Tickets Here
Hi, I'm Lily, an interdisciplinary artist who specialises in drawing, performance and curation, and I am passionate about empowering others to be creative.
Come and join me for an experimental collage workshop where you will have opportunities to be bold and collaborate at a relaxed pace.
See you there!
Tickets HERE
Come along to the launch event for Leeds Scum: Litter in Leeds!! This zine is a collection of watercolour paintings of litter seen in Leeds, mostly around Burley and Hyde Park.
We'll be doing a 'junk' painting night, using acrylic paints to redecorate these items so you can take them home and give them a brand new life <3 we'll be playing some chill music so it'll be a classy little paint and sip night! No art skills needed.
This ticket doesn't include a zine, but there'll be the option to buy a zine on the night!
FREE JUST TURN UP
Flock Foto is a community led collective for female and non-binary photographic artists offering a space for collaboration, experimentation & peer support.
The Flock Foto Zine Launch & Exhibition celebrates a publication made possible through a HPBC Summer Zine Fund. The zine showcases work by members created through shared learning around sustainable photography processes, including cyanotypes and foraged toning techniques. Developed through a collaborative workshop at Convention House on the 2nd of August, this zine highlights experimental photographic practices rooted in creativity, sustainability and collective knowledge exchange. Come and explore the community-led zine, view selected works by participants and discover more about Flock Foto.
Instagram- Flock Foto
Tickets HERE
A World War II pilot cheats death, much to the anger of the foppish French aristocrat ghost sent to collect his soul. Can he win his fight for life in the court of Heaven— and win the love of an American gal back on Earth?
Join Hi Magpie as we present this classic Powell and Pressburger weird masterpiece as part of the Scalarama DIY film festival. Expect a raffle!
FREE JUST TURN UP
Hyde Park Art Club [HPAC] are delighted to invite you to the opening of PAT RIOT - an exhibition by KP Culver 10th September 7pm - 10pm . . Please do join us for this free event and circulate within your networks and friends.
Opening 10th September 7-10pm with DJ’s
Exhibition Open Daily / 9.30am - late / 11.09.2026 - 08.11.2026
Hyde Park Book Club/ 27-29 Otley Road, Leeds, LS6 1BL
KP Culver is an interdisciplinary artist, attending to how collective and personal narratives are shaped, distorted, and reimagined over time. This approach is deeply informed by an interest in how we come to know and sense the world through embodied practices. Through touch, voice, or shared acts of noticing - works seek out, and create intimate encounters that challenge extractive or binary logics.
Pat Riot is a new exhibition by artist KP Culver that explores performance and belonging through photography, moving image and material transformation.
A linked edition and further screening night will accompany the show details to be announced
@hydeparkartclub @hydeparkbookclub @kp.culver
Thanks and Summer Loving
KP Culver and Team HPAC
xoxo
FREE JUST TURN UP
Roller Cola Coaster is a zine celebrating indie twee jangle pop, focusing on bands signed by Sarah Records and the C86 scene. Reviving Jonathan Webb’s zine from 1991, this 35th anniversary edition features an interview with Robert Wratten of the Field Mice from the original zine, a gig review of BMX Bandits at Hyde Park Book Club, band recommendations and more. Whether you’re a well-seasoned jangle pop pro or interested in going down a niche music genre rabbit-hole, Roller Cola Coaster welcomes all.
£3 Tickets OTD only
BEGIN the countdown, 🕢 19:30:00 🗓️ 16/9/2026 fast approaches, and the triannual Festival de Tinnes will once more come into season, blooming into a beautiful bokeh of DIY 2-MINUTE-short films at Hyde Park Book Club! That vague memory.. Those weeks away.. The feelings that lingered.. Forever frozen on film and memorialised this historic month of Scalarama!
🕛TIME🕛
Sátántangó in sixty seconds? Zack Snyder's Justice League in just a minute? 00:02:00 isn't long, but we're impatient to find out how much can be squeezed into a short film. We're due a report on your favourite second hand hourglass, or a retrospective on a fleeting moment that just passed. Or maybe two minutes is an age; send us your distilled, crystalline nine second cinema. The brief is to be brief, so don't dilly dally (yes YOU!) first timer!
It's HIGH TIME you submitted a short film to us at TINNESFILMFESTIVAL@GMAIL.COM.
SUBMISSIONS WILL CLOSE AT EXACTLY 23:59:59 ON 15/09/2026. ALL SUBMISSIONS SCREENED.
Tickets HERE
Peter Knaggs will be reading from his brilliant new collection "My Blue Suede Shoes Are at the Cleaners" He is amazing and so is the book.
Peter will be reading from and talking about his brilliant new collection "My Blue Suede Shoes Are at the Cleaners"
As you'd expect from Peter this isn't just a collection of poems. It's a story of pain and angst, but also a story of strength and spirit and told with Peter's trademark wit, humour and general all-round brilliance.
A story of a personal battle against unchecked power and the injustice and exploitation it permits. Never has there been a more relevant and frightening analogy for the modern times than this collection.
Free just turn up
We’re a really new growing collective of East and South East Asian artists. Our practices span across painting, textiles, cyanotype, ceramics, installation, sculpture, illustration, performance, drag, metalwork, glasswork, and tattooing.
For our inaugural event we’ll showcase our work, whilst launching a zine based on the theme of Food, and it’s connections to home, family recipes and politics. We're responding to the theme in our varying creative practices, and will be celebrating the zine launch with a pop up exhibition and DJs.
FREE just turn up
"Instrument" (1999) + Leeds Cineforum 10th Anniversary Party
"Instrument" (1999) is a fittingly unconventional portrait of the legendary DC punk band Fugazi, tracing the band’s evolution from its origins through its electrifying prime.
Directed by filmmaker Jem Cohen and filmed over more than a decade (1987–1998), the documentary captures the ferocious energy of the band’s live performances alongside intimate moments backstage and in the studio. In doing so, it offers a rare glimpse into an often-enigmatic group whose unwavering commitment to independence, anti-corporate ethics, and activism continues to inspire the DIY underground.
The film will be introduced by Fugazi-fan Dr Alice Borchi.
In the same DIY spirit, after the screening of "Instrument", we'll celebrate the 10th anniversary of Leeds Cineforum. We've got plenty of surprises in store, so don't miss it!
Tickets HERE
‘Don’t do that – you’ll miss the sunset.’ Sam Browne’s new poetry show is equal parts hard-hitting and hopeful, with a decent helping of humour in the mix as well. It explores both mental health and masculinity while telling the story of what got Sam through his darkest days. Sam Browne is a spoken word poet from Southend, Essex, who originally set out to be a stand-up comedian until he realised all his jokes rhymed and were all a bit sad. So he pivoted to poetry, and things started to click. Since then, Sam has developed an online following of over 100,000 followers on Instagram as well as tens of millions of views. He has won awards for his activism work, numerous poetry slams and was more recently featured in the BBC documentary Eastenders investigates the Manosphere and in the Guardian. Some reviews of his work include “Try harder” — Andrew Tate, and “Yeah, but is it real poetry?” — Sam’s mother.
Tickets HERE
Lauren Jane Eling is a multidisciplinary artist from Leicestershire, based in Leeds. She embodies characters and narratives through tactile costumes and puppets. Lauren combines 3D making, performance, photography and illustration which she documents in print formats like zines.
Last October, Lauren gained a studio at East Street Arts and began working on a zine combining her 2D and 3D processes to bring new life to her old character, The Wizard.
Magical Mundane is a zine following a magical wizard who resides in Leeds. He does regular things like washing his pants, taking the 56 bus and having a pint at his local pub. He just has a bit of trouble blending in.
Lauren will be hosting a launch event and exhibition for Magical Mundane at Hyde Park Book Club on the 30th September 2026. This zine launch and exhibition will be far from mundane with photography, illustrations and 3D works to view. Copies of Magical Mundane will be available to purchase at this event.
Tickets HERE
LIVEwire Poetry are once again teaming up with Bad Betty Live to present an evening with some of the best poets on the UK scene. This event features special performances from Keith Jarrett, Hannah Silva, Perla Kantarjian, Jake Wild Hall, and Erin Bolens. LIVEwire Poetry is a Leeds-based poetry organisation that partners with the Roundhouse and co-created Leeds Storytelling Festival. Bad Betty Press is one of the UK's leading small poetry presses, famed for its dynamic live events around the country. This event will be hosted by Matt Abbott of LIVEwire Poetry and Jake Wild Hall of Bad Betty Press. This event is ideal for seasoned poetry-goers or total novices! Accessible, friendly, and engaging.
FREE JUST TURN UP
Oxfam music fair on the 10th of October from 10 – 2:30 !! with Band and Graphic Tees and Vintage Winter Jackets
Tickets HERE
At what point do we figure it out // does it get easier // will we find the answers // will I feel okay?
Join Caitlin O'Ryan for an evening of spoken word poetry featuring work from her debut collection, At What Point.
Known for her raw, relatable and deeply honest writing, Caitlin's poetry moves between tenderness and fury, humour and heartbreak, exploring what it means to be human, to love, and to navigate a world that often asks us to carry too much.
Fuelled by the times we are living in, these poems leap from the page and vibrate off of the stage with a sense of urgency. Journey through the ladies' loos, terrible dates, existential dread and the quiet power of platonic love, before arriving at a place of acceptance, resilience and hope.
Audience members’ own anonymous contributions are woven with care throughout the show, highlighting the spectrum of our shared experience.
Whether you're a long-time poetry lover or discovering spoken word for the first time, At What Point is an intimate, thought-provoking and uplifting performance that feeds the soul, gives voice to our unspoken fury, and reminds us that we are never as alone as we think.
*Support acts TBC*
‘A poignant, uplifting experience that will feed your soul. An essential experience for women of all ages’ ★★★★★ The Review’s Hub
‘Perfect poetry for when the world feels a little daunting’ Hollie McNish
‘At a time when we need people to speak out for women’s rights more than ever, Caitlin understands the assignment’ Amnesty International UK
‘Caitlin’s words are as powerful on the page as they are on the stage’ Harry Baker
Tickets HERE
"Frank Sidebottom Calling" is the brilliant new show from award winning, Sky Arts nominated spoken word comedy group The 4 Johns.
It's Frank Sidebottom Calling, you know it is, it really is!
The landline is ringing, the fax machine is going off, there's a stack of mail from adoring fans. Everybody wants a piece of the legendary spoken word band. But The 4 Johns are waiting for Frank Sidebottom and he's at the door.
Funny, satirical, original, challenging, innovative and unique. With sketches, comedy and spoken word, Frank Sidebottom Calling is highly original, anarchic, fast-paced, relentless and brilliant throughout.
The 4 Johns take a sledgehammer to the myth of celebrity, hero worship and fame in a way that will make you laugh out loud, chuckle under your breath and groan in shameful self-acknowledgement.
We also welcome Jimmy Andrex as our special guest:
Poetry you can dance to, Laurie Anderson meets Sylvia Plath, Phillip Larkin joins Kraftwerk? Meet Jimmy Andrex.
Tickets HERE
myndstate (he/him) is a spoken word artist, poet, and performer known for blending hard-hitting, vulnerable performances with wit and humour. His words - full of emotion, storytelling, and rhyme - have made him a national poetry slam winner, got him featured on the likes of BBC Radio London, Sky Sports, and Attitude, plus have amassed millions of views online.
In his new show he takes you on a journey of hope and survival through his debut collection, deep breath. Exploring themes of sexuality, identity, love, and shame, it beautifully narrates the struggles of finding yourself, and your place, in a world that often doesn’t want you to belong. Having spent so much of his life holding his breath, hiding who he is, myndstate's latest performance has him fully exhaling - and you can’t help but do it too.myndstate (he/him) is a spoken word artist, poet, and performer known for blending hard-hitting, vulnerable performances with wit and humour. His words - full of emotion, storytelling, and rhyme - have made him a national poetry slam winner, got him featured on the likes of BBC Radio London, Sky Sports, and Attitude, plus have amassed millions of views online.
In his new show he takes you on a journey of hope and survival through his debut collection, deep breath. Exploring themes of sexuality, identity, love, and shame, it beautifully narrates the struggles of finding yourself, and your place, in a world that often doesn’t want you to belong. Having spent so much of his life holding his breath, hiding who he is, myndstate's latest performance has him fully exhaling - and you can’t help but do it too.
Tickets HERE
Join to celebrate allthingssound 3rd zine release! Acoustic sets from the stunning Gloria and Jeanpool (who both feature in the issue) along with badge making and zine reading in Hyde Park Book Club's lovely snug. Ticket price includes a copy of the zine
Tickets HERE
This zine launch celebrates the Leeds music scene through a photography collection.
To celebrate the release, the artist is hosting an inclusive launch party at the Hyde Park Book Club on August 22nd. Far from a formal exhibition, the night is designed as an open refuge for music lovers and creatives. It features a stellar lineup of local talent, including weekend at dads, NI?G, and Clea Wang. Everyone is invited to bring their instruments, chat with fellow creatives, and join the live jam session. Whether you want to talk, jam, or simply connect over independent art, this is a night to celebrate the sounds of Leeds.
FREE JUST TURN UP
We are 2 vintage clothing sellers. I (Harri's Vintage) specialise in vintage sportswear, such as football shirts, rugby shirts, vintage sweats, tees & more. Retro etiquette specialises in mainly vintage rugby shirts. We will be bringing stock catered to students.
FREE JUST SHOW UP
Come to a queer summer market with trinkets, clothes, and books to raise funds for LGBT youth club The Hangout in Leeds.
FREE JUST TURN UP
Pop Smear!! A Night for Feminine and Feminist Music. DJs Bethany and Gill, plus special guests, play records in the Snug from 6-11pm. indiepop - riot grrrl - girl groups - punk & post-punk - r&b and soul - left of the dial - sha la la - ba ba ba - pop bangers. FREE.
FREE just turn up
This exhibition presents a custom typeface developed through research into the history of printmaking. Drawing inspiration from traditional printing techniques, historic letterforms, and the textures created by ink and press, the typeface explores the relationship between craftsmanship and communication.
“Type Into Print is a showcase exploring a typeface inspired by the history of printmaking. Visitors can view posters displaying the finished typeface alongside research into three key eras of print that influenced its design. A zine explains the creative process, research, and development behind the project. The exhibition also includes a hands-on printing activity using custom wooden type created for the final typeface, allowing visitors to produce their own prints and take them home as a keepsake.
Tickets HERE
What A Hit Zine Launch
What A Hit is a new zine studying the connections between music and football, launching in the Snug on 3rd August. With a starting lineup featuring members of Adult DVD, English Teacher, Lucky Iris and more, the first issue includes poetry, paintings, musings on illegal football streaming sites and memories of a childhood spent supporting Boro.
The launch party will feature DJ sets from Weak Spell, Alex Calder (Bug Teeth), and Lucky Iris. Price of entry includes a zine. Football shirts mandatory.
Tickets HERE
Aireborne Theatre presents our two 2026 Fringe shows, 'Sweaty Clowns' and 'Girlbosses & Billionaires', for a one night preview in Hyde Park Book Club's Basement Space in Leeds!
'Sweaty Clowns' is a miserable new comedy written by Sam Dallamore-Hynd and Chris Louridas that invites you, the audience, to be the unsuspecting guests of a Boogie Woogie Entertainments Party. Two clowns war with a school disco DJ/magician to host one last party in attempts to save the company, whilst their bumbling manager struggles to hold it all together. Katy Connolly's 'Girlbosses & Billionaires' follows four female* (*with one exception) high-profile crew members into space in an attempt to make history: because we all know that the patriarchy’s biggest weakness is space travel.
Both shows run at approximately 50 minutes each, but we will have a brief interval in between. All further information can be found on the ticket platform.
Tickets HERE
Another highly anticipated Seymour party is here celebrating the latest edition - Seymour Four. Come along to meet artists, connect with friends and listen to good music - and invest in local art! The theme of this edition is horses, come dressed ready to horse around.
Tickets HERE
Internationally recognised Spoken Word Artist, Msb Mario “El Niño de la Pili” presents a contemporary live performance combining storytelling, poetry and performance art. Originally from El Montserrat (Reus), he has developed a distinctive artistic identity across Europe centred around spoken word and live sound, creating deeply engaging and emotionally driven work.
His upcoming show at Hyde Park Book Club, is an intimate, capacity-limited performance for lovers of alternative live music and contemporary poetry, with only 60 seats available, ensuring a close and intimate setting.
The work focuses on a direct connection with the audience, supported by subtle rhythmic and sonic elements that enhance the narrative rather than overwhelm it. Each performance is built in real time, shaped by the energy of the room and audience interaction.
An experimental live performance exploring identity, emotion and human experience through raw, immediate delivery, exclusively at Hyde Park Book Club.
Tickets HERE
“A fresh collection of Cookson’s verse … if it’s laughter you’re after you could do worse”
Dr John Cooper Clarke
“You, me and some poems” – that’s exactly what this evening will be. Paul has worked as a poet for nearly forty years and sold over a million books. Since Lockdown Paul has written and shared on line a brand new poem every day. There are now over 2000 consecutive daily poems. The show will feature work from his latest Flapjack Press collections – “Psycho Seagull Stole My Dog” and “Slim Volume”. While the latter is gentle and thoughtful, “Psycho Seagull” features poems based on newspaper headlines such as “Brian Blessed Wrestles Forty Stone Gorilla”, “I Saw The Ghost of Lemmy Riding a Horse Eating Pizza”, “Gregg Wallace Sex Dwarf Hid A Frozen Chicken in His Underpants” and many more.
Expect an evening of laughter, occasional audience participation with moments of quiet reflection and balance.
“A poet for all seasons” – Henry Normal
“Funny, irreverent” – Brian Bilston
Tickets HERE
That’s Ace is a funny, uplifting exploration of asexuality, attraction and the feeling of growing up outside of societal norms.
Ace, a lifelong Doctor Who fan, has had a sheltered upbringing but tonight - that’s all about to change!
Her school crush, Sasha, has invited her out to a nightclub! Sadly, as Ace has never been before, she arrives 15 minutes before the club opens. To her, on time is late!
As the hours wind on, and the club fills with people, Ace must survive this overstimulating new environment so she can tell Sasha how she feels. Trouble is, she doesn’t really know how she feels…
Is it love? Is it friendship? What’s the difference? And why does everyone else seem so preoccupied with sex all the time?
Tickets HERE
She loves fucking, she hates love. After an accidental group text, Charlie resorts to hiding places and extravagant lies when her several lovers turn up for the evening. The sofa is hungry, the bathroom is occupied, welcome to Charlie's Friday night. When the doorbell rings, make sure to leave your problems at home, we don't need more mess.
Foundation's debut play "I F*cking Love F*cking Someone I F*cking Hate" is coming to Hyde Park Book Club this summer for its first outing. This genre-bending dark comedy teams fresh new writing, physical comedy and original music. Prepare to laugh out loud at this razor sharp satire exposing the highs and lows of modern love. Exhilarating yet devastating.
Written and performed by queer, northern theatre-maker Hannah Mullen whose first play "Earth to Kurt" received sold out performances at The Pleasance and The Space, London. "I F*cking Love F*cking Someone I F*cking Hate" has been developed with Leeds Playhouse and produced by Foundations.
Tickets HERE
We return with A Very Queer Cabaret in celebration of Pride! Expect your favourite showtunes and artists, performed by Northern Based performers!
Tickets HERE
She loves fucking, she hates love. After an accidental group text, Charlie resorts to hiding places and extravagant lies when her several lovers turn up for the evening. The sofa is hungry, the bathroom is occupied, welcome to Charlie's Friday night. When the doorbell rings, make sure to leave your problems at home, we don't need more mess.
Foundation's debut play "I F*cking Love F*cking Someone I F*cking Hate" is coming to Hyde Park Book Club this summer for its first outing. This genre-bending dark comedy teams fresh new writing, physical comedy and original music. Prepare to laugh out loud at this razor sharp satire exposing the highs and lows of modern love. Exhilarating yet devastating.
Written and performed by queer, northern theatre-maker Hannah Mullen whose first play "Earth to Kurt" received sold out performances at The Pleasance and The Space, London. "I F*cking Love F*cking Someone I F*cking Hate" has been developed with Leeds Playhouse and produced by Foundations.
Tickets HERE
Sunday Yoga at Hyde Park Book Club
Monthly Sunday yoga, spend your afternoon on the mat with me & stick around for coffee & treats at Hyde Park Book Club. a stunning Sunday!
open level vinyasa yoga class, everyone welcome :) from complete beginners to experienced yogis.
mats can be provided, however feel free to bring your own.
Liv X
Instagram @liv__moves
Tickets HERE
Hyde Park Supper Club #1
Join us for our first supper club at HPBC!
3 Course Meal
Starter
Homemade Focaccia with Whipped Feta, Roasted Courgette and a Roasted Red Pepper with Chimichurri Dip
Main
Green Gnocchi with pea mint lemon and Crispy Shallots served with a Side Salad of Fennel, Radish, Beetroot, Orange, and pickled Shallot
Dessert
Orange Olive Oil Cake with raspberry compote and fresh whipped cream
Paired drink options for additional costs will also be available.
FREE JUST TURN UP
Unfiltered Clarity is essentially an offline and online platform to help young adults navigate early adulthood. The event will consist of open discussions, honest conversations and table activities.
Tickets HERE
Join Jess for an all-levels yoga flow at Hyde Park Book Club.
Mats provided but feel free to bring your own
£5 / £4 students
All welcome including total beginners :)
Instagram @yog.raga
Check it out HERE
Sip and Social is an opportunity to join an afternoon of casual conversation and community, doing easy-going activities such as board games, creative writing and drawing.
We’ll be creating a space to take time out from your regular routine at different venues across the city, starting with Hyde Park Book Club.
If you’d like to come to a Sip and Social session, take a look at our Events page for upcoming dates. If you’d be interested in hosting a Sip and Social session at your venue, please contact our Wellbeing Practitioner, Eleanor Gillott.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
New and Selected Potatoes is the spud-in-cheek title of the compilation of 10 volumes of work by poet, comic, singer, songwriter and glasses-wearer, John Hegley.
John will perform poems and songs from across his back-catalogue, alongside new pieces, focussing on his educational work and storytelling. Mandolin accompaniment is now expanded to include a Portuguese cavaquinho and a train whistle from Didcot Railway Centre. In places the audience will be invited to participate, emotionally.
The Observer commented 'Hegley is to potatoes what Wordsworth has been to daffodils' - although there is more about Keats than Wordsworth in the show. There is much about family and foolhardiness in an evening designed for adults, but not unsuitable for the odd nine-year-old.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Brought to you by Zineophilia, Exploring Gender and the Body is an event open to all levels of experience in writing poetry - including none at all!
We will collectively explore poems related in some shape or form to gender and bodies, and invite participants to construct pieces of their own through structured activities. These will enable thought on the relationships between bodies and the world, as well as bodies and one's inner self.
There will be an option to share these poems within a zine to showcase our varied responses to the prompts.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Poets Talking Bollocks Presents is a vibrant and diverse spoken word event hosted by Keith Fenton, featuring three showcase acts and 18 open-micers from a welcoming and growing community.
A spin-off from the legendary Poets Talking Bollocks podcast, hosted by local poet Keith Fenton since February 2024, it has developed its own growing and vibrant community, and given rise to connections and collaborations across the northern poetry scene and, thanks to a policy of bringing showcasers through from within the community, has been a springboard for developing poets across the region. Despite its raucous, "bear-pit" vibe, it boasts a knowing, welcoming and poetry-daft crowd which combines irreverent Northern humour with real support and compassion for readers who are at their most vulnerable.
Open mic spots must be booked in advance by contacting Keith by email at keithfenton32@hotmail.com or via the Instagram page at instagram.com/poets_talking_bollocks
Tickets can be booked for free, but there will a pay-as-you-feel collection on the day to cover event costs.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
What can a scrap of embroidery tell us about how to live? How can the past help us imagine unconstrained lives when not all traces remain?
To explore these questions, Alice Hattrick turns to the embroidery designer May Morris and her circle: from her father William Morris to her mother Jane, an artist's model and embroiderer herself, and M.F., May's gender non-conforming partner of twenty years. Through this queer encounter with the Arts and Crafts movement, Hattrick shifts attention away from celebrated designers and towards intimacy, labour and domestic life.
Looking to May - alongside others who have found in textiles a means of resistance - Hattrick traces connections between these histories and their own queer identity, family ties and precarious working conditions within an ableist society. Expansive in thought, form and time, 'Fancy Work' stitches together archival fragments, domestic spaces and contemporary sites of struggle, insisting on the political force of often overlooked acts of defiance.
Alice Hattrick in conversation with Liam Bishop.
FREE JUST TURN UP
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Join the Northern Fiction Alliance at Hyde Park Book Club for their Summer Book Fair as part of Leeds Literature Festival.
From 10.30am, independent Northern presses will be selling their books, totes, merchandise and more, so why not come along, meet the publishers and find your new favourite read!
Participating publishers include Valley Press, Fly on The Wall Press, Comma Press, Peepal Tree, Stairwell, Carcanet, Northodox Press, Fox & Ink Books, Confingo and Big Thinking Publishing.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Join Shauna M. Morgan and Seni Seneviratne to discuss community, environment and creating your own 'ground provisions.'
Shauna M. Morgan will read from her debut collection Ground Provisions and Seni Seneviratne will read from Unknown Soldier and new poems. Poetry from local Leeds poet Barsa Ray will open & close the event.
Seed swap: Bring seeds and take new seeds! 🌱 Leave with a sense of purpose & community to sow your own hopes"
About the authors
Seni Seneviratne, born and raised in Leeds, is of English and Sri Lankan heritage, and the author of four highly-acclaimed collections of poems. Her poem 'A Wider View' is included on the AQA GCSE poetry syllabus, and her collection, Unknown Soldier (2019), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and National Poetry Day Choice. She is a fellow of the Complete Works programme and has collaborated with film-makers, visual artists, musicians and digital artists. She is currently one of ten commissioned writers on the Colonial Countryside Project: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted. She lives in Derbyshire.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Following the release of his new book, The Door-to-Door Poet, as well as a hit programme on BBC Radio 4, Rowan McCabe returns to the stage with Hard Knocks, a show of spoken word and comedy about community and connection.
Rowan likes making a nuisance of himself with poetry. Over the past 10 years he's been poet in residence in a pizza takeaway, in William Wordsworth's childhood home and, once, on a miniature steam train. He's also the world's first Door-to-Door Poet and in 2019 he travelled all across England, knocking on strangers' doors and writing bespoke verses for them, for free, on any subject of their choosing. It’s a bit like the Avon lady, but with rhymes.
Standard tickets for this event are priced at £10, but we have also included an option to buy a £12.50 ticket if you would like to support Leeds Lit Fest by giving a little more.
FREE JUST TURN UP
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Join us for Leeds Arts University’s fifth annual event as part of Leeds Literature Festival, as we launch our first anthology of writing: Labyrinths
The anthology features work by students from the BA (Hons) and MA courses, through prose and poetry.
This event is an opportunity to hear the next generation of prose and poetry writers, across our vibrant writing community. Wonder, mystery, misdirection, and adventure; get lost in Labyrinth. It’s one not to miss.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
‘Safety in Numbers’ is an anthology made up of a conversation in poetry. Over 200 women respond to each other’s poems in a chain where themes and experiences rise and fall with their voices.
The project forms part of Gill Connors’ PhD on the links between 16th century and 21st century women and how poetry can facilitate conversation
This event showcases some of the poets in this project as they read their poem and the one they responded to. There will be time for conversation after the reading with a short Q&A and copies of the book for sale.
Tickets HERE
Leeds Lit Fest 2026
Join the team from book publisher HarperCollins' imprint HarperNorth team, to learn how to get into the industry, pick up publishing tips, careers advice and how to prepare your ideas ready for submission to a publisher.
Do you want to get into publishing, either as an author or working in the industry itself?Join staff from HarperCollins’ Manchester-based imprint HarperNorth at Hyde Park Book Club for a deep-dive into how book publishing works.
Fiction commissioning editor Megan Jones and marketing and publicity assistant Taslima Khatun will explain the publishing process—from manuscript submission and editorial development to production, distribution, and marketing—and share practical tips for making a book successful.
The evening is suitable for aspiring authors, particularly those writing for adults, and anyone interested in a publishing career, offering insight into roles and pathways in the industry. Attendees can ask questions, receive guidance on improving manuscripts and submission strategies, and talk to professionals and fellow literary enthusiasts.
Come prepared with questions about how to make your book the best it can be, and ask all your careers questions!
