Leyla Josephine
In Public/In Private

Leyla is on tour with her new book In Public / In Private, which is published with Burning Eye Books and she has been mentored by Kim Addonizio.  In Public / In Private examines what we share and what we keep secret. Leyla reaches through the pages and asks ‘Have you felt this too?’

Leyla Josephine is a poet, theatre practitioner and filmmaker, originally from Glasgow, now residing in Prestwick. She first started writing poetry in 2013 and won the Hammer and Tongue UK National Slam which catapulted her into the world of Spoken Word.

Her solo theatre shows Hopeless and Daddy Drag have been toured throughout the UK. Hopeless was runner up for Saboteur’s Best Spoken Word Show 2018. Daddy Drag won the Autopsy Award 2019 which celebrates artists making ground-breaking work in Scotland. It was also shortlisted for Filipa Braganca Award 2019, which honours solo female artists creating important work at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Leyla released her book Hopeless with Speculative Books which is a documentation of her solo show of the same name. She has been in included in an American anthology about abortion called Choice Words: Writers On Abortions alongside Margaret Atwood, Audre Lorde and Gloria Steinem. She has been featured in Gutter Magazine, Neu! Reekies! anthology Untitled 3 and The Centenary Collection for Edwin Morgan. She has been featured in The National, The Scotsman, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Upworthy, BBC Scotland, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Social.

In 2019 she performed for the First Minister of Scotland and supported John Cooper Clarke on his Scottish tour. She has been on the same bill as the likes of Kae Tempest, Lowkey and Hollie McNish.

For tonight, the Café at An Tobar will be serving food from 5pm, our winter warmers were so popular at the Rally, we have decided to put them on in the evening before the start of our new year!

We will have a delicious selection of Veggie Stovies, Veggie Chilli and Veggie Chickpea Curry to choose from.