The Sunday Times bestseller closes a spoken word open mic night built around local voices.
Len Pennie has a gift for making Scots feel natural rather than performed. She writes in both Scots and English, and has become one of the more prominent young voices arguing for the language's place in contemporary culture.
“Getting to host Len Pennie as a headliner is particularly exciting,” said Hannah Nicholson of Speakin’ Weird. “We hugely admire her work both as a poet and a passionate Scots language advocate.”
She’s the headliner for a Speakin’ Weird open mic night at the Music Hall’s Big Sky Studio on Thursday 7 June, part of Light the Blue Festival, which runs from 2 to 14 June. The night is structured around the festival theme “looking forward / looking back,” which gives performers plenty of room. Local performers aged 18 to 30 can sign up on the night to share new material. Pennie closes the show. Nicholson is also hoping to draw out newer voices: “We hope to encourage plenty of open mic performances, especially from newer voices, so we would like to encourage anyone thinking about it not to be shy about signing up.”
Would you like to see your message here? Let's talk.
POST highlights Aberdeen’s creative scene, from theatre and music to visual arts. We focus on showcasing the city’s unique talent and supporting local voices.
Through stories, artist profiles, and event coverage, we’re here to share what makes Aberdeen vibrant. Sign up for free or support us and go ad-free for just £3 a month.
Letters to soil
Soil Love Letters is a free exhibition at the Music Hall, open throughout the festival, that invites people to contribute letters addressed to soil. They can be written, drawn, or collaged. They’re collected into a filing cabinet painted to suggest the layers of the earth, with real moss on top. Contributors take home a seed paper scroll to plant.
The brief is deliberately open. “Letters can be tender, funny, worried, scientific,” said Mara Marxt Lewis, Creative Changemaker for Climate at Aberdeen Performing Arts. “Just start with ‘Dear Soil’ and see where it goes.”
Letters are already being collected ahead of the festival opening on 2 June, so there’ll already be voices in it when visitors arrive. Selected contributions will be recorded as audio at the installation, and some may go into a digital archive for those who can’t visit in person.
The Speakin’ Weird open mic night is at the Music Hall’s Big Sky Studio on Thursday 7 June. Sign-up is on the night. Soil Love Letters is free to visit throughout Light the Blue. You can explore the full Light the Blue programme at Aberdeen Performing Arts.
