The Word Association

09/01/2026

We're working hard behind the scenes to put our next offering in place... in the meantime, join Holly for her new venture in partnership with The Poetry Pharmacy...

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-leave-a-body-embodied-poetry-workshop-series-tickets-1977035454264?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join Holly Winter-Hughes (How to Leave a Body, Verve) as she gently guides you through the process of using writing as a way to connect with ourselves and our embodied stories. Looking at poems that explore themes of embodiment, as well as tapping into our own somatic experiences to enrich our work.

Holly is passionate about bringing the stories held in our bodies to the light, finding fresh way to tell them to deepen personal and community connection.

In this celebration of our bodies and our stories, we’ll bring our somatic experiences into our work, for more visceral, sensuous and engaging writing. This series is all about connection, healing and community.

Join Holly Winter-Hughes as she gently guides you through the process of using writing as a way to connect with our embodied stories

09/09/2025

From the excellent people at Crave Arts. Don’t forget to book your tickets! See you there!

Book now for ‘Power of Worcester: The Play’ 🌟⚡️

Amber doesn't think demolishing a children's playground is progress. She's there to stop the diggers… but she's soon joined by some interesting characters who know a little more about the site of the former power station than she could ever have imagined!

Will their stories have the power to make a difference?

Performance times:
7:30pm on Friday 10th October
2:15pm and 7:30pm on Sunday 12th October 2025
The Hive Studio, WR1 3PD

Book here: https://tinyurl.com/cravearts

Tickets are free but are limited. Please cancel your ticket if you are no longer able to attend.

We’d like to thank National Lottery players for their support through the The National Lottery Heritage Fund and our other funder The Elmley Foundation 🙏

Please note, the Sunday matinee performance will be audio-described - headsets will be provided for those who wish to use the audio-description. Large print and Braille programmes will be available. The play will start at 2:30pm - audiences are asked to arrive at 2:15

Thanks to all of our supporters and partners, including; Worcester City Council's Historic Environment Service; Worcestershire Industrial Archaeology & Local History Society ; Platform Housing Group Friends of Cripplegate Park Sensory Matters Worcestershire Heart of Worcestershire College Canal & River Trust Diglis Island & Fish Pass Worcester Theatres; Worcester Life Stories

19/08/2025

We had a fabulous launch for the Speak Out! 2025 anthology at The Hive on Sunday. If you haven't managed to get hold of a print copy, you don't need to miss out - you can now read the heartfelt work of our poets online. Enjoy!
This project was generously subsidised by The National Lottery Community Fund.

https://online.pubhtml5.com/frwd/tjen/

12/08/2025

Great day on Sunday at the Worcester Show with Platform Housing Group in the community tent, exploring the theme of 'home'. Using our postcard templates, visitors got the chance to get creative with colour and words, and add to our mural.
It's just the start of a bigger project we're hoping to run later in the year. Stay tuned to hear more!

08/08/2025

After two and a half years, and 31 events, Wednesday saw the last Speak Your Mind - The Final Huzzah! With a full room packed with faces - some familiar, some new - we saw an old friend off in style.
Speak Your Mind was launched through the generosity of The National Lottery Community Fund, with initial funding for twelve months, allowing us to pay for our sparkling host, jemima_unspoken, and our incredible headliners. And we couldn't have done it without the wonderful people at The Old Needleworks Foundation, in particular Rachy xox. Thank you all for helping to make SYM what it was.
We have endeavoured to keep SYM going, with a lot of voluntary work behind the scenes - Giovanni Spoz Esposito, take a bow, and the rest of The Word Association team. And did secure further funding from RENEW Redditch.
But sadly, all good things come to an end. Rest assured, this one small part of The Word Association's offering coming to a close will have no impact on our ongoing programme of therapeutic writing courses and community anthologies. Watch this space, there's plenty more to come!

31/07/2025

So after 2 and a half years, and 31 individual nights of Speak Your Mind, the time has come to unplug the PA, close the open mic list and thank everyone who made is what it was.

We’ve had some stunning headliners, incredible feature acts and the most loyal, authentic and supportive open mic.

It’s been heartwarming to see so many of you find your voices and go on to perform at other events and even start up your own nights and workshops!

There are so many people to thank… firstly those who came as audience and open micers, but also the team behind it all…

The TWA leadership team who did it all for free! Spoz who founded it, named it, found the venue, attended more than anyone and sorted the PA, lighting and stepped up to host when needed. Gez for all those beautiful posters! The three of us for all the behind-the-scenes stuff…bookings, admin and listings…

Rachy, who made us all feel so welcome and nurtured and helped us find the funding to keep things going for another year!

Jemima for making everyone feel safe and hosting with charisma and flair.

The team at The Needleworks for their ongoing support and commitment to our night, but also for supporting the community.

Thanks to everyone who bought tickets, allowing us to pay our host and headliners!

Thanks to The National Lottery Commuity Fund and Renew Redditch for their invaluable funding support.

The final one will be open mic only, so there is room for you all! We hope to see you there!

https://speakyourmindthefinalhuzzah.eventbrite.co.uk

Spoz will be running the Writers’ Group from 5.30, so get there early and don’t miss out!

03/07/2025

Unbelievable work by headliner Cal Wensley as they brought together pieces from ALL the other poet’s poems throughout the night for this epic starting poem to their set. It was a perfect moment as it slowly dawned on the whole room what was happening 🤯Thank you Cal!!

03/07/2025

‘Body As Love’, by our captivating July Speak Your Mind headliner Aish 👏 Thank you so much Aish for sharing yourself and your poems with us candidly, you had us all in a trance!

03/07/2025

‘Body As a Living Thing’ performed by our enchanting July Speak Your Mind headliner Aish 🙌🙌🙌