Northern Rising is a new monthly poetry social based at Ernest café in Ouseburn. Inspired by the north-east’s countercultural heritage (especially the Morden Tower scene of the 1960s) it will feature readings by established, emerging and first-time poets from the region and further afield, as well as music and visuals. Our aim is to add to and accelerate the literary counterculture of the north-east, to create a space in which radical art of all kinds can flourish independently of mainstream channels, and, above all, to foster a spirit of community and solidarity as we enter a new period of activism and revolt.