Chelping ft Helen Mort & Matthew Hedley Stoppard

Contact: harkeri@theleedslibrary.org.uk

Join us in the stunning surrounds of 254-year-old The Leeds Library for one of Leeds’ leading poetry nights! The 17th installment of 'Chelping' stars Helen Mort and Matthew Hedley Stoppard, plus open mic hosted by Matt Abbott.

Previous headliners have included internationally renowned performers such as recent T.S. Eliot Prize winner Joelle Taylor, Sabrina Mahfouz, Anthony Anaxagorou, and Theresa Lola. We’ve also had nationally renowned poets including Cecilia Knapp, Jess Green, and Toby Campion.

HELEN MORT

Helen Mort is a poetry, fiction and non-fiction writer. She has three poetry collections, the latest of which (The Illustrated Woman) has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize 2022. She won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and in 2015 was chosen as one of the Next Generation poets. She loves to collaborate with other artists and recent projects have included working with a flamenco guitarist, a baroque orchestra, photographers, philosophers and football teams and works as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.

MATTHEW HEDLEY STOPPARD

Matthew Hedley Stoppard lives in Otley in West Yorkshire where he is the UK’s first official Town Poet. His first collection A Family Behind Glass (Valley Press, 2013) was a Guardian Readers’ Book of the Year. His poems have appeared in Butcher’s Dog, Iota, Magma, The Morning Star and Shearsman, and he has appeared on programmes for BBC Radios 3, 4 and 6. His second full collection The Garland King (Valley Press, 2020) explores the traditional customs and rituals of the working/labouring classes.

OPEN MIC

These 3-minute slots are available on a first-come, first served basis. Please email eyup@mattabbottpoet.com to reserve yours!

MATT ABBOTT

Matt Abbott is a poet, educator, and activist from Wakefield. His début one-man show ‘Two Little Ducks’ earned a string of 5* reviews at Edinburgh Fringe 2017 and on a 2018 UK theatre tour. The show’s poems were published as his début poetry collection by Verve Poetry Press in 2018.

Matt’s début kids’ poetry collection ‘A Hurricane in my Head’ was published by Bloomsbury in 2019 and was a National Poetry Day selected title. He formed Nymphs & Thugs, the UK’s leading spoken word record label, in 2015. He also fronts indie outfit Skint & Demoralised. Notable commissions include TV ads for Nationwide Building Society and Leeds United FC’s centenary kit launch.

Price: £5.00

Time: 7:00pm