ON OUR RADAR

Mothers on the Mic

Mothers Who Make is holding an inclusive daytime open mic event for adults and children featuring new music written by local mothers and others.

Leigh Curtis

Mothers Who Make is holding an inclusive daytime open mic event for adults and children on Friday 4 November at Exeter Library.

Lizzie Lidster, a mother and musician based in Devon, will be headlining the event, which will feature new music written by local mothers and others as part of a recent six week songwriting course held at the library.

Local mothers and child carers will share songs and performances exploring a range of subjects including mythology, domesticity and power.

The adult-centred event will be relaxed and lively: children will have equal status in the room and performers may have children on stage with them.

The event aims to support people with caring roles by providing performance opportunities during daytime hours. All are welcome whether accompanying children or not.

Mothers on the Mic at Exeter library with artist, mother and poet Shagufta K. Iqbal Mothers on the Mic at Exeter library with artist, mother and poet Shagufta K Iqbal

Mothers Who Make was founded in 2014 by Matilda Leyser as a small local group in South London, since when it has grown to become an international initiative aimed at supporting women and non-binary people to sustain their creative identities while holding caring roles.

Its Exeter hub is led by Lizzy Humber, who first attended a Mothers Who Make session in 2015 whilst pregnant. She became a UK Mothers Who Make producer in 2018 and launched the Exeter hub the following month.

It offers workshops, live events, six week creative programmes and runs peer support meetings on the last Thursday of each month at Exeter Phoenix. It also produced three radio shows as part of Dreadnought SouthWest’s Occupy The Airwaves annual International Women’s Day project.

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Mothers on the Mic is at 11am on Friday 4 November 2022 at Exeter Library. The event is produced by Lizzy Humber in partnership with Exeter Library and supported by Arts Council England.

Full-price adult tickets cost £5, or £6 including a £1 donation to the project, plus booking fee. Children go free.

A pay what you can afford option is available for those for whom cost would be a barrier to attending.

More information and bookings via Eventbrite or email event producer Lizzy Humber at lizzy@motherswhomake.org.

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