STITCH: An Active Retreat for Women Poets in North East England (IN PERSON EVENT)

You're Invited to STITCH: A Two-Day Active Retreat for Women Poets in North East England

Day one has now passed but you can still join us for the second and final day on Thursday 3rd April.

Date: April 3rd, 11am-2pm
Venue: Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle (in person)

Please only book if you are a woman poet based in North East England
You must be over the age of 18 to book this event

Get Together | Write Together | Speak Together

What do you need to write? Time? Space? Community? Inspiration? Join award-winning northern writer Carmen Marcus for an innovative and uplifting two-day programme designed to answer these important questions about you and how you make your work. Carmen has shaped the activity to put your wellbeing at the centre of your creative practice.

STITCH is not just a writing workshop; it’s a space to gather, create, and perform in ways that will transform how you approach your craft and build connections with your peers.

As one of the Rebecca Swift Foundation’s newly appointed Creative Associates, Carmen has devised these immersive sessions to bring together northern women poets to explore the power of collective creativity and mutual support.

Session 2: Write Together & Speak Together

📅 3rd April 2025 ⏰ 11am – 2.45pm
📍 Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Building on Session 1, we’ll take our insights and craft them into powerful new poetry. Carmen will lead a creative writing session using fragmentary and braided writing techniques, helping you shape your experiences into something deeply resonant. Then, we’ll perform together in a céilí house-style gathering—sharing food, laughter, and words as equals, where there is no distinction between audience and performer, where all voices will be heard.

This event is rooted in the Rebecca Swift Foundation’s mission to nurture the craft, creativity, and wellbeing of women poets. Your voices will also help shape future support for northern women writers, with Carmen co-creating a creative response to the insights gathered during these sessions.

Come join us for a truly transformative experience—one that stitches together creativity, community, and the joy of shared voices.

This is a funded event and therefore spaces are FREE but please be aware that your work will be documented as part of the funded programme and its outputs, with our Creative Associates gathering findings to present at a Symposium in 2026, making a case for the support of women poets across the UK.