Ralph Dartford, Zara Sehar, Kate Fox

Lunch Bite: Poetry

Description

Pop along for a literary lunch break filled with powerful poetry to feed your soul.  

Our line-up features a tasty array of writers, who come to offer you dynamic readings and explorations of some of the biggest issues in the world today.  

Join us for some clever wordplay that is sure to fill you with inspiration and creative energy for the rest of the day.

About the Poets

Ralph Dartford

Ralph Dartford’s first pamphlet, Cigarettes, Beer and Love was published by Ossett Observer Presents in 2013. His next collection, Recovery Songs, was published by Valley Press in 2019, and Hidden Music followed in October 2021. In 2024, his 3rd collection for Valley Press, House Anthems’ was published to great acclaim and completed a trilogy of themed work.
Ralph is the poetry editor at northerngravy and is currently studying for a Creative Writing PhD at the University of Huddersfield that focuses on the tensions between ‘performance poetry’ and ‘page poetry’. For an honest living, Ralph is a project manager working within criminal justice for the National Literacy Trust.’

Zara Sehar Headshot

Zara Sehar

Zara Sehar, a Muslim British-Pakistani Poet, was born and raised in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Her work often delves into the intricacies of the British-Asian diaspora. She was shortlisted for the Yorkshire Asian Young Achievers award in the Arts and Creative Industries category (YAYA Awards 2023), placed third in the Roundhouse Slam (2024), and won the audience vote. She has shared her work on BBC Woman’s Hour, anthologies and online.

About the Chair

Kate Fox

Kate Fox

Kate Fox is a Bradford-born stand up poet and broadcaster. She’s a regular contributor to Radio 3’s spoken word cabaret The Verb, has made two comedy series for Radio 4, been Poet in Residence for the Glastonbury Festival and the Great North Run and completed a PhD in stand up comedy. She is the author of Where There’s Muck There’s Bras: True Stories of the North of England’s Women published by Harper North, and her most recent poetry collection The Oscillations from Nine Arches Press. She is on this year’s Forward Prizes judging panel. She is also a neurodivergent advocate whose latest show Bigger on the Inside explores neurodiversity through the lens of Doctor Who.