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Colliding Lines

@collidinglines

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International live arts conspiracy. Home to WORD SALAD open mic, and purveyors of multimedia performance and publishing projects.

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Happy National Poetry Day to all who celebrate!

We’ve hosted some terrific events already this year (against our better judgement, we seem to surround ourselves with poetry most days…) and what better moment to spotlight the published work of some of our incredible writers who have graced our Salad stage.

We kicked off the year with @dezziiee_ and @antoshwojcik reading from their dynamic debut collections out with @badbettypress just waiting for you to get your hands on. These are two incredible performers, and it’s been a delight to have their words on the page to curl up with and mull over.

Accompanying the summer heatwave we hosted the blazing force of @jakewildhall performing new work and promoting his own debut collection Alanis Morissette out now with @brokensleepbooks.

And finally, we rounded off the summer season last month with a charged performance from @that1thea_ who is unleashing her upcoming solo show ‘If I Were to Say it in English’ at the London Roundhouse at the end of this month. Tickets available now. Go support these artists, they’re cream of the crop, promise.

So, Happy National Poetry day to all our wonderful open micers, listeners, scribblers and scribes. We hope you find time today to sit down with your notebook. There’s plenty of reason to incite more poetry in your life x by @collidinglines

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3 days ago

Thank you to all our open mic performers who joined us on Saturday for Word Salad. It was another packed room and it was brilliant to see so many friends in the crowd. We had some new faces, and old favourites, and some first time readers who have been in the audience. The pipeline from watcher, to writer, to reader is strong. (You have been warned).
We genuinely love welcoming newbies to our stage and are super grateful for such a talented, supportive poetry community in Cambridge and the surrounding villages.

Special thanks to @that1thea_ for an incredible feature set ahead of their full show at The Roundhouse in October. It was a delight to have you back and be invited into your stories.

We'll be back at Marvin's on Saturday 14th November for more poetry.

Until then, take care of yourselves. And keep scribbling.

@words.wes @marvinscambridge @daisytgee taken in Mill Road, Cambridge by @collidinglines

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17 days ago

Thank you @annasheltonwrites for sharing this powerful poem at our last event, it was a vulnerable performance that had many of us in the room nodding and clicking along in solidarity and reflective recognition. The topic of violence against women is sharply relevant in 2026, and Anna’s writing handles the heaviness with grace and sensitivity. We’re proud to host bold voices like this on our stage, and to hold space for the difficult topics. “No it wasn’t all you could have done, no it isn’t good enough, no it wasn’t fun”.

Next Word Salad:

📆 7pm, Saturday 12th September
📍 Marvin’s, 44 Mill Road
🎟️ £5

https://buytickets.at/collidinglines/2037447 by @collidinglines

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25 days ago

Very happy to meet @jupitersnape at our last Word Salad, performing a sandwich set (funny-serious-funny). What an amazing night to see new faces and meet new poems!

And a great debut at our new venue @marvinscambridge

Sadly, Jupiter won’t be joining us for on September 12th for our next event BUT we will be joined by a whole host of new people we’ve never seen perform before. If you want one of those people to be you, it’s not too late to sign up.

Tickets and open mic sign ups available in our bio!

#spokenword #poetryopenmic #cambridgeevents by @collidinglines

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a month ago

Thank you @soundlab103 @concretegazebo and @summer.at.the.beach.waterbeach for having our pop up side salad over at the Barracks on Sunday afternoon. We had a lovely audience popping into the word cave (as I'm affectionately calling it) to hear some poetry amongst the installations.

Huge thank you to our open mic poets Jac, Steve, Kim, Helen and Anna. And shout out to the stylist of @words.wes for dressing him to the nines as always.

If you're looking for more poetry in your life, our next open mic event is happening next weekend on Mill Road in Cambridge. We'll be hosting at Marvin's coffee shop from 6.30pm on Saturday 12th Sept so do come on down and join us.

Summer at the beach is on for the next two weekends, finishing on Sunday 13th, so there's still time to visit and explore the art on display. 🐄🐮 taken in Summer At The Beach by @collidinglines

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a month ago

Word Salad is back at Marvin's on Mill Road, Cambridge. Come join us on Saturday 12th September for another cosy evening of open-mic poetry and spoken word. We open doors from 6.30pm so please come down early to grab a bite to eat, a coffee or a cold glass of wine before the poems begin at 7pm.

This month we are thrilled to have Romania's National Slam Champion and Roundhouse resident artist Thea Lungu @that1thea_ as our feature act. She’s been to a couple of our events before and absolutely charmed the room on the open mic, so we can't wait to have them back and to hear an extended set.

Thea is a Romanian emerging artist currently based in London, driven by an innate craving for nonconformity, child-like wonder, and a strong sense of justice. They've worked with Roundhouse, headlined poetry events across UK and now just finished the WAS programme with Apples and Snakes. Their favourite word in English is “silly” because it sounds... well, silly; but the Romanian "mormoloc" will forever place first in their heart. Having a background in journalism and hard sciences, their work engages with complex stories involving injustice, multilingualism, cultural trauma and explores identity on a linguistic level. To her family's loving exasperation, she is still figuring it out and considering 3 new career paths every week. In the meantime, their first solo show "If I were to say it in English", (nominated for an OFFFEST award) will be coming back in autumn.

Tickets available now from the link in our bio, and open mic sign up is open.

See you on the 12th! 🥗

Hosted by @words.wes & @daisytgee taken in Mill Road, Cambridge by @collidinglines

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a month ago

We have a special one-off event taking place this weekend on Sunday 30th August from 2-4pm. We are excited to be bringing our open-hearted open mic poetry event to Waterbeach barracks for their notorious annual arts festival @summer.at.the.beach.waterbeach

Join us for an afternoon of live poetry amongst all the fabulous art on display, please settle in for some poetry readings, grab a slice of cake and a tea from the pop-up cafe and take your time to explore the rest of the exhibition. 🏖️

Simply turn up on the day. Whether this is your very first time or you’re a seasoned pro, we’d love to hear from you. For this special edition, we particularly welcome local poets, people from the villages, the fens, the towns and the wilderness. If you’ve never made it into Cambridge for one of our nights, you are especially welcome.

@words.wes & myself (@daisytgee) will be donning our best double-barelled hosting double act as usual, with support from the Sound Lab team at Summer at the Beach. We’re very excited.

Photos from the opening night courtesy of Tarryn. by @collidinglines

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a month ago

This Sunday we’ll be joining Soundlab at @summer.at.the.beach.waterbeach for a special Side Salad™️, bringing our wordy ways to the fine people of Waterbeach. Come join us at the barracks and follow the signs—we’d love to see you there. by @collidinglines

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a month ago

Wow. What a night. Our open mic was bursting with talent, with lots of new faces stepping up to perform for the first time (some of whom have been dedicated audience members for many months and finally took to the stage themselves!) as well as some of our brilliant friends who have supported us from the early days. Thank you to everyone in our gorgeous audience for showing up and braving the heat, it was a really wonderful show and your energy made such a difference. It means the world.

A special thank you again to our open miccers Kelly, Jude, Tom, Isobelle, Jon, Bethany, Jupiter, Robin, Sammie, Anna, Helen and Veronica! We are incredibly proud of all the poets who came and read at our first Word Salad event over at Marvin’s, Mill Road. Moving to a new venue is always a little daunting but we felt so welcomed by Nico and the team. Also, poetry and pastries will forever be a winning combo in my books…

Shout out to our fantastic feature poet @jakewildhall for such a moving set. There were damp eyes and belly laughs, I expected nothing less. If you need to chew on those words a little more you can still get a copy of his stunning debut collection ‘Alanis Morisette’ over at Broken Sleep Books, or his pamphlet ‘Blank’ at Bad Betty Press.

Finally, keep an eye on our mailing list and socials for updates on our end of summer shows, you can catch us at Waterbeach Arts Festival ‘Summer at the Beach’ and then back at Marvin’s on Saturday 12th September for the next Word Salad. Put it in your diary now.

Love, Daisy & Wes.

@daisytgee
@words.wes
@marvinscambridge taken in Mill Road, Cambridge by @collidinglines

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3 months ago

What a night! Always, always amazed by our open miccers, and last night we heard from so many people who’d never been to a Word Salad before. Some who’d never performed before at all. It was a delight to hear your words.

Thank you to everyone who came and gave their voices, ears and hearts to the event, and to our gracious hosts @marvinscambridge who couldn’t have been more welcoming. Already been back there for breakfast this morning ❤️

More photos coming soon 😎 by @collidinglines

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3 months ago

Seeing as there's a few more of you here since we started the night (hi new followers! 👋) we thought we'd take the opportunity to reintroduce ourselves as the hosts of Word Salad. 🍅

We are Daisy Thurston-Gent and Wes Freeman-Smith. The finest double-barrelled duo on the scene (...any challengers?) we love performance poetry, music and poetry, poetry from your notes app, epic stories and sweet sonnets. We love the gentle and the sheer gobby. And we love meeting new people, whether you're here to read or meet others in the poetry community.

Here's a bit about us:

Daisy is a theatre-maker, poet and collage artist. She loves collaboration and finding poetry in unlikely places, and has been experimenting recently by fusing her writing with found sound. She is currently working on her first solo spoken word show.

Wes is the founder of art collective and publisher Colliding Lines and has produced live events, visual anthologies and music releases for a number of years. He is also a data-engineer in training.

We are also welcoming seasoned performer Jake Wild Hall to our stage this evening as our featured guest, reading from his anticipated debut collection Alanis Morissette.

See you tonight!

6.45pm at @marvinscambridge Marvin's, 44 Mill Road

Tickets available in advance online or on the door.

Daisy & Wes x taken in Mill Road, Cambridge by @collidinglines

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3 months ago

I don’t think we ever posted about how GODDAMN CUTE our little fliers are. Just picked up a new batch of these in advance of our event this Saturday @marvinscambridge (tickets available in the link in our bio).

These cuties were designed—like everything Colliding Lines—by the legend that is @angharadhengyu. She does amazing things with text and type, and lately has been spending her time building beautiful art gatherings with @hello.marianga (Portugal). We beseech you to follow both accounts ✨ Spread the love

See you Saturday Cambridge x by @collidinglines

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3 months ago