SPOKEN WORD & TALKS PROGRAMME
This programme is subject to change.
Spoken word takes place in the cafe.
Don't forget to also check out our pop up bookshop where you can buy books (and get them signed by participating authors).
For more details on Spoken Word acts, check the Line Up Page.
We will combine all into an overall programme from 2nd May to make easier to view.
FRIDAY 3RD JULY
Open Mic poetry session hosted by Hunter, open to any poets, experienced or not. Join us in this warm and supportive space.
SATURDAY 4TH JULY
fter completing Mountview Theatre School’s post graduate acting course, Jane’s career flowed between acting, journalism, writing for TV, writing novels and non-fiction, filmmaking and content creation. The thread that links all these disciplines is a love of words, expression and storytelling. Work as a storyliner on Coronation Street was the segue from journalism into a long career writing continuing drama and developing original TV series. Jane is passionate about portraying queer characters and experiences in her work and the short films she’s written and directed have won awards at festivals in the UK and abroad. Jane’s first novel, Maddie & Anna’s Big Picture, was published by Diva Books. She recently published her second novel, I Miss You Already, which is the result of work started on a Faber writing course. It’s a rite of passage story that sees 17-year-old Cleo question everything she thought she knew about her future after a chance meeting with Nicole on a school exchange trip to France. Her non-fiction book Inside Story: How the News Works, published by Templar, won the SLA Award in the 8-12 year-old category and the Judges’ Choice Award in 2025. Jane also teaches a scriptwriting module as part of UCA’s BA (Hons) Television Production course. Find out more at JaneMarlow.com Spoken Word with Grace Grace Flahive was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She studied English literature at McGill University in Montreal before moving to London in 2014, where she’s lived ever since. Palm Meridian is her debut novel. A rollicking, big-hearted story of long-lost love, friendship, and a life well-lived, set at a Florida retirement resort for queer women, on the last day of resident Hannah Cardin’s life.
Charlie Bingham talks about her book The Life-Affirming Magic of Birds
SUNDAY 5TH JULY
DG Coutinho is an award winning Author. They landed the Bloody Scotland Harvill Secker Crime Writing Award in 2021. They also perform spoken word as DGC. They are the cofounder and MC of Boisterous Ravens a spoken word event featuring Black, Brown and Global Majority women and Non- Binary performers. They have co-authored the children’s book Activists In Action: Prudence Mabele celebrating the life and accomplishments of the late AIDS activist with Naz Project London. They write short stories, and dabble in scriptwriting. Their Neuro’s are very divergent, they are, proudly queer, unapologetically LFC and their love of cheese and coffee verges on religious. Their Black Lesbian protagonist twisty satirical thriller The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin is their first novel and OUT NOW
Natasha Carthew is an award winning working-class Author and Activist. Her new book Rough Edges: Where Land Meets Water, the Untold Stories of Coastline Communities publishes with Sceptre/Hodder June 2026. Natasha is known for writing on many socioeconomic issues, rural poverty and working-class representation in literature and nature writing for several publications, podcasts and programmes including ITV, The Royal Society of Authors Journal, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, The National Trust, The Bookseller, The Guardian, The Quietus, The Observer, Mslexia, Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, ALCS, The Big Issue, Dispatch Media, The Campaign to Protect Rural England and The Economist. ABOUT ROUGH EDGES Beyond the picture postcards, Britain's coastal communities are suffering.Crowds flood the beaches during summer heatwaves but they quickly vanish again, leaving behind drifts of rubbish and unstable seasonal jobs. Seaside property is in high demand but affordable only for landlords and gentrifiers. The cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing pains of austerity trap those at the vulnerable edges of our nation in poverty. Having grown up in rural Cornwall, Natasha Carthew leaves the county in search of a new home. Travelling the country and exploring the villages, towns and cities of our coast, she meets the people fighting to keep these places alive. With fierce compassion, she shares their voices and their stories.Rough Edges is a rallying cry for the beauty and importance of our coast and its people
Grace Flahive was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She studied English literature at McGill University in Montreal before moving to London in 2014, where she’s lived ever since. Palm Meridian is her debut novel. A rollicking, big-hearted story of long-lost love, friendship, and a life well-lived, set at a Florida retirement resort for queer women, on the last day of resident Hannah Cardin’s life.
