Word Kitchen
We speak to David Lloyd and Pippa Marriott, who have developed Word Kitchen to cook up connection and community through literature and spoken word...
What do you do?
Word Kitchen curates spoken word events, workshops and networks to grow creativity, confidence and wellbeing through literature, story-sharing and storytelling.
How did you get started?
We met on the Creative Writing Masters course at Exeter University. Over the last 18 months we have run free events in the lovely Brook Kitchen art café in Budleigh Salterton. These open mics – one prose, one poetry in each quarter - have been very well attended, attracting participants from all over East Devon and beyond into Somerset, Dorset and Dartmoor. Our wonderful array of contributors have cited how their confidence has grown, how great it is to be part of a community, and – in one case - how this is the only thing that gets them out the house and has got them back into writing.
At the end of 2023, we were successful in applying for funding from the Creative East Devon Fund/UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This has enabled us to create more of a brand identity, increase our networks and events, and offer more workshops in different settings. We hope to build on this during 2024.
Who do you work with and why?
We believe that whatever your age, background or story, everyone is capable of finding their voice and developing a sense of authorship and confidence through creating stories and sharing their words. We attract an impressive and inspirational array of writers from near and far to our events, some reading from published novels and poetry collections, some sharing work in progress, some stepping up to the mic for the first time. It’s those ‘first timers’ (whatever their age!) that we are really keen to do more work with.
Since Christmas we have been offering a series of drop-in sessions with a range of wonderfully imaginative young people at Dunkeswell Youth Club. They have developed characters, created settings and understood how important a sense of place is. Between writing, sharing, and eating pizza, we’ve also chatted about stories and books we love, and what we enjoy about reading.
We are keen to partner with existing groups and communities around Exeter and East Devon to encourage not only creative writing, but skills and confidence for sharing work and getting your voice heard.
What keeps you going when things get tough?
We have both got lots of experience of the ups and downs of event planning, freelance work and the vagaries of funding, so we can draw on that. At heart though we both love the writing process and the extraordinary versatility of words to change us, surprise and delight us, and remind us that we are not alone. That core belief keeps us going!
Talk us through a favourite piece or project.
When we started the open mics in Budleigh, we had no idea if they would be a success. They have become really enjoyable, convivial evenings and we are consistently delighted by the quality and range of work. A rather cynical brother came along once and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a bunch of ‘up themselves’ arty types. We’ll also never forget the moment when someone (who has become a regular) stepped diffidently and a little awkwardly up to the mic for the first time; she proceeded to stun us all into absolute silence with the quality of her prose and insights.
What does the next year look like for you?
Our ongoing open mics continue to grow, and we are working on our offer of creative writing sessions both in person and online. We are also looking at establishing a group for emerging and established poets for workshopping poems and prepping for open mics/spoken word events. This would hopefully be Exeter-based. We also hope to have a presence at the next Budleigh Salterton literary festival.
What’s been the best moment for you in the last year?
Knowing our open mics were sustainable and securing some funding to develop what we do.
In what ways are you helping to put Exeter on the cultural map?
We feel there’s a need out there to take spoken word events and creative writing into the smaller towns and communities that lie beyond Exeter while recognising Exeter is a creative hub too.
How do we find out more?
Email: wordkitchencomms@gmail.com
Website: https://www.wordkitchen.org.uk/
Insta: @word_kitchen
Coming soon: Wednesday 15 May from 6pm, Open Mic Prose Night at Brook Kitchen, Budleigh Salterton. With headliner Andy Brown reading from his new novel, The Midnight Mechanic. The first half of the evening will feature new and emerging writing talent including creative writing students from the University of Exeter. More about Andy HERE.
Contact David or Pippa at Word Kitchen to find out more: wordkitchencomms@gmail.com