie Poetry
with support from Becky Cherriman
and live music from Fran Smith,
plus Word Life anthology launch
as part of Wakefield Lit Fest: A Festival of Reading and Writing.

Join us for an extra special instalment of Unity Words, as we partner with Wakefield Lit Fest for one of our biggest nights yet. We expect this to sell out fairly quickly - so make sure you book ASAP in order to avoid missing out!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unity-words-with-hollie-mcnish-becky-cherriman-and-fran-smith-tickets-27441142195

Unity Words is presented in partnership between A Firm Of Poets and Wordlife, and is part-funded by Arts Council England.

HOLLIE McNISH

Hollie McNish loves writing poetry. She has written her diaries in poems since she was seven, a little obsessively. Now a full-time poet, she has garnered praise such as "Boundary Breaker" (Marie Claire) and "Incredible" (Huffington Post) as well as the comment from Benjamin Zephaniah: "I can’t take my ears off her."

In 2015, she won the Arts Foundation Fellowship in Spoken Word, which, alongside support from Battersea Arts Centre and Arts Council England, allowed her to combine parenthood with finishing her book. 'Nobody Told Me' is a collection of poems and stories taken from Hollie's diaries: thoughts on raising a child in modern Britain, of trying to become a parent in modern Britain, of relationships, of sex, commercialism, feeding, gender and of finding secret places to scream once in a while.

BECKY CHERRIMAN

Becky Cherriman is a commissioned writer, creative writing facilitator and prize-winning performer based in Leeds. Her work is informed by the belief that not only do writing and the spoken word help us to make sense of the world and our place in it but that they provide us with the tools to transform our lives.

Her writing has been published by Bloodaxe, Mslexia, New Walk, Envoi, Mother’s Milk; in Poets For Corbyn, on umbrellas and on the walls of a recording studio. She has had pieces commissioned by The Hepworth Wakefield, The Rotunda Museum, Humbermouth Literature Festival, Imove and Grassington Festival. In 2015, her poem Austerity was translated into Italian by Francesca Spinelli and printed in the socialist magazine Internazionale. A current collaboration is Haunt, an Imove commission, working with people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing.


FRAN SMITH

Fran Smith is a singer, songwriter, musician, producer and activist from Yorkshire, UK.

Happily bucking the trend for bland boys with beige lyrics and acoustic guitars, Fran is an artist whose passion and individuality pours out of every line she sings. Her unashamedly northern voice has soul and bite, and teeters on that fine line between strength and vulnerability.

Fran exposes her life's dramas to us with disarming honesty and intimacy, teasing the darkness and beauty out of every heartbreak and love affair. Her lyrics are sensuous and direct; sometimes witty, sometimes erotic, and sometimes cosmic and other-worldly in the vein of Joanna Newsom, Bat For Lashes or Florence Welch.

A mesmerising solo performer, Fran was named a 'Live Music Highlight of the Year' by the BBC in 2014, and has toured with the likes of Martha Wainwright and John Cooper Clarke.
She released her debut EP in 2013, which was subsequently championed by Steve Lamacq and BBC Introducing. All four tracks from the record received significant national radio play on BBC Radio 2, Radio 4 and 6Music, despite being self-released without a manager, record label or publicist.
Fran is an activist and campaigner for peace, social justice, feminism and the environment.

WORDLIFE ANTHOLOGY LAUNCH

In some ways it is more than a little strange that a literature organisation can exist for 10 years without publishing a book. We’ve been publishing poetry and prose in Now Then Magazine for 8 years of course but until now have never had the pleasure of receiving tens of boxes of freshly minted books with the name ‘Wordlife’ emblazoned across the front.

It feels like a long time since we held our first event on November 26th 2006 at The Raynor Louge in Sheffield Union. Myself, Kayo Chingonyi and Katie Kapur unstacked the chairs, threw a mic stand on stage and hoped for the best. 10 years later Wordlife has worked with some of the most renowned writers on the live literature circuit, hosted events across the country and worked with literature festivals, arts funders, literacy trusts, universities and everything in between.

Publishing a book feels like a good way to mark the last ten years. Our first ever feature poet at Wordlife, Andy Craven Griffiths is in there, alongside other notable poets like Lemn Sissay, Buddy Wakefield, Hollie McNish and even the renowned alternative comedian Simon Munnery.
This book is ten years in the making and we hope it shows. Please do get down to one of our launch gigs listed at the bottom of this blogpost, it’d be lovely to share a toast with you. Finally a big thanks to anyone who has supported us in any capacity over the last ten years, we wouldn’t still be here without you.

PANDEMONIUM POETS

Our spoken word performance workshops run from 3-5pm on the day of the event, and cost £5 to join. This workshop is SOLD OUT.

The workshops are aimed at helping emerging poets to hone their craft and receive exposure alongside established acts. Each participant receives a 5 minute slot as part of the evening's show.

PAY WHAT YOU FEEL

As always, we operate with a Pay What You Feel policy on the night. Our suggested donation is £5 per person. We rely on your donations to keep the night going, and very much appreciate your support so far!

WAKEFIELD LIT FEST

This event is part of the 2016 Wakefield Lit Fest, which runs from 23 September-2 October.

Entry: Pay What You Can

Time: 7:30pm