POETRY JAM is back at Waddington Street Centre for another year of great intimate events.

In February our featured poets are Sheila Wakefield, Asa J Maddison and John Challis.

Three fantastic guests plus the regular open floor evening of wide-ranging poetry in the cosy Waddy café lounge – ideal for road-testing new work in front of a warm and appreciative audience. Beginners and slam champions have graced this space. Bring your words and join in. Or sit back and soak up the lyrical atmosphere. Either way, get on down to Waddy – jamming good poetry in Durham City since 2009. Keep it going!

SHEILA WAKEFIELD is a poet, editor and publisher with an MA in Creative Writing from Northumbria University and is Founder and Managing Editor of Red Squirrel Press. She is a great supporter of north east writers and makes regular appearances at literary events throughout the UK. Her poems have appeared in magazines such as “Moodswing”, Poetry Scotland and Northern Lines. A recovering workaholic and an insomniac, she lives in Northumberland, surrounded by red squirrels. Sheila was one of the competitors in the first Waddington Street Poetry Slam event in April 2009 and we are delighted to have her back, reading from her poetry pamphlet “Limerance” recently published by Talking Pen.

ASA J MADDISON is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing. Although a relative newcomer to the poetry scene, he has become a regular at Newcastle’s open mic nights over the past six
months, culminating in a stunning showcase performance as part of the Apples and Snakes ‘TAKE… NEW VOICES’ spoken word event at The Cumberland Arms in Byker last November.

JOHN CHALLIS was born in Essex in 1984. He holds an MA in Creative Writing and is currently working towards a PhD at Newcastle University where he works as a teaching associate. In 2012 he was awarded a Northern Promise Award from New Writing North. His poems have appeared in The Rialto, Clinic II, Lung Jazz: Young British Poets for Oxfam, and are forthcoming in Iota. John also co-directs the poetry and music night, Trashed Organ.

Admission Free Doors Open 7.00pm Open floor slots 7.30pm
Waddington Street Centre, 3 Waddington Street, Durham City, DH1 4BG
near viaduct, behind old County Hospital, 3 mins walk from bus station