Hello again all,
Here is our latest brief update in the run up to our next event on the 13th of April. Only five days to go!
2026 Headliners
We are pleased to say that we now have a full list of headliners for 2026! We put a call out on our socials and on here, and we got a great response from folk - a mixture of regular audience members recommending acts they like to self recommendations from acts throughout Scotland. We’ve got an amazing range of voices lined up for you to enjoy, and we’re excited to share their sets with you throughout the year. We also have a sizeable number of people waiting in the wings whom we can invite to step in should the need arise, or, failing that, whom we can book for 2027. Thank you to everyone who got in contact relating to this. We are always open to suggestions for future headliners, so please don’t be dissuaded by our 2026 list being booked up. You can either contact us on our social media channels or by emailing us on [email protected]. You can even reply to this newsletter. We’re particularly keen to hear about acts we’ve either not hosted before or whom we’ve not had along for a while.
Speaking of headliners…
…we’re really looking forward to our next one, who’ll be gracing us with her presence next week!
Fiona Robertson celebrating her win at the I Am Loud slam heat. Photo by Jack Hinks from Loud Poets’ Facebook page.
Fiona is a disabled spoken word poet from North East Scotland, where she writes about everything her little ADHD heart notices - cats, physics, disability, politics, landscape, memory, grief, seagulls, you get the idea. She is also an activist and equalities consultant, but poetry puts back together what that work breaks. She is the current Aberdeen Loud Poets Slam Champion, headed to the finals at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August! She has been published in Poetry Scotland and Open Minds Quarterly, and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and Hidden Door festivals, at poetry nights across the country, and at various protests and demos including outside Westminster. Fiona is old enough to know poetry won't fix the world but foolish enough to keep trying anyway.
Fiona last headlined in 2022, also as part of a collaboration held between Speakin Weird and I Am Loud, and back when we were still running from Spin. (Seems terribly long ago now, doesn’t it?) She’s been a regular on our open mic for many years and we’re beyond excited to be hosting her for a long overdue and well deserved headline spot.
Pushing Out the Boat Anthology Launch
The front cover for the 25th anniversary anthology of ‘Pushing Out the Boat’.
Finally we’re going to give a shout out to Pushing Out the Boat, the magazine of new writing, poetry and visual arts based here in the North East of Scotland. Some of our regulars have had work published in it previously, and Hannah and Aron are both previous members of the poetry selection panel. POTB are celebrating their 25th anniversary with an anthology of previous works, which is being launched at Cowdray Hall on the 3rd of May at 2pm. You can buy tickets here.
We look forward to seeing you at Gaelic Lane Cafe on Monday. As always, entry is £5 or £3 for students / unwaged, our usual mask policy will be in place, and we will be opening the doors at 6:30pm for a 7pm start during which time we’ll be taking open mic sign ups.
See you then!
Hannah, Aron and Esmond