Speaking Volumes
Partners in Word Space
Roger Robinson and Johny Pitts, co authors of Home Is Not A Place. Credit Piotr Sell
This month, it’s our pleasure to highlight another of our partners in the Word Space online talent development programme, Speaking Volumes. We have enjoyed fruitful collaborations with Speaking Volumes on a range of literature projects and events for over five years now. Speaking Volumes is a live literature organisation specialising in getting underrepresented voices heard, reaching diverse audiences and finding exciting ways to present the work of writers. As with Literature Works, a small team delivers big work: Speaking Volumes Live Literature Productions is made up of Sharmilla Beezmohun, Sarah Sanders and Nick Chapman.
We are now delighted to announce our latest co-produced project, a mini-tour of the South West region by poet Roger Robinson and Johny Pitts celebrating their new book, Home is Not a Place. This stunning photography and poetry collaboration explores what it is like to be black in Britain, outside urban centres. Roger and Johny will be visiting The Writers’ Block in Redruth on Monday 6th February, coming to Quay Words in Exeter on Tuesday 7th February and reading at Mr B’s Emporium Bookshop in Bath on Wednesday 8th February. You can book your Quay Words tickets and find out more here.
From Belfast to Cambridge, from Edinburgh to Devon, Speaking Volumes’ productions have travelled the length and breadth of the country with groups of poets, festival readings, library workshops, poetry slams and much more. Since producing the Poetry Parnassus, as part of London’s Cultural Olympiad in 2012, there is a scale and a scope to Speaking Volumes’ ambitions, achieved through a lot of hard work, imagination and passion.
Literature Works and Speaking Volumes have collaborated on projects ranging from a series of workshops in Bristol for communities connected to the Windrush Generation, to a recent forum ‘Women Speak Volumes’ exploring the creative inspiration of older women. Speaking Volumes have acted as advisers and connectors for our Quay Words live literature programme in Exeter, supporting us to curate a diverse and vibrant line up at Exeter Custom House over the last three years.
