Do you remember when, back in May, we announced we’d be posting less frequently so as to focus on bigger things?
Well, following a good few months of secret scheming, we’re very pleased to announce that our first bigger thing has come to fruition: we have been awarded funding from Arts Council England to put on a run of events at independent venues in the North of England. Marking a concerted effort to expand our geographical horizons, each event is to take place in a grassroots community venue in a town which has never hosted us before.
On Wednesday 20th November, we’re heading to The Golden Lion, Todmorden, where:
– Four years after the publication of her multi-award-winning memoir The Outrun, Caught by the River mainstay Amy Liptrot will read new work.
– Editor Jessica J. Lee and contributors Nina Mingya Powles and Michael Malay (both of whom are nominated for the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize) read excerpts from their work and discuss their involvement in The Willowherb Review – a platform launched last year to celebrate and bolster nature writing by emerging and established writers of colour.
– Poet Zaffar Kunial reads from a selection of work, including his new cricket-centric pamphlet, Six.
– Spoken word artist Roy plucks Merseyside-centred tales from his carrier bag of notebooks.
– Master of ceremonies is journalist and award-winning short fiction writer Anna Wood.
Located in the heart of Todmorden and independently run, The Golden Lion is a community hub which regularly promotes gigs by internationally successful DJs and artists (the likes of Andrew Weatherall and Jarvis Cocker).
On Thursday 21st November, we descend on Small Seeds, Huddersfield, where:
– On the great outdoors, swimming and Berlin: Amy Liptrot and Jessica J. Lee discuss the common ground of their respective books, The Outrun and Turning, as well as new works.
– Poet Toria Garbutt – a regular tour support for John Cooper Clarke, as well as an educator in schools and prisons – reads from her debut collection, The Universe and Me.
– Huddersfield postman Kevin Boniface shares notes about his daily round, as published in his book Round About Town.
– The legendary John Head, ex-of The Pale Fountains and Shack, gives a rare live performance.
– Master of ceremonies is journalist and award-winning short fiction writer Anna Wood.
Uniquely decorated with interior trees, Small Seeds is a regular host of Huddersfield’s reggae/funk/soul/world music nights, and, rumour has it, also serves the best pizzas in town.
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We will be announcing a third event, taking place early next year, in the next couple of weeks.
As well as full-priced tickets (£6), suspended tickets will also be available for both events. If feeling generous, these are tickets which can be bought ahead for someone else; if anyone would like to come to an event but can’t afford to buy a ticket, these are then available to claim for free, no questions asked.
Tickets for Todmorden are available here, and Huddersfield here. Suspended tickets can be claimed by emailing info@caughtbytheriver.net.