The Writing Squad

Emma Adams is currently in residence at Bradford’s National Nature Reserve; For One or a Hundred Voices will be performed this weekend on the 29th and 30th. A non repeatable moment. Every show will be different. Free, booking required

Congratulations to Ruth Kelner for receiving a fully funded PhD scholarship from the University of Leicester’s new Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space, in collaboration with The National Archives. She will be undertaking a practice-based PhD looking at theatrical depictions of outer space.

Louise Essex aka Dear Wife has her last gig of the year this Thursday in Hitchin.

Durham Fringe Presents... Lewis Brown! Lewis Brown is a Newcastle-based poet and spoken word performer, fascinated with horror, alienation and queerplatonic love. Join three acts for a spooky evening next Wednesday!

Catch Nathan Dunn and his alt-rock/aggro pop band, The False Flag, tomorrow night in Sheffield.

Catch Francesca Pidgeon AKA Dilettante at her upcoming gigs in Yorkshire and London - the first, this Friday in Leeds

In Oxford tomorrow? Come along to a poetic version of Bake Off featuring Em Pritchard

At a loss for things to do tomorrow? In Hebden Bridge, we have a showcase at the UNSPEAKABLE festival Or you can catch Squaddies Kym Deyn and Katherine Horrex on a panel at Durham Book Festival! www.writingsquad.com/event/develo...

Tomorrow night in Sheffield - the Sheffield Poet Laureate, Beth Davies, marks the end of her tenure with an evening of vibrant readings alongside three emerging Northern poets.

Congratulations to Lauren Vevers for receiving a (high) commendation for their piece, Proof of Delivery!

All lines lead to Leeds today for It Came From Inside … My Notebook - a day with Andrew McMillan exploring how the Goosebump books we read as kids can influence our writing today.

7 artists x 7 artworks x 7 minutes = 7 Small Acts Tonight at Falmouth Art Gallery, Squad grad Ruby Lawrence takes part in an evening of new live performance.

Starting tomorrow, Kym Deyn is running an online course for the Poetry School around folklore and mythology! Spaces left...

Celebrate National Poetry Day tonight at the Stockroom, where Ruth Awolola will be performing! For those of you in and around Stockport.

It’s 12:45AM and the club is packed. Tyrell should be behind the bar but tonight he abandons his post to chase after his ex. At least he thinks it was his ex… A rehearsed reading of CJ Simon's play is coming to Sheffield this Thursday. Follow the link for more info and to book a ticket.

Celebrate Lenni Sanders' pamphlet launch for Bowl of Grapes with this online PAYF reading next Wednesday evening! With readings from Alicia Byrne Keane, Pascal Fallas, Rachel Burns, Abi Weaver, Farah Wardani, & Daniele Rugo, Nicky Arscott & Amy McCauley, Lenni Sanders, and John Whitehouse.

Middle Child, Hull presents a new series of 30-minute plays. Brilliant storytelling in the time it takes to eat your lunch or enjoy a quick pint after work. Funny, heartfelt and honest, Kicks by Lydia Marchant explores friendship, family and the promises we make when we’re young. 25th-27th Sept.

This Thursday, One Mic Stand returns to Manchester's Blues Kitchen. Expect stellar poetry, live performance, special guests and an All Stars line-up featuring some of the most powerful voices in the city - including Squaddie, Holly Thorpe!

The 10th anniversary of the UK’s biggest poetry and performance festival, BBC Contains Strong Language, comes to Salford on the 24th to 27th September 2026; Squad writers are involved with three events on the programme and Oenone Wirth has been announced as the Laurel Prize Poet-in-Residence!

What are you doing on Wednesday? If you're around Manchester, get yourself over to Red Arch for a slumber party! The noughties called…and they said you’re invited to the most iconic comedy night around, hosted by “viscerally relatable” comedian, Charlotte Cropper!

Next Tuesday in London - featuring Squad writer Finlay Worrallo (and Helen Bowell with her Editor hat on!)

This Sunday in Sunderland! Squad writer Viv Burgess is hosting a family-friendly nature walk, as part of the Somewhere Places project, in partnership with Durham Wildlife Trust. For more information and free tickets, follow the link: www.durhamwt.com/events/2026-...

Congratulations to both Stevie Ronnie and Emma Adams from our Core Team who have recently received exciting news... Stevie has been selected as a New Writing North Creative Associate, and Emma has been awarded a National Nature Reserve Residency by Bradford Culture. For more info, go to our site!

Featuring Jay Mitra, The Big Queer Poetry Show 2026 promises a poetry night like no other. There will be a fabulous line-up of 14 established and emerging LGBTQ+ poets, who will each share a five minute set. This Sunday at 21 Soho in London. 100% of all proceeds will be donated to Rainbow Mind.

This Saturday, Holly Thorpe has a main stage set at Northwich Pride and will be running an accompanying workshop on the theme of queer joy. All welcome. Go along if you're in the area to hear poetry about mullet dreams and food disasters!

Coming up this Thursday in Darlington, Women X, the UK's leading women's film festival. Book your tickets to the screenings now!

Eli Yim's show comes to the Barnsley Civic this coming Thursday 17th. It combines theatre, live music, and stand up to both entertain and expose the uncomfortable reality of UK mental health services. Sometimes, there's an inappropriately-timed kazoo. Show your support and buy a ticket now!

'The Easy Way Out' aims to entertain and expose the uncomfortable reality of UK mental health services. Eli Yim shares a range of personal experiences through original songs performed onstage with their keyboard. And, sometimes, an inappropriately-timed kazoo. Northern tour begins next Thursday!

The ‘I’ve Never Read Elizabeth Gaskell’ exhibition features work by three Squad writers Georgia Affonso, Princess Arinola Adegbite and Guruleen Kahlo, who completed a residency at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. Opening today in Walkden Library! Follow the link for more information.

From Edinburgh to Stroud! Kym will be busy this Autumn touring with readings for their debut collection, Folkish, and a number of other workshops and events. Find all details on the link below.

Libby Maeve’s debut short story ‘Sticky‘ has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by its publisher StoryQuarterly. Follow the link for more information, and to read her fab sci-fi piece!

An evening of serious (and not-so-serious) poetry and spoken word, showcasing London’s hottest up-and-coming poets, and UK slam champions, including Squad writer Jay Mitra. Next Monday!

Newcastle University Poetry graduates, including Squaddie Tallulah Howarth, reflect on their experiences of meeting, and share readings from their time together. North Shields Library next Saturday afternoon!

Happen to be in Denmark next week? Jamal will be performing some live art centred around connection and conversation at the Aarhus Festival.

Oenone Wirth, a recent English Literature graduate, has been awarded the University of Manchester's ‘Alun Lewis Prize for outstanding performance in Poetry’ for her creative writing. Congratulations Oenone!

Jay Mitra has joined the LWC Young Writers Collective. From September 2026 – March 2027, the Collective will work with award-winning poets to discover, develop and experiment with their craft and build community.

Amy Luxton’s flash fiction piece ‘Spring, Seven Years Later’ has won the Joy category of the Welkin Genre Prize!

This Sunday, Lauren Vevers is co-facilitating an online workshop on trans and non-binary grief. Click through to find out more information

Congratulations to Joe Wright, who is is a winner of the Poetry Business New Poets Prize for his pamphlet HOWK.

Check out the recent published works of Squad writers here, including in Berlin Lit, fourteen poems and more! @fworrallo.bsky.social @gregorykearns.bsky.social

For the Northern Design Festival, Tadgh Gibson has interviewed developer Jack Chapman about his upcoming horror-exploration game. Read on here!

Jamal Gerald amongst those announced by the BBC as a member of this year’s Voices development group.

Pearl's Women X Film Festival has become BAFTA-Qualifying for Best British Short Film!

From over 450 poems submitted, three Squad writers found their way onto the DIRT Plantable Poetry Competition longlist. Well done to Heather Chapman, Lauren Hollingsworth-Smith and Helen Bowell! From these, Helen went to be further shortlisted too.

This year, two writers from the Squad - Charlotte Cropper and Tallulah Howarth - will be presented by the National Poetry Centre at Latitude Festival. They'll be performing on The Bookshop stage on the 25th July. More information on the link below!

Congrats to Lauren C. Maltas, who won New Writing North's Tempest Prize for Dining Table — her work in progress memoir about food, intimacy, delicious lives and bodies! Winners receive ongoing, personalised career development support, as well as a combination of cash prizes, mentoring and more.

Kym has been longlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (Written) for their Oxford Poetry Prize piece ‘Braag’. Judges of the Oxford Poetry prize called the poem “mordant, funny, and sharply political.” Many congratulations to Kym for receiving this recognition!

7 artists + 7 artworks x 7 minutes = 7 Small Acts Squad grad Ruby Lawrence has been chosen to participate in 7 Small Acts - an evening of small acts/performances that each take an artwork from Falmouth Art Gallery’s extraordinary collection as their starting point.

Gala, Durham this Saturday! Celebrating the incredible versatility of brass, Brassed On will perform a show featuring North East local artists. Including Dilettante, the art-pop project of multi-instrumentalist Francesca Pidgeon, and Isabel Maria, a self proclaimed ‘pensive popstar’.

This Saturday morning join Theodore for another free workshop working with the archives of Hartlepool as a means to respond, reflect, and reimagine the past. More information on the linked article