Three fantastic guests plus quick-fire open floor readings of wide-ranging poetry in the cosy Waddy café lounge—ideal for road-testing new work in front of a warm and appreciative audience. Beginners and slam champions have graced this space. Bring your words and join in. Or sit back and soak up the lyrical atmosphere. Either way, get on down to Waddy—jamming good poetry in Durham City since 2009.
TOLU’ A. AKINYEMI is a multi-award-winning Nigerian writer who moved to the UK in 2010 and has published twenty-one books. He is best known for his debut poetry collection, Dead Lions Don’t Roar. Tolu’ has headlined at Great Northern Slam, Crossing the Tyne Festival and Feltonbury Arts and Music Festival. He was a guest poet at Havering Libraries Black History Month event in October 2021 and endorsed as a writer with exceptional talent by Arts Council England.
SAM SZANTO is a writer living in Durham. She is the author of ‘Splashing Pink’ (with Annie Cowell), published by Hedgehog Press in 2023 and ‘If No One Speaks’, published by Alien Buddha Press in 2022. Sam was the winner of the Charroux Poetry Prize and the First Writer International Poetry Prize. Over 70 of her poems and stories have been published/listed for prizes. Sam is in the final year of an MA with the Poetry School London/Newcastle University.
CHRIS HODGSON lives in Sunderland. He began writing poetry and stories in the sixties after reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Originally perceived as Beat Style writing, his work is based on lived experience and social commentary. Chris has read at lots of venues in the North East and is a regular at King Ink spoken word nights. He writes to relax and entertain himself – and aims to entertain people with his readings.
Admission Free
Doors Open 7.00pm
Open Floor Slots 7.30pm
Waddington Street Centre, 3 Waddington Street, Durham, DH1 4BG near viaduct, behind new students’ accommodation, three mins walk from the bus station.