Leeds / Dortmund 50 events at Chapel FM

A series of exchanges between writers in Leeds and Dortmund will take place culminating in a weekend festival at ChapelFM Arts Centre and other venues across the city.

The following Leeds / Dortmund 50 events take place at the Chapel FM Arts Centre. Click on the titles to reserve tickets.

For the full list of other Leeds / Dortmund 50 events, click here.

Monday 30^th September at 1:30pm – The Downhearted Drayman The statue of The Barrel Man, or Drayman, stands in Dortmund Square.  But why is he feeling sad? And what do the statues of Leeds get up to at night? Children from Beechwood Primary School and storyteller Matthew Bellwood launch their brand new illustrated (and bi-lingual) book, The Downhearted Drayman.

Wednesday 2^nd October at 6:45pm – Writers in Transit A live reading from Reise-Gedanken/Road Markings, the book by Peter Spafford and Dortmund poet Ralf Thenior. 

Wednesday 2^nd October at 7.30pm – Meet the Vets Theatre makers, teachers, choir members, language learners: a great variety of people in West Yorkshire have experienced Leeds/Dortmund projects over the last 50 years. They tell their stories.

Wednesday 2^nd October at 8.30pm – Write Across Borders (Part 1) Over the last six months, ten writers in Dortmund have paired with ten Leeds writers to translate each other’s specially written work on the theme of Neighbourhood, with the support of volunteer translators from The University of Leeds. In the first of two programmes, they share the results.

Thursday 3^rdOctober at 7.45pm – The Subtle Art of Translation On this National Poetry Day, Jacob Blakesley, Academic Fellow in World Literatures at Leeds University, hosts a discussion with writers and translators about the challenges of translating poetry.

Thursday 3^rdOctober at 8.30pm – Write Across Borders (Part 2) Over the last six months, ten writers in Dortmund have paired with ten Leeds writers to translate each other’s specially written work on the theme of Neighbourhood, with the support of volunteer translators from The University of Leeds. In the second of two programmes, they share the results.

Friday 4^th October at 4pm – Old Friends There has always been a lively musical dialogue between Leeds and Dortmund. Here choir members from both cities, including members of visiting Dortmund ensemble The Florian Singers, recall their long collaboration and celebrate the friendships they have made over the years.

Friday 4^th October at 6:15pm – The Poetry of Neighbourhood Otley poets, led by Sandra Burnett, present a selection of work specially written for LD50 with support from Leeds Anglo-German Club and other local German speakers.

Friday 4^th October at 7.30pm – Stand John Whale presents a celebration of the role played by Stand Magazine in introducing Anglophone readers to Continental European poetry in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Stand has been a fixture on the British and world literary scene since 1952, when it was founded by the poet John Silkin. It is edited from the School of English at Leeds University.

Friday 4^th October at 8:30pm – Intimate, Open (Part 1) Over thirty writers in West Yorkshire answered the call to write a new piece for LD50. Here, in a candle-lit event, they share their work.

Saturday 5^th October at 2.45pm – Jazz for Germany In this finale to the first week of LD50, exhilarating jazz from CJC (Chapel FM Jazz Collective) to celebrate musical connections between the sister cities of Dortmund and Leeds, plus interviews and festival highlights.

Tuesday 8^th October at 5pm – Ursula Maria Wartmann Visiting Dortmund crime fiction writer Ursula Wartmann talks to students at Leeds Beckett University.

Tuesday 8^th October at 7pm – Workshop with John Hegley The acclaimed and bespectacled poet returns to Chapel FM on the eve of our 5^th  anniversary to lead a writing workshop on the theme of Neighbourhood, followed by a chance for participants to read their work on air.