WORD! - Pride Special - with Amy Walpole and Richard Byrt

  • This PAST event happened on: Thu, Feb 29, 2024

  • Venue:Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Road, LE1 7HA
  • Time:7:30pm
  • Cost:£4 / £7
  • Web Address:https://www2.le.ac.uk/hosted/attenborougharts/whatson
  • Join us for a Pride Special and first Attenborough Arts WORD! of the year - with quiet rockstar, Richard Byrt - and rising COMET - Amy Walpole…!


    Amy Walpole is a 17 year-old poet and spoken-word performer who writes about being a butch lesbian, gender and politics. Amy writes with the intention of illustrating the beauty in their community, educating listeners on social issues and sharing how they deal with shame. Amy has won many awards such as the Writing East Midlands Solstice Prize, been shortlisted for the Penguin Creative Student Prize and in 2023 was a top-100 winner of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, the biggest and most prestigious poetry award for young people in the world. In 2023, Amy's poem 'Butch' was studied in an English Literature class at the University of Derby. Amy has performed on radio stations such as DemonFM, as well as at the Verve Poetry Festival in Birmingham, Derby Museums and regularly at local LGBTQ+ event Queer Coffee. Amy is driven by empathy for victims of social injustice, solidarity with other queer people, and a fierce sense of hope for a brighter future.

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    Since retirement, Richard Byrt has attempted to develop his poetry. He facilitates creative writing at SoundCafe Leicester, a charity for people with many talents and abilities, and who have experienced homelessness.  Richard has an MA in creative writing from De Montfort University, and has actively participated in local poetry events.  He has published poems in Glitterwolf LGBT+ magazine and in several anthologies. Richard's debut collection, "Devil's Bit", was commissioned by Upstairs at the Western pub theatre, and published by De Montfort Press, Ltd in 2015. 

    On Richard:

    "One of Byrt's real strengths as a writer is the ability not merely to capture moments and voices of rebellion, but also to mimic voices of authority and then undermine them from within..." - Dr Jonathan Taylor, on the Devil's Bit

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    Hosted by WORD!s own Noé Ponte and Abi Willock  

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    To perform as part of the open mic and/or to join a FREE workshop with Richard and Amy, 4.30-6.30pm on the day at Attenborough Arts – email: [email protected] 

    Please do let us know of any access needs.