This Land is Our Land: exploring access to the outdoors through lenses of disability, race, migration and land rights
Poetry from Polly Atkin, L Kiew and Jonathan Davidson, and music from Lucy & Hazel
Saturday 27th May
Online
20:00 – 22:00
£3 – £15
[Captioned]
Event Description
Nearly 100 years ago, workers marched onto Kinder Scout to fight for the right to roam over Britain’s open land. But in 2023, access to green space is limited by many factors including disability, race and social class. Our readers bring unique perspectives on what access to the outdoors means to them – L. Kiew’s More Than Weeds explores the language of migration and how it is used in relation to plant and animal species, while Polly Atkin is an advocate for voices at the margins of adventure and nature writing and has written about place, belonging and chronic illness. Jonathan Davidson’s A Common Place places poetry at the heart of collective action, conversation and personal geography. Lucy & Hazel will finish the evening with spirit-rousing folk songs on themes of social, land and climate justice.
There will be a short interval in the middle of this event.
More about the performers:
Polly Atkin is a poet and nonfiction writer, living in the Lake District. She has published three poetry pamphlets – bone song (Aussteiger, 2008), Shadow Dispatches (Seren, 2013) and With Invisible Rain (New Walk: 2018) – and two collections – Basic Nest Architecture (Seren: 2017) and Much With Body (Seren, 2021) – a PBS Winter 2021 recommendation and Laurel Prize longlistee. Her biography Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth (Saraband, 2021), is the first to focus on Dorothy’s later life and illness, and was longlisted for the 2022 Barbellion Prize. Her memoir exploring place, belonging and disability, Some Of Us Just Fall, will be published by Sceptre in summer 2023.
L. Kiew is a chinese-malaysian living in London, working as a charity sector leader and accountant. She holds a MSc in Creative Writing and Literary Studies from Edinburgh University. Her debut pamphlet The Unquiet was published by Offord Road Books in 2019. She was longlisted in the 2019 National Poetry Competition and was a 2019/2020 London Library Emerging Writer.
Jonathan Davidson is a poet, writer and literature activist. He lives in the English Midlands but works internationally. His poetry has been widely published and he has also written memoir and criticism. His radio dramas and adaptations have been broadcast by BBC Radios 3 and 4. Much of his work is focussed on how writing – especially poetry – is experienced by readers and listeners. Jonathan’s latest poetry collection is A Commonplace – Apples, Bricks & Other People’s Poems (Smith|Doorstop, 2020). www.jonathandavidson.net
Lucy and Hazel are a Sheffield-based folk duo who perform original, provocative, spirit rousing songs on the melodeon, guitar and clarinet in rich woven vocal harmony. Their music has deep roots in themes of social, land and climate justice and they bring these subjects to their audience with directness, care and humour.
‘We were blown away by their combination of incredible musicianship, tight harmonies, wry, funny and moving lyrics and quality bants!’, Flying Donkey Events
‘I’ve got ADHD and was able to sit down for their whole performance with my full attention. What a beautiful team and talented performers, hilarious as well!’, Ollie Yates (clown and performer)
Their uniquely contrasting yet complimentary voices began to meld after the discovery of each other’s provocative song writing during the pandemic. Their songs speak truth to power and tell stories of resistance and hope and they are a powerful and entertaining folk duo on the scene. Expect laughs, rousing choruses, tears and possible costume changes…
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