The Hip Crowd open mic: Halloween special

Hey! The rumours are true. It’s…

The Hip Crowd Open Mic!

Oxford Poetry Library and Makespace Oxford bring you an open mic event especially for folks with babes-in-arms, but also open to all and everyone.

If you’re feeling like daytime is the right time for you to entertain or be entertained, join us at The Community Works on the last Friday of every month. The action begins at 11.30am, but performers please do arrive from 11am to sign up for your turn on the stage.

We welcome poetry, music, storytelling, comedy and whatever else you think might dazzle in a 5-minute slot.

We have a very special Halloween edition of The Hip Crowd this month, featuring an extended reading from Oxfordshire-based writers Lizzie Shannon-Little and Gerard Lewis, presenting their new book, The Tale of the Propeller Man and Other Stories.

The book began life in the depths of lockdown, when Lizzie and Gerard – trapped at home with their 10-month-old baby – entertained themselves by writing poems inspired by their own separate experiences as children reading the gloriously creepy Der Struwwelpeter by Dr Heinrich Hoffmann. What started as a bleary-eyed parenting distraction turned into a deliciously wicked collection in which every poem follows a wayward child on the road to their inevitable, dreadful fate.

Think Roald Dahl meets Edward Gorey with a splash of Hilaire Belloc… gothic, quirky, and gleefully macabre. Each story is brought vividly (and darkly!) to life by illustrator Alexandra Ricketts, whose haunting artwork perfectly matches the wicked humour of the verse.

Lizzie and Gerard met at a writing group in Oxford over twelve years ago, and since then they’ve co-created their daughter, and now this gloriously twisted little book!

Lizzie Shannon-Little is an artist and writer, who would like to run away to live as a bohemian creative obsessing over dark storytelling, folktales, and all things witchy. Sadly, she has responsibilities and bills to pay. She balances her writing alongside her career in communications and her creative life as an interdisciplinary artist. Find her on Instagram @eshannonlittle.

Gerard Lewis is an author, playwright, and musician. He has written a novel, The Laundry Basket, seen two plays – The Hypnotist and Four Beds – performed in London theatres, and is a songwriter with his band Higher Music State. He also wrote several other tales for this collection, but they were deemed “too dark even for this book” — ask him about Little Parsley Long if you dare.

Join us to hear these witty, wickedly macabre rhymes, where mischievous children meet the most dreadful of ends…

Read more here: The Propeller Man | cautionary tales

The entire event will be baby friendly and baby welcoming, with lots of floor space at the front, changing facilities, buggy parking area outside, and clear walkways to exit the performance area easily if needed.  There will also be that most beautiful and warmly appreciated of gifts: free tea and coffee provided.

The event is non-ticketed, but costs £5 to spectate (£2 for concessions) and is totally free to performers.

Be there or be square.