Lort Burn Specials is a new series of occasional talks and cultural nights at the Alphabetti Theatre. Drawing on the spirit of Newcastle’s countercultural past and a shared commitment to radical futures, we aim to make a new space for discussing culture and politics, hearing from important artists and writers, listening to new music, meeting new people, and having a laugh.

The first event plays host to Helen Charman, one of Britain’s most important emerging radical writers. Her first book, Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood, came out in 2024 and was immediately acclaimed as “at once a sorely needed politicised history of motherhood … and a tender love letter to her own mother’s knees”.

As a writer on the politics of sex and gender, as a critic and activist, and as a stunningly original poet, Charman has drawn comparisons with the likes of Jacqueline Rose, Angela Davis and Denise Riley.

Charman will be joined by Alex Niven, author of The North Will Rise Again (2022) to discuss motherhood, family, the welfare state and the state of things now, and to read some poetry, too.
 

Other poets include Sam Telford and local titan and counterculture veteran Tom Pickard, with music in the bar from art/noise/drone purveyor and guitarist Lucy Valentine.