ALT Grey box with black and white photo of a man. Black text reads: Matt Abbott is a poet, educator, and activist from Wakefield. His critically-acclaimed spoken word show 'Two Little Ducks' was published as his debut poetry collection in 2018. His debut kids' poetry collection 'A Hurricane in my Head' was published by Bloomsbury in 2019. He is also known for fronting indie band Skint & Demoralised and forming spoken word organisation Nymphs & Thugs.

ALT Grey box with black and white photo of a woman. Black text reads: Rebecca Kenny is the founder of Northern indie publisher Bent Key Publishing. Hailing from Cheshire, she worked as an English teacher for seventeen years, only starting to write poetry and explore her queerness and identity through words shortly after her 36th birthday. Her debut collection Crash & Learn was shortlisted and made the final ten for the Poetry Book Awards 2022; it tells her story of recovery, helplessness and hope following a near-fatal car crash in which she broke her neck and back. Her writing focuses on mental health, love, loss, trauma, and the glimmers that exist within the mundanity of everyday life. Her spoken word pieces aim to evoke reflection and inspire the audience to know their own worth. She has performed her poetry across the world in cities including New York, Paris, Helsinki, London and Brighton, and hopes to travel further in 2024. This will be her first headline slot in Leeds,