SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Wandsworth

Across the borough of Wandsworth, the SPINE Festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes workshops with Artists in Residence Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa (poet) and Helen Scully (visual artist). Children are invited to stretch their imaginations, find their voices and get creative with their ideas on Our World. Times and locations are listed…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Tower Hamlets

Across the borough of Tower Hamlets the SPINE Festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes The House That Jackson Built  and Hip Hop Garden. Click on the links for more information. In addition young people can participate in a series of free, interactive workshops the themes, dates and times of which you…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Sutton

In addition to hosting Hip Hop Garden, the borough of Sutton is offering a range of interactive workshops at Sutton Central Library as part of SPINE Festival, the details of which are listed on this page. All workshops are free. For more detailed information please contact the library: Make A Noise (8 March) Using VR,…

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Woman with bird puppet

The Goose Who Flew

‘If I was a goose, who flew, what would I do? Where would I go? I know, do you?’ Goose loves the summer, playing with his family and friends – swimming on the rivers, flying above the treetops and singing under the gaze of the full moon. When the days start to become colder, Goose…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Lewisham

Across the borough of Lewisham, the SPINE Festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes Hip Hop Garden, and two opportunities to engage creatively with the festival theme of ‘Our World’ and the environment: Quiet Hunter – an arts and crafts workshop (7 March), and stories and songs with the amazing storyteller, Jane…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Islington

Across the borough of Islington the SPINE Festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes workshops with Artists in Residence Charlotte Bill (animator) and Jaspreet Kaur (poet). They invite children to stretch their imaginations, find their voices and express their ideas on climate change by helping to make an animation using cut out…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Hammersmith & Fulham

Across the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham the SPINE Festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes The House That Jackson Built  and Hip Hop Garden, plus an interactive storytelling show of The Secret Garden by Cat & Hutch for kids aged 6 years and over – the date and time of which…

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Jawdance

Jawdance: March 2020

All events are postponed until further notice. Please read our statement for more information. Join us for London’s biggest spoken word night! Jawdance is an institution on the spoken word scene and a regular Rich Mix highlight. This year it celebrates its 10th anniversary with a programme of acclaimed feature acts and up-and-coming artists specially…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Ealing

Across the borough of Ealing the SPINE festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes The House That Jackson Built  and Hip Hop Garden. There is also the opportunity to explore the length and breadth of our beautiful plant with puppets, music and art in One World with storyteller Richard Neville. Use your…

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SPINE festival

SPINE Festival | Brent

Across the borough of Brent the SPINE Festival programme of free spoken word and arts activities includes workshops with Artists in Residence, Telling Tales, The House That Jackson Built  and The Perfect Sofa, with special guest Bookstart Bear, and Ealing Road Library Fun Day Galore. Click on the links to find out more about Telling…

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Book with paper art behind it

The House That Jackson Built

A brand new, magical spoken word show that celebrates books and the joy of reading. Jackson’s dad is building a new house from weird and whacky bits and bobs thrown away by the local builder. The last few years have been hard for young Jackson, living without his mum. Now his dad wants to make…

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Someone holding a Passion flower

Hip Hop Garden

An innovative gardening and hip hop workshop for children. Join us to learn about the power of planting and growing food, and create lyrical poetry about the environment. A chance for children to be educated and empowered to be healthy, explore their voices and grow for their communities. The Hip Hop Garden is hosted by…

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Two men in a boat

Mole and Gecko

A rapper and a singer. A mole and a gecko. A river. A boat with no name. A quest for adventure. A quest with a duck! An interactive rap musical about a Mole and a Gecko which you help to create! There are live songs, rap stories, instant poems and weasel with a serious biscuit…

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Cartoon of a boy

Telling Tales

All events are postponed until further notice. Please read our statement for more information.   Telling Tales is a free six week programme for 7-11 year olds to develop and create stories and poems with writer Paul Lyalls. At the end of the six weeks, there will be a sharing for friends and families to…

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Audience laughing

The Writing Room Showcase

An opportunity to listen to the voices of a group of amazing young poets! Led this year by poet and powerhouse Jacob Sam-La Rose, The Writing Room is Apples and Snakes’ foremost skills development programme for young, developing poets. Over the course of six workshops, participants have honed their craft under his skilled guidance. This is…

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Woman with patterned top and dreadlocks speaking into a microphone

Jawdance: February 2020

Join us for London’s biggest spoken word night! Jawdance is an institution on the spoken word scene and a regular Rich Mix highlight. This year it celebrates its 10th anniversary with a programme of acclaimed feature acts and up-and-coming artists specially curated by regular host Yomi Ṣode, plus renowned open mic. February’s Jawdance features one…

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Jawdance: January 2020

Join us for London’s biggest spoken word night! Jawdance is an institution on the spoken word scene and a regular Rich Mix highlight. This year it celebrates its 10th anniversary with a programme of acclaimed feature acts, up-and-coming artists and its renowned open mic. January’s Jawdance features a headline set from the legendary Roger Robinson,…

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Woman in a head wrap smiling to the camera

Words Unwrapped

A festive celebration of poems, stories and armchair chat. Warding off the winter chill and joining the joyful Jumoké Fashola on the sofa will be poets Laurie Bolger and Kareem Parkins-Brown alongside storyteller extraordinaire Jan Blake. Plus swinging tunes from DJ Conrad Kira. This event is BSL interpreted.

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Woman with braids looks wistful

Apples and Snakes @ Uniqlo Tate Lates: Vanessa Kisuule

All events are postponed until further notice. Please read our statement for more information. Writer, performer and burlesque artist, Vanessa Kisuule, reads from her second poetry collection A Recipe for Sorcery.  A Recipe for Sorcery (Burning Eye Books) is a recipe book for personhood that changes with the whim of the seasons and the political…

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Words That Burn

Words that burn

Join us for an evening of spoken word, art and activism on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hosted by the brilliant Joelle Taylor, with live-drawing by Chris Riddell, Amnesty Ambassador, accomplished illustrator, political cartoonist and former Children’s Laureate. We will also be joined by The Repeat Beat…

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Apples and Snakes @ Uniqlo Tate Lates: Jay Bernard

Join writer, filmmaker, and archivist Jay Bernard as they read from their Ted Hughes Award-winning debut collection, Surge. Exploring the devastating New Cross fire of 1981, in which thirteen young black people were killed, Surge (Chatto and Windus) traces a line from New Cross to the ‘towers of blood’ of the 2017 Grenfell fire. This collection…

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Woman with cropped hair and glasses on her head speaks in to microphone

Apples and Snakes @ Uniqlo Tate Lates: Shirley May

Join poet and educator Shirley May as she reads from her poetry collection, She Wrote Her Own Eulogy. Exploring her family’s Jamaican heritage and the Black-British experience with deep emotion and lyricism, Shirley May’s She Wrote Her Own Eulogy (Wrecking Ball Press) takes the reader on a journey through the landscape of Kent and Manchester brought to…

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Jawdance: November

An institution of the London spoken word scene, Jawdance brings you acclaimed feature acts alongside up-and-coming artists in poetry and music. In November our regular host Yomi Ṣode will take up the mic as headliner, alongside feature sets from Lola Oh and South London rapper and poet brother portrait, plus live band. The notorious Jawdance open mic…

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Woman with long red hair speaks in to microphone

Tongue Tangle

A spoken word evening entangled in a dance twist! Come and experience a first in bringing spoken word and South Asian dance together in a joint open mic and stage event. In partnership with Apples and Snakes, Akademi entwines renowned spoken word artists Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan ‘The Brown Hijabi’ and Jaspreet Kaur ‘Behind the Netra’ with…

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