Written in elegant and evocative prose, Salena Godden’s memoir could easily have veered into self pitying, misery memoir but her eternal optimism takes her story firmly out of that ground […]
Nasser Hussain: Boldface
The preface to poet and creative writing lecturer Nasser Hussain’s new collection Boldface states that “his poems are meant to be read aloud, preferably quite loudly”. Hussain’s work is very […]
Writing Advice: Part 2
Ever wondered what advice you could gain from the most influential poets and writers on the circuit? Would you like to obtain their retrospective pearls of wisdom? Well, luckily enough, […]
Writing Advice: Part 1
Ever wondered what advice you could gain from the most influential poets and writers on the circuit? Would you like to obtain their retrospective pearls of wisdom? Well, luckily enough, […]
Autumn/Winter Season Preview
Boy have we got a bumper few months for you… Off The Shelf Events Off The Shelf Festival Of Words is back and Word Life and Now Then will again […]
Salena Godden – Fishing in the Aftermath: Poems 1994-2014
“fuck being safe, fuck playing safe. in fact fuck playing. fuck being careful. fuck giving a fuck.” These lines (from ‘Fuck Tea, Fuck Toast’) may give some idea of the […]
Cultural Varsity
Our next Word Life event is this Sunday at Sheffield Union. Word Life first started life in the Raynor Lounge. It’s been over 4 years since we last ran an […]
Lyric Festival Online
Earlier this year during Lyric Festival we had the pleasure of interviewing and filming performances from Simon Armitage, Paul Farley, Jacob Polley, Lavinia Greenlaw and Helen Mort. We’ve put these […]
Distant Lands
Working with five local poets, we have commissioned five new pieces of work themed around a distant land renowned for its relationship with Sheffield steel and the city’s industrial heritage. […]
21 Poets for Sheffield: A Digital Poetry Slam
Our new online commission from Off The Shelf Literature Festival has been getting a great response. Its a digital poetry slam, featuring 21 poets reading across 21 different locations in […]
Word Life – Theatre In The Mill 22/09/12
We had a lot of fun in Bradford last week with the first event of our brand new season at Theatre In The Mill. Featuring the likes of local poet […]
Northern Elements
Word Life was selected by the Arts Council as one of their partners on a regional live literature development scheme entitled ‘Northern Elements’. Alongside literature organisation Bad Language in Manchester […]