lowercase: afro-scottish poetry, the bee & more
lower case highlights cultural events, new releases, short reviews, jobs and writing opportunities. Our focus is on small and micro press, radical publishers, and events from independent bookshops. Readers & bookshop events suggestions welcome.
In Glasgow his Friday there’s the first Afro-Scottish Poetry Event, curator Chisom Okoronkwo tells Bella:
“The Afro-Scottish Poetry Event was born from my experience of often being the only Black artist in Scottish poetry spaces. I wanted to change that narrative, to create a platform where African, Scottish, and diasporic voices could be in the same room, not as exceptions, but as part of a thriving multicultural arts setting. This event is more than just a performance; it’s an artistic intervention, a celebration of identity, community, and creativity that contributes to a more inclusive cultural future in Scotland.”
The event includes:
* Cat Cochrane – a Scottish performance poet and writer based in Glasgow
* Michael Ogah – African fiction writer and poet published in zLolwe, Brittle Paper and elsewhere.
* Aditya Narayan – the 2025 Roundhouse Slam Champion and winner of the Audience Vote.
* Ross McFarlane – a Glaswegian poet, performer, and host known for writing powerful stories that explore queerness, everyday moments, and community with the intensity of an 80’s hardcore band.
* Peilin Shi – a wanderer exploring displacement, entanglement, and collective memory.
* Kevin Leomo – a Scottish-Filipino curator, researcher, activist, and sound artist.
* Ogene Igbo UK – a dynamic group of traditional Igbo music entertainers based in the UK, dedicated to preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of the Igbo people through vibrant African percussion.
* Co-hosted by Esraa Husain (U Belong Glasgow), a writer and community organiser
* Chisom Okoronkwo – an African Excellence scholar at the University of Glasgow where she is completing her Master’s in Creative Writing.
Get yer tickets here: Afro-Scottish Poetry Event 2025 Tickets, Fri, Jul 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite
JOB OPPORTUNITY
The Association of Scottish Literature is seeking applications to be a co-editor of New Writing Scotland, from writers currently based in Scotland.
All the details are HERE.
A Very Open Call
The Bee is an interesting thing: “The Bee is a literary magazine, an online platform, a podcast, and the heart of a writing community. Our mission is to nurture, publish and promote the best new working-class writing by new and established working-class writers and visual artists.”
The Bee grew out of A Writing Chance, a programme co-founded in 2021 by the actor Michael Sheen, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, New Writing North and Northumbria University.
The team write: “We strongly believe that there is a need to discuss contemporary social class more openly, and that writers can voice class experience in ways social science cannot. To understand why a magazine of working-class writing is needed, read Dave O’Brien’s essay Publishing’s Class Problem.”
The Bee have an Open Call for submissions (deadline Monday 11 August at precisely 4pm). You don’t need to have been published anywhere before to submit, and you can be at any stage of your writing career. They say: “We are looking for fiction (any genre), narrative non-fiction, non-fiction and journalism that captures something about being working class in Britain in 2025. This could be a feeling, or something you observe, or an experience. We’re particularly interested in stories about joy, community and hope. Your story can be any length from 500 to 3,000 words. It could be anything from a description of something to a short story.”
Submit your work here: The Bee Submissions – Airtable
Get their socials here:
The Bee (@beelitmag.bsky.social) — Bluesky
The Bee Magazine (@beelitmag) • Instagram photos and videos
Writers for a Free Palestine
Lighthouse Books are hosting a Writers for a Free Palestine Fundraiser at the end of the month (Tuesday 29 July). The readers are: Shasta Ali, Sunnah Khan, Andrés Ordorica, Zain Rishi and Tisya Sanchez.
“Tickets are by donation with a suggested minimum donation of £20. All proceeds will be sent directly to families in Gaza. Where possible, generosity is encouraged. There will be occasion to make donations on the night too.”
Got an event, a launch, a new publication? Readers & bookshop events suggestions welcome.
It’s interesting to watch the arts community or museum curators get excited when they promote foreign cultures over their own.
It bemused me when I read an article about “Beyond Faces” who boast being “The only Global Majority Theatre Production Company in Devon”. Turns out they’re actually from Bristol with people from London., but who’s quibbling?
Arts England gave them a grant of £750, 000 for young people to be given a chance in the theatre.
In terms population Devon has a similar white ethnic demographic as Scotland, but received less funding per capita.
As you can imagine, the beneficiaries do not include the poor working class white children from the very poor parts of Plymouth, or the under funded rural and sea-side towns, but mostly from the off-spring of non-white middle class professionals in good jobs in the NHS etc.
It is clearly not driven by social need but by minority based politics.
Do you wonder why resentment is growing against the privileged elite who lack empathy for its own people.
Stevie H – Devon is a county in England. England is one of the nations which constitutes the United Kingdom. Scotland is another nation which constitutes the United Kingdom so comparing Devon with Scotland especially on a cultural level is both ridiculous and frankly insulting.
Bella Caledonia is a site about Scottish arts and politics. I fail to see why you are raising a beef you have discovered about some issue relating to the arts in the South of England on this site apart from showing your desperation to raise any grievance you have read about.