The Writers Circle
The Writers Circle is a collective of art writers based in Wales, gathering monthly to test and exchange new and experimental writing in response to Chapter’s programme.
The group is open to anyone interested in writing on/with/around art.
If you'd like to get involved, please contact [email protected].
Meet the writers
Anushiye Yarnell, an interdisciplinary dance maker and performer whose work is drawn from personal experience, past and future mythologies.
@anushiyeyarnell
Col Howarth is a writer of short fiction, poetry and scripts. He has co-written an award-winning podcast series and has had his work performed at the Wales Millennium Centre. He is currently writing his first novel and a screenplay and has an MA in Creative Writing.
[email protected] | www.colhowarth.com
Jo Fong is a director, choreographer and performer working in dance, film, opera, theatre and the visual arts.
K Wood, a musician, creative and community arts organiser interested in social justice, community care and moving beyond binary societal structures.
@obeycobra | @future_arts_collective_cymru
Lisa Tustian, an artist living and studying in Cardiff with an interest in narratives suggested by the incongruous, found-ness, and unwitting collaborators.
@walking.magpie
Lucy Smith, a short fiction writer and facilitator based in Cardiff.
lucysmithwriter.com | @lucysmithwriter
Pam Rose Cott is a performance artist based in Cardiff. A vocalist combining experimental sound, writing and performance. One of the founding members of 'Pasta Now' a collective of women, trans and non-binary people delving into experimental sound. She also works with textiles, embroidery and weaving & their historical significance as a matrilineal art form.
Stephanie Penhaligon, a Cardiff-based, Cornish-raised writer, performer, life model and theatre maker. She plays with movement in words and in stillness.
Tess Gray is an artist from Wales.
@tessgrayart
Tess Woof, artist and performer, is deeply involved in researching and producing multidisciplinary collaborative live art works. The work is inspired by those around them, drawing from the gifts and influences of deep emotional states of trust, rural Welsh villages, non-binary perspectives, and running blindly into pure chaos.
Autumn/winter 2025
SERAFINE1369: (my body / running wild / this animal) glorious, 9 October 2025
A group work in process.
The dance exists before it happens
Enter
Begin
Eyes closed
The walking body becomes three dimensions, all surfaces of the air are met by surfaces of the
body, swift, an antennae, a reading. A receiving.
We are atoms, spinning, conversing and colliding, changing pace and shape and form in space.
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Beth Greenalgh and Tim Bromage: (Un)conscious Content, 14-16 November 2025
The first in a series of performances exploring the fluctuating and uncanny architecture of dreams.
It’s like watching the hands that pull the strings
[I wonder if I should try to wake them]
They are always outlines of themselves
When we move, follow us
A light and shadow interplay. Spoken snips, part heard, some snatched. Lights breathe and the drone pulse lulls, pulling us deeper.
Welsh Ballroom Community: Bad B Kiki Ball, 25 October 2024
Welsh Ballroom Community x Supreme 007 & Tayo 007 brought a devious selection of villainesses to life on the floor.
'There were sherbet tracksuit jumping beans, spider mammas, silver
vixens, daring glimpses of fur, evil queens, bespoke tailors hot under the
collar. It was salvaged fairy tale material, too subtle and jarring to be
pantomime.'
Read Anushiye Yarnell's response
'They strike the match we fan their flames. Clap b*tches clap. Twist strut dip bounce kick hold that pose for me.'
___
Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth: Blood Show, 31 October - 1 November 2024
A trans celebration of destroying things, including ourselves, in order to create something new.
'Where is this?
A world of inbetweens– of
Warming up
Limbering up
Focusing in'
Read Steph Penhaligan's response
‘A sobering thought comes to me: maybe carpet burns are the biggest risk in this deathly
cycle? This thought keeps me calm and rooted in the movement.’
___
Eve Stainton: Impact Driver, 15-16 November 2024
A choreographic work featuring welding, movement and live sound.
'Sometimes writhing, like a knot of vipers. Or a maggot-like huddle of newborn puppies.'
'Molten bodies, linking, clinking, glinting. Testing elastic limit'
'They’ve thought so much about how to keep me safe'
___
Gareth Clark: Celebrations at the Funeral of Capitalism, 10-12 December 2024
Asking the question – how do we want to live?, Celebrations at The Funeral of Capitalism combined live art, theatre, dance and music, in a meditative final ritual that transformed into a party and communal meal.
'Building a space to eat and talk, what a joyous thing to do together'
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Making Merrie (A Modern Mummers Play, with Baskets), 12 January 2025
A family-friendly performance, with music by The South Wales Improvisors, marking Hen Galan, the Old Welsh New Year.
'Form it all into a concatenation of rare joy and congruence.'
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Gallery
International in outlook and embedded in Wales, we work with artists based locally and globally.
Chapter Gallery is open Tuesday – Sunday, 12–5pm. -
Cinema
Find your new favourite film or rediscover a classic, and experience cinema like nowhere else.
Check our what's on for film listings. -
Theatre
From local emerging artists to international touring productions, from comedy cabaret to new writing.
Check our what's on for performance listings.