Spoken Label

Latest up from Spoken Label making her debut is the wonderful Connie Rigby. Connie Rigby was born in Delph, Oldham and is currently studying MA Creative Writing, BA Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures in Manchester. She can be contacted via email : connielouiserigbypoetry@gmail.com

Bonus Episode from Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Poetry Podcast) featuring the return of our friend Peter Topping talking about a new fund raising campaign for the visually-impaired in South Manchester (UK) with a new poetry book. More details about this can be seen: JustGiving https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/free-books?utm_term=Z7KAJn87y Link to YouTube video of sample page in book https://youtu.be/fKg2crEJbis Facebook page Peter Topping https://www.facebook.com/peter.thetoppings.net/

Latest up from Spoken Label features the return of our friend, the wonderful Quigley CB (Also known as Quigley Cryan Brockbank) As of typing, Quigley is a Manchester-based writer, whose work typically combines horror and elements from folk tales with an absurdist sense of humour. She has had work published in the likes of Spellbinder and has been featured on All FM and the BBC. Her first play, Exiles, was shortlisted for the Shelagh Delaney New Writing Award. Her debut short story collection, God Leaks out of your Armpit – a collection of queer body horror – was recently published by Written Off Publishing. More about Quigley can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/quigley_cb/

Latest up from Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) features the return of our friend, Charlotte Faulconbridge. Charlotte Faulconbridge is an autistic and chronically ill prize-winning poet, published author, musician and TEDx performer. Her book, Too High to Function, which tells the story of her life on the autistic spectrum has sold in over 20 countries, on every continent, and reached number one in the Amazon bestseller charts. She became an ambassador for the mental health charity MIND earlier this year and was recently a finalist in the BBC Make A Difference awards. Her brand new book, The Warring Twenties, is her debut poetry collection themed around mental health. Charlotte can be contacted on: https://www.instagram.com/charlotterobynf/https://www.inclusivecreatives.co.uk/ Jawbone who publishes The Warring Twenties can be found at: https://www.wessex.media/

* Bonus Episode * Latest up from Spoken Label (Spoken Word Podcast / Poetry) features the return of our friend, Kate Jenkinson. Dr Kate Jenkinson is scientist and poet reconciled and is one of a handful of LinkedIN Business Poets. She likes hats, writes about the many ones she wears (Mother, Daughter, Friend, Coach, entrepreneur) and she enjoys performing at open mics and slams since the pandemic made the poetry community more accessible. In 2022 she performed her TEDx talk Poetry Never Abandons Us and she enjoys attending and headlining events internationally. Her work can be found in EyeFlash, Good DadHood, Steel Jackdaw, Flight of the Dragonfly and Feral (their first Mother/Daughter poetry and art collaboration). Kate recently realised she was neurodivergent so this and her aphantasia is a feature of her recent work. This bonus episode talks directly about Kate's debut poetry book 'Unbroken'. 'Unbroken' is described as "Kate Jenkinson's debut collection is a tale of self-discovery. Delving into her past to analyse and embrace her neurodivergencies. Sometimes heart-wrenching and difficult, sometimes glorious and life-affirming, always about acceptance. As an aphantasic poet, it is about much more than creating a visual image for Kate. Her poetry lies in the sounds, tastes and touch that she experiences; the emotions that come from all senses. With sublime natural lyricism, and joy in wordplay, rhyme and alliteration, her slam poetry comes to life on the page. Sitting alongside beautiful form and free verse poetry, it is a marriage of the soul. Kate's poetry will have you looking inward, while she holds your hand, showing you how to accept yourself to ultimately become Un/Broken" Kate can be found on both facebook and Linkedin: https://www.facebook.com/kjenkinson1 https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katejenkinsonnextstephr Her book is available either through Kate directly or https://www.amazon.co.uk/Broken-Kate-Jenkinson/dp/1917408005 Prickly Pear is on facebook and eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/o/ashley-edge-66407590783?fbclid=IwY2xjawGUr4hleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYtGgSJuHYzV_QAB2KHj-ZU95MoHGPj9F8sDXP9K0cHlMPwVgE1LICyZcA_aem_r8ORXCbezw7NzhkrYD7FZw

Latest up from Spoken Label features making his debut, the wonderful Edward Little. Edward Little is a writer based in Liverpool who publishes fiction as well as performs spoken word poetry. His creative vent, Giz a Word: Creative Collective, runs once a month in the city. More about Edward can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/edward.little.184

Latest up from Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) features making her debut, the amazing Lesedi Letsoalo. Lesedi Letsoalo is a 20-year-old South African writer, currently studying Accounting Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. My Grief - Booked is her first solo book and was written after her grandmother, who had been her primary caregiver/guardian since she was an infant, passed away very suddenly in 2021 due to COVID-19. The loss opened her eyes to how much stigma, shame and negativity surrounds the inevitable emotions that come with grief and loss, thus she not only wrote the book, but published it. She aims to raise more awareness to the impact of grief and loss on individuals, to educate society on how to be kinder to people going through it. Another goal of hers is to create a safe space for grievers to sit with and in their true and authentic emotions, however heavy they may be, and know that it's normal and okay to feel the way that they're feeling during whatever their time of their grief.Her debut full length collection "My Grief ~ Booked" can be found on Amazon.Her email address to contact for more details is lesediletsoalo02@gmail.com

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry Podcast) features making her debut, the amazing Linda Cosgriff. Linda advises her poems have appeared in magazines, anthologies, textbooks, shops, galleries, ezines, and on BBC Radio. They have been set to music, turned into art, and sent to Mars and for several years, she edited a small church magazine. She advises writes occasional articles for one website and once had a one-act play staged at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre. She is a founder member and former chair of Stockport Writers, a not-for-profit group which aims to encourage newbies to writing. She is an active member of Write Out Loud, the UK’s largest poetry organisation, which encourages poets to read their poems aloud to others and delivers readings and workshops to various community groups and charities in Stockport. She is a writer-in-residence for two community groups and one charity. To date she has published three collections, Wholly Man and Hormoanal and Tales from the Rainbow Nation (of which this Podcast covers). More about Linda can be found at her website: https://poetryfluff.wordpress.com/ Seven Arches Publishing who publish the book can be found here: https://www.sevenarchespublishing.co.uk/Book_Details/Tales_From_The%20Rainbow_Nation.html

Next up from Spoken Label (Poetry Podcast) making his debut features the wonderful Chris Platt. Chris Platt advises he has been writing stories ever since he can remember and has written hundreds of stories and two novels. Alongside this, he has been writing poetry since 2023. He lives in Manchester with his wife and his black Labrador. His stories can be found on the following websites, Storystar, under the name CPlatt, Writers Club / Grey Thoughts, as Chris Platt. His poems can be found on My Poetic Side, under the pen name Tom Dylan.

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author / Artist Chat Podcast) making her debut is Hannah Parry. Hannah Parry trained as a paediatric nurse in the UK.Her first novel Winter's Bite, won first prize in the 12+ section at the Winchester Writers' Festival in June 2012. Fever Quest, the sequel, won the Write Historical Fiction Monthly Masterpiece and was longlisted for the MSLexia Children's Novel prize in 2016.The Mechanics' Institute Review, Halfway Down the Stairs, The Doubleback Review and The Junction published her short fiction. In 2021 she was longlisted for the BBC Short Story Award.Her latest book is an adult thriller, Breathing for Both of Us, published in September 2023.The Baby Exchange, a book club fiction novel for adults will be published in the summer of 2024.The third in the Isabella Rockwell trilogy will be published in 2025.Her website can be found at https://www.hannahparry.com/

Latest up from Spoken Label (Author / Artist / Poetry Podcast) features the amazing Peter Topping. Peter is a local artist in the Chorlton Area and has worked on several books with historian Andrew Simpson. He has also written his own book entitled “Smile Dammit Smile!!! – Chorlton”. He has created many “History Walls” and art installations around Chorlton together with Manchester historian Andrew Simpson. Together with Andrew he has created 14 books on the history of Chorlton and Manchester He was The Chorlton Arts Festival Director for 4 years. At the present, he is working as Virtual Arts Festival Director for Chorlton Arts and also is putting together artwork by local artists to be displayed on hoardings around Chorlton-cum-Hardy. In 2023, at the age of 74, he started collating the poems he had already written and started to write new poems reflecting on his life so far. He then worked on a project with Lindy Newns, which came about while he was working on The Virtual Chorlton Arts Festival for 2024. Peter was curating the Literary Arts section and was creating the exhibition panel that carried Lindy’s entry. As he read the poem, he began to think that perhaps he could enliven the panel by painting a picture of the scene. He then decided that it would be fun to have a collection of Lindy’s poems illustrated in the same way, mixing the two arts together, literary and visual, in what would be an exciting book to read, and to view. The rest is revealed in this feature length podcast More about Peter can be found at: https://pubbooks.co.uk/ #poetrypodcast #art #artpodcast #poetry #chorlton The video for this is here - https://youtu.be/mAELVAmq0fo

Latest up from Spoken Label, features the return of our friend, Jo Somerset. Jo Somerset is based in Manchester. She completed a MA in Creative Writing in May 2020 at the University of Salford, where she received the Leanne Bridgewater Award for Innovation and Experiment. Like Isla, Jo grew up in Birmingham with an unspoken Celtic heritage. A love of the Hebrides and her experience with a blended family underlie Isla’s heartfelt journey towards finding her origins and a new self-belief. In this Podcast, we primarily talk about Jo's new book "Mission: Find Mum" This book is described as "Isla and Lac's mum is missing, but has left clues, and an emergency credit card. The children travel from Birmingham to Mora, a Scottish island, camping and tracking their mum. Hampered by challenges and unsure of who to trust, can Isla and Lac succeed in their mission? What else will they find... and lose? For ages 10 and up." The book can be bought directly from Stairwell books: https://www.stairwellbooks.co.uk/product/mission-find-mum/ Jo Somerset can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/jo.somerset https://x.com/josomerset https://www.instagram.com/jo.somerset/

Latest up from Spoken Label features Toki Ward from the band Onion Mash. Onion Mash are a 4 piece female-fronted melodic (mainly) hard-rock band formed in 2021, but as the name suggests, their music is a mash up- a little bit hard-rock, heavy metal elements off melodic, even a little punk with raw emotional vocals, big personalities and plenty of hooky riffs. More details: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081500374600 (Toki's guitar page) https://www.facebook.com/OnionMashofficial (Onion Mash facebook) https://www.instagram.com/onionmashband/ (Onion Mash Instagram)

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry / Spoken Word Podcast) features Unspoken. Unspoken is a Tampa poet, actor, host, workshop facilitator and member of the Growhouse Collective who has performed throughout the US both professionally and competitively. A 2nd Generation American, much of Unspoken's writing deals with being Latino in the U.S. and the nature of identity. Unspoken also writes about mental health through the lens of his own experiences in the hopes that people with both internal and external struggles can relate to what he went through and feel someone can understand whatever they're going through. When he isn’t writing, Unspoken likes to plan vacations he can't afford, rewatch Scrubs a concerning number of times, and agonize about not writing. Unspoken is also working on his debut poetry collection, Unspoken Perspectives, out soon. More on Unspoken can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/anunspokenpoet/

Latest up from Spoken Label features making her debut, the amazing Hayley Lyn Gordon. Hayley is a mother of 2 and a spoken word artist, known as, Twisted Tales and was born and raised in Anfield, Liverpool. She writes about motherhood, love, heartache, co-parenting, grief, addiction, mental health and random stuff e.g. about her cat eating ham! She started a project in 2023 that involves incorporating music with spoken word and is on the look out for musicians to collaborate with in the future. Her poetry journey began in July 2021, when she saw a post from "A Lovely Word" advertising an open mic night. She finally found the courage to stand up in St James' Gardens and read "Lemonade Grenade" for the first time, to far more people than she expected. Since then, Hayley's life has been a rollercoaster and she's found writing helps her navigate through lifes ups and downs. Music is a big passion and she has been inspired by many artists, such as Stevie Nicks, Taylor Swift, Paramore, The Cure, Prince, Marilyn Monroe many more. Hayley is also one of the many women platformed by Claire Berry's popular "Fem De La Femme Comedy and Spoken Word" events at The Everyman, Liverpool. This amazing comedy night also raises money for various women's organisations within the Merseyside area every 3 months and is so proud to be apart of an organisation that empowers women and also gives back to the comminity. Hayley mainly performs her poetry with "A Lovely Word" at "The Everyman" and "Word Vomit" at "Round The Corner". She performed during the poetry festival hosted by "A Lovely Word" and "Unusual Art Sourcing Company" in Liverpool for the launch of their poetry zine during June and July 2024, whilst also competing at "A Lovely Word Slam Competition" at the Shakespeare North Playhouse (2023) and The Everyman (2024). Hayley also recently hosted an intimate poetry reading with the local community in Dovecot MAC and had a ball whilst being interviewed by Andy NPoet for his podcast "Spoken Label" (release date 2nd September 2024, on most streaming site e.g. YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music etc). Hayley Gordon/Twisted Tales Bio Instagram: @twistedtales.hlg19 Tik Tok: @h.l.gtwistestales

Latest Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast) features making her debut, Lynne Thompson. Lynne Thompson was Los Angeles’ 2021-22 Poet Laureate and received a Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. She is the author of three previous collections of poetry: Beg NoPardon, Start With A Small Guitar, and Fretwork, winner of the 2019 Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize. Thompson is the recipient of multiple awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, the Tucson Literary Festival Poetry Prize, the Steven Dunn Poetry Prize, the George Drury Prize, as well as fellowships from the Summer Literary Series, Kenya, and the Vermont Studio Center. An attorney by training with a J.D. from Southwestern Law School.Thompson sits on the Boards of Cave Canem, The Poetry Foundation, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. In June 2022, she completed her four-year service as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Scripps College, her alma mater. Thompson’s recent work can be found or is forthcoming in the literary journals Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review, The Common, Pleiades, The Massachusetts Review, and Copper Nickel, among others. Her Website is the following: https://www.lynnethompson.us/

Latest up from Spoken Label (Artist / Writer / Poetry Podcast) features the return of our friend, Christine Stoddard. Christine is a writer, filmmaker, and artist named one of MSN's Top 10 Inspirational Women to Look Out for In 2024, one of Brooklyn Magazine's Top 50 Most Fascinating People, and a Ms. Magazine "Ms. Muse." Her critically-acclaimed work includes the stage play "Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares," the feature films "Sirena's Gallery" and “Her Garden,” the TV show "Badass Lady-Folk," the books Desert Fox by the Sea and Belladonna Magic, the documentary “The Persistence of Poe,” short films such as "Uncontested," "Bottled," and "De Colores (Chorus of Melancholy)," and the publication Quail Bell Magazine. She is also the co-host of “Don’t Mind If I Don’t,” a comedy TV show with Aaron Gold. Her painting, photography, and performance/video art have appeared at the Queens Botanical Garden, Irondale Theatre, The Elisabet Ney Museum, The Old Stone House, Howard County Art Center, and elsewhere. She was the inaugural artist-in-residence at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, as well as part of landmark AIR cohorts at the Brooklyn Public Library-Eastern Parkway Branch and Woodlawn Estate. She has studied documentary film and oral history at Columbia University, interdisciplinary art at The City College of New York, and libretto writing at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Born to a Salvadoran mother and Anglo-American father, she grew up in Virginia as the eldest of three.

Latest from Spoken Label features the return of our friend, the wonderful Alison Nissen.Alison is the host of the Florida Writer Podcast and as says on her website "is a writer who does daily battle with dog hair and laundry. She has taught collegiate composition and literature classes for over a decade. Currently, she is the co-founder of Revel Coach, an inspirational platform and managing partner of 3 Dog Tales Productions, a full-service Ghostwriting, Editing, Coaching, and Publishing company."Her website is: alisonnissen.com

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry / Spoken Word Podcast) features making her debut is the amazing Courtney Ward. Courtney is a neurodivergent and chronically ill writer, writing group facilitator, artist and photographer. With mixed heritage and also having mental health difficulties, she faces the odds of having to deal with silent battles and expresses them, so truthfully, turning heartache into heartmake. She has been published in 7 anthologies including “our time and space” by Writing East Midlands, “Speak Out” by The Word Association, and Sisterhood anthology for Sisterhood Festival in Bradford , been a feature artist at Prickly Pear in January 2024, Speak your Mind in April 2024 and August 2024, and also, talked at and collaborated with local charities and also performed at festivals, such as Kettfest, and recently claimed the opportunity to perform at Corby Pride. Plus, Courtney advises she continues to work with our younger generation to make our future better, and also has experience as a shadow writer for Writing East Midlands Beyond The Spectrum young writers group. More about Courtney can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10... OR https://www.instagram.com/courts_ward/

Latest up from Spoken Label, making her debut is the amazing Kate Ireland. Kate describes herself "Hi there, I'm an artist from Scotland with a fidgety brain. I play with the boundaries of performance, installation, text, and community practice. My art is all about fighting the urge to optimize ourselves through language and gathering. It is also about connecting to the primal, childlike, strange and tender parts of ourselves. I also love working with my pals and seeing creative projects as an excuse to parallel play." This chat is primarily about her debut album with Locksy "Self Regulating Behaviours". This album is described as "An audio-visual performance and pamphlet that explores the relationship between the performer's behaviour and impulses in the face of neurotypical, hyper-capitalist standards of optimisation. Accompanied by a Sheffield-based producer and DJ, the performance features distorted words, missed phone calls, and increasingly bizarre wellness rules. The pamphlet includes notebook sketches, scanned images, and continuous writing, while the performance pushes spoken word into performance art, film, and sonic art. " More about Kate can be found at: https://kateireland.squarespace.com/ Kate is on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/kate.ireland__/ The album is on bandcamp at: https://kateireland.bandcamp.com/album/self-regulating-behaviours