Speak Your Mind With Ciarán Hodgers and Ash Bainbridge

The Word Association CIC's monthly performance event, Speak Your Mind is back featuring the mesmerising Ciarán Hodgers with support from the powerful Ash Bainbridge and hosted by the dynamic Jemima Hughes.

Performance starts at 7.00pm. (Please arrive at 6.30 to secure an open mic slot).

This is a pay what you feel event, but the suggested donation of £5 (or £3 for students or unwaged) will help us to bring more top quality performance poets to Redditch! (Please note we have a couple of subsidised places available, so don't let funds be a barrier).

OUR MAIN ACTS:

Ciarán Hodgers

Ciarán Hodgers (he/him/his) is an Irish spoken word poet based in the UK. His debut poetry collection Cosmocartography, published by Burning Eye Books in 2018, was shortlisted for the prestigious Rubery Book Award and toured the UK & Ireland, featuring in national media on both sides of the pond. His latest collection, Solastalgia, is an exploration of climate change and mental health. Winner of the Sean Dunne National Young Writer Award in 2010, an International Pangaea Poetry Slam Champion 2015 and the Word War 3 Slam Champion, he has been shortlisted for the Pushcart Prize, OutSpoken Prize for Poetry and longlisted for the Not The Foreword and Gingko Eco-poetry competition. Published internationally in journals, anthologies, festivals, exhibitions and curriculum texts, he is also an experienced workshop leader and creative mentor, supporting people with their creative practice towards publication and a sustainable, consistent creativity.

https://ciaranhodgers.sumupstore.com/

Ash Bainbridge

Ash Bainbridge (they/he) is a queer polyamorous poet, home educating parent, and student midwife with a flaming uterus. They light fires for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sexual and reproductive healthcare, your body to be yours, and proper – like, proper – rest. Their poems live in places like The Mum Poem Press, Bite Poetry Press, and Solstice Literary Magazine, and in 2022, a limited edition riso-print run of ‘How to gift a sonnet to a stranger you love’ was included in winter care packages for trans and non- binary people as part of Transgiving. Ash’s first poetry pamphlet “Trans-crip-t” - about living with endometriosis as a trans person- is out in June with Written Off Publishing. His condiment of choice is sriracha.

OUR HOST: Jemima Hughes

Sit back and don't relax! Multi slam winner Jemima Hughes will drag you through the “mindfield” of the unorthodox. Always a gripping performance, she will leave you questioning whether she meant to do that, or whether she needs to go and have a lie down. Not for the faint hearted, but definitely from the heart.

With a strong belief that listening saves lives, it’s time to turn her hand to hosting. She can’t wait to introduce people to the stage for them to be seen and feel heard.

Don't forget to buy her brand new book, ‘Into The Ordinary’.

RUN BY: The Word Association CIC

Encouraging writing outside the margins

The Word Association bring writing workshops and opportunities in publishing and performance to underrepresented groups. Their passion is celebrating the stories of marginalised communities and making sure their voices get heard.

The Word Association publish anthologies of workshop participants’ work and distribute them for free at Pride events, literature festivals and throughout Worcestershire Libraries for National Poetry Day, National Coming Out Day and World Mental Health Day.

www.the-word-association.com

[email protected]

THE VENUE: The Old Needleworks Foundation, Redditch (parking available on site)

The Old Needle Works Foundation is based at The Old Needle Works, where they host a variety of mental health support and learning opportunities for the community of Redditch. They offer courses that give individuals educational opportunities and skills development, as well as craft and recreational courses.

They are committed to supporting our community, raising people’s confidence and wellbeing and developing positive mental attitudes through our life coaching projects.

They aim to develop their services to also include peer support to the community with educational advocates, volunteer opportunities and drop-in advice sessions to help sign-post people towards appropriate services.

In addition it is also home to a variety of local charities and creative industries businesses, which also support the community and follow the same ethos in their quest to empower people and create a better future for service users.

http://www.theoldneedleworks.co.uk/

Host or Publisher The Word Association CIC