The Autistic Shuffle

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/366730602353311

Join us for an afternoon of innovation and ingenuity in poetry and words

In this special edition of The Shuffle, autistic writers and performers Kate Fox, Hannah Silva, Kandace Siobhan Walker, Gareth Farmer, Jill Abram and *AMPLE Collective will demonstrate that autistic people can be creative, entertaining, empathetic, communicative, emotional and imaginative artists. The variety of work will also show that not all autistic people are the same – as we say, when you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person!

Kate Fox is a Stand-up poet, Broadcaster and Neurodiversity advocate based in Newcastle. She’s a regular contributor to BBC Radio’s The Verb. Her most recent books are Where There’s Muck There’s Bras: True Stories of the North of England’s Women (Harper North) and The Oscillations (Nine Arches). Her next will be Bigger on the Inside (Smokestack).
https://katefoxwriter.wordpress.com/

Hannah Silva’s audio drama An Artificially Intelligent Guide to Love for BBC Radio 4 starred Fiona Shaw and was the starting point for My Child, the Algorithm (Footnote), a memoir on queer parenting and love written in conversation with a GPT algorithm and a toddler, which was a Granta Book of the Year.
https://www.hannahsilva.co.uk/

Kandace Siobhan Walker is a writer and artist of Jamaican, Canadian, Saltwater Geechee and Welsh heritage. She won an Eric Gregory Award and the White Review Poet’s Prize. Her pamphlet, Kaleido, was published by Bad Betty Press, and her debut collection, Cowboy (Cheerio Publishing) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize Best First Collection 2023.
https://kandace.co.uk/

Poet, producer and presenter Jill Abram grew up in Manchester, travelled the world and now lives in Brixton. She is autistic, has Jewish heritage and lives with fibromyalgia. She was Director of the influential collective, Malika’s Poetry Kitchen for 12 years. Her debut pamphlet, Forgetting My Father, is published by Broken Sleep Books.
http://jillabram.co.uk/

Gareth Farmer is a writer, lecturer, budding podcaster and woodworker (in no particular order). He is also an inveterate collector of books, cuddly toys, wood, stationary and radio-associated sundries. Gareth’s pamphlet, Kerf, is published by the87press
https://www.garethstuartfarmer.com/

*AMPLE Collective are Sofia Lyall and Jacqueline Ennis Cole. They are an intergenerational autistic collective centred around radical ecological care, open dialogue, and collective wellbeing. They will present Mutterings, which was commissioned by Spread the Word and first performed at the 2024 Deptford Literature Festival.
https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/mutterings-by-ample-collective/
https://twitter.com/xamplcollective

Price: £8.00 / £5.00. (Pay on the door)

Time: 4:00pm (Doors open 1530 - ends around 6pm NB The room is UPSTAIRS)