A special night of fundraising poetry comes to Withington this weekend in support of Café Blah following the controversial closure of the cultural hotspot last month.
The former host of monthly live literature night Verbose has co-organised the reading event to raise funds and awareness for the #SaveCaféBlah campaign.
Blah! Blah!! Blah!!! Writers For Café Blah – poetry and prose for the people – takes place Sat 23 Nov 23, from 5pm – 7pm, at Withington Public Hall Institute.
Featuring 16 performers from the city’s writing and spoken word scene, all proceeds (except Eventbrite fees) will be donated to the #SaveCafeBlah Just Giving campaign.
A vital part of Manchester’s creative community, Café Blah was a much-loved hub for cultural activity and home to regular music, film and spoken word events and visual arts, including the annual Blah Open. Just days before being evicted from the premises, the team hosted a literary quiz for the first-ever Withington Book Festival.
Blah! Blah!! Blah!!! will be compèred by Sarah-Clare Conlon, who ran the award-winning Verbose at Fallow for three years. Conlon appeared at Withington Book Festival in October and is co-organising the benefit with fellow writer David Gaffney. The couple were Café Blah customers and had worked in the Blah Open exhibitions.
Also reading will Professor of Poetry at the Centre for New Writing John McAuliffe, Tom Jenks, of The Other Room avant-garde reading series, Jazmine Linklater of No Matter, Peter Barlow’s Cigarette organisers Joey Francis and Tim Allen, Speakeasy host Steve Smythe, Anna Percy of Beatification, creative writing lecturer Alicia Rouverol, Manchester Critics Collective member Lydia Unsworth, Lenni Sanders of The Writing Squad, Broken Sleep Books poet Nóra Blascsók, Confingo contributor Nathan Bailey, and Manchester poets Steven Waling and Pam Galloway.
You can book your ticket using the button below, and make a donation to help the Café Blah team find a new home here.
- Words:
- Bradley Lengden
- Published on:
- Tue 19 Nov 2024
