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Six events for Leeds literature lovers this October

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Out Of Many Festival

Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Olive Senior, photo: Alex Rice. UK Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, photo: Peter James Millson

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Out of Many Lit runs from 4-8 October with a host of events showcasing writers of Jamaican and wider Caribbean heritage and guest contributors — from budding young community writers to national treasures and international names across this five-day festival of literary talent unprecedented in the North. It is part of the Jamaica Society Leeds-organised Out of Many Festival which runs until February 2023.

The launch event on Tuesday 4^th October is the fascinating Laureate to Laureate, with Olive Senior, the Poet Laureate of Jamaica, in conversation with the UK’s Laureate Simon Armitage at the city’s Howard Assembly Room.

Pass It On / Rheima Robinson, photo: Drazen Priganica

On Wednesday 5^th October Olive Senior will host a Laureate Heritage Masterclass for writers wanting to use creative writing to explore their Caribbean heritage, staged in collaboration with the British Library and the National Library of Jamaica.

Also on Wednesday 5^th October is Pass It On, with mother and daughter poets and literary activists Khadijah Ibrahiim and Rheima Robinson showcasing young participants’ creative writing responses to conversations with first- and second-generation West Indians; Leeds Central Library.

Kinship / Featuring Jason Allen-Paisant, Malika Booker, Khadijah Ibrahiim, Jacob Ross, Rommi Smith all hosted by historian and author Colin Grant

Thursday 6^th October will see Kinship, a cabaret-style evening of spoken word and music staged in association with WritersMosaic; Outlaws Yacht Club, 38 New York Street Leeds.

Linton Kwesi Johnson, photo courtesy Speaking Volumes. Left: Gary Younge, photo: Jonas Morte

On Friday 7^th October the internationally lauded, multi-award-winning dub poetry pioneer and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson (LKJ) will be in conversation with acclaimed author and broadcaster Gary Younge; LKJ: An Evening with Linton Kwesi Johnson is staged in partnership with Howard Assembly Room.

Calabash Presents on Saturday 8th October

Out of Many Lit rounds off with Calabash Presents on Saturday 8^th October; Jamaica’s much-loved Calabash International Literary Festival will bring a hint of the Treasure Beach vibe to Leeds for an unmissable, day-long literary take-over of Leeds Central Library, curated by Calabash co-founders Kwame Dawes and Justine Henzell.

Find out more about the Out of Many Festival here.