World Poetry Day with Lence

To celebrate World Poetry Day, we took a look ahead to Blur the Lines – a night of jazz, hip hop and poetry, presented by Lence. Lence is a rap and spoken word artist from Leeds, who has been producing Blur the Lines for years to champion up-and-coming talent on stages across the city. For the occasion, we sat down with him to hear a little more about his process, and the show.

Written by Lence

For someone that’s never attended Blur the Lines before, what can they expect this time around?

They can expect a show full of energy, excitement and inspiring performances. It’s an innovative showcase that will feature an unpredictable combination of poets, rappers, singers and live musicians all based in Yorkshire, each taking to the stage one after the other. All the performers on the line up are bringing their ideas and stories into a venue they’ve never been in before. One of the unique things about Blur the Lines, is the audience is often experiencing the building and setting for the first time as well. It’s a chance to discover your new favourite artist and to enjoy a night that celebrates grassroots creativity throughout the city. This is our cup final!

Blur the Lines has been running to great success for some time now – how did the event come about?

I was inspired to create Blur the Lines through my own experiences as an artist. I wanted to create a space that connects separate scenes, develops new ideas, changes the creative landscape of the city, and ultimately blurs the lines of what’s possible for performers of all different artistic disciplines.

An important aspect is that I wanted the event to be a place where poets can learn from rappers and rappers can learn from singers and musicians. This gives the opportunity for people to come together, start new conversations, feel supported and to work on new ideas in a venue that they may never have been able to access previously.

Do you have any favourite memories from previous events?

Each Blur the Lines event has some powerful moments! Some highlights along the way include the first ever show which was part of the inaugural Leeds Lit Fest. Seeing so many artists from different local scenes in the same space in Hyde Park Book Club inspired me to keep on planning future shows, seeing the audience queuing out the door to catch a glimpse of the performers sharing their work and the excitement in the room made for a very special night.

Moments like our two sold out shows at Leeds Playhouse, in 2019 and 2023, are fondly remembered. Running Blur the Lines from the historic Leeds Library was a brilliant highlight. A personal favourite of mine was Jack Flash making his debut at the Howard Assembly Room show for Leeds Jazz Festival in May 2025. His effortless and electric display of freestyling set the tone for the evening. It was special for me because I used to listen to Jack Flash when I was younger, so to see him on stage performing at my event was surreal and an amazing feeling!

Blur the Lines champions local and grassroots voices – how would you describe the arts scene in Leeds? What about it excites you?

There’s so much incredible talent in Leeds today, spanning so many different genres. Through my work with Blur the Lines, I feel a responsibility to keep giving opportunities to artists that are working non stop on their craft and are looking to perform. As well as brilliant performers, there’s a whole host of vitally important venues and events that regularly give their space to new artists so they can play gigs and meet new people.