In July 2025, we were joined by the glorious Kirsten Luckins. She read from her (then) new collection, Offworld, a beautiful ekphrastic experiment in sci-fi storytelling published by local press, The Braag.

From our open mic, we’ve got The Artist by Liam Stokoe, A by Brogan Brannan, Born to Grout by Gaeran Southern and Frenzied by our Community Director, Sharon Milley. And from Kirsten, we have The Art of Delicate Resistance, Seafood Handbags and Earth and Sea. Also, some gulls.

Thanks to Kirsten for sharing Offworld with us, to our constellation of open mic performers, to everyone who made this such a wonderful night, and to our long-serving hosts, Pop Recs. Best venue in the city.

Until next time, toodle-oo!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

-----

Facebook | Instagram | Etsy

In June 2025, we travelled to the second of two collaborative events with Born Lippy. Three brave poets, and a bunch of our regulars, took the Metro to the other place. And what a night we all had!

From Born Lippy, we’ve got You’re Beautiful by Rasheeda, Nowt In by Cooper Robson, and Cigars are the Cigarettes of Fascists by Out Of Your Head’s Amy Langdown. And from our lot, we have Lotus by Lian Maltas, The Ungrim Reaper by John Appleton, and Please Click Yes To Show You Accept the Terms and Conditions by the perpetually magnificent Helen Wilko. Plus, we have bonus performances from 90Br0 and Max Gavins.

Thanks to Donald Jenkins, and everyone at Cobalt Studios and Born Lippy for making us feel welcome, to all eight of our featured poets, and to the travelling legion of King Ink regulars for showing Newcastle what we’re all about!

Until next time, toodle-oo!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

-----

Facebook | Instagram | Etsy

All right? From September last year into January of this year, you might have spotted James hanging out at Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen. As part of a Cultural Spring Nibbles commission, he spent several months working alongside the volunteers and guests, trying to find some hidden poets.

In this episode, we’ll hear from Andrea, the Soupie’s CEO, along with some of the poems we wrote together.

Massive thanks to everyone who took the time to chat with James, and especially to Andrea and the secret poets we met who shared their poetry with us. If you’d like to support the amazing work the Soupie do, check out their Facebook page.

This special podcast episode was made possible by The Cultural Spring. You can find out more about the Nibbles programme on their website.

-----

The King Ink podcast is produced by James Whitman, and this episode included the voices of Andrea Bell, Helen Wilko, and GillOtters.