The Vale in association with Nick Toczek presents… IN OTHER WORDS! The very best in performance poetry

The Line Up:

Toria Garbutt is a poet and educator. Since bursting onto the scene in 2014, she’s been a regular tour support for Dr John Cooper Clarke in venues across the UK and Europe. In 2016, she released her début album Hot Plastic Moon with spoken word label Nymphs and Thugs. In 2018 her début poetry collection The Universe and Me was published by Wrecking Ball Press. In September 2021, Toria was featured on the front cover and centrefold of The Big Issue North. Her second collection Another Time in Spacewas published in December 2022. Toria delivers spoken word workshops to community groups, schools, and prisons.  She is passionate about using poetry as a vehicle for self-expression and connection.

‘Joan Jett and Patti Smith’s better-looking kid sister.’ – Dr John Cooper Clarke

‘Powerful, accessible, intelligent, and musical. Just about all the things I love in a poet.’ – Dr Benjamin Zephaniah

Carla Mellor is a Wigan-based Yorkshire poet who writes accessible, down-to-earth, and relatable ‘poetry for the people’. Carla’s debut collection Scraps is published by Wrecking Ball Press. Her poetry aided a Film Award win for Northern Heart Films. She’s the 2023 Huddersfield Literature Festival slam champion.

Jack Collins is a Leeds-born (and based) poet. He’s the coordinator of Leeds Poetry Festival and is a long-time spoken word performer whose love of the oral tradition drives his writing. You can find his work on @jackcollinspoet on all platforms.