Have you ever been a mother? Had a mother?!

From the horrors of toddler classes to the complexities of grief, Flanked is a smorgasbord of maternal experience and emotion. A scrutiny of motherhood across generations and an exploration of loss as both heart-wrenching and liberating.

Prepare to be taken on a rollercoaster journey - at times hilarious, at others deeply moving, but ultimately joyful and life affirming, arriving at a place of acceptance and liberation. A reflection on looking forward and letting go.

Flanked is a one-woman, spoken-word show based on the poetry collection published by Burning Eye Books in 2025 https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/flanked-by-jo-eades

This show will resonate with young people; new parents and those who with school-age children; parents whose children have left home; people whose mothers (or fathers) have recently passed. There’s something for everyone!

Jo Eades performs regularly on the Bristol spoken word scene, and beyond. She is a multi-slam winning poet (including the Poetry Shack Slam at WOMAD Festival, the Lyra Bristol Poetry Slam and the Ledbury Poetry Festival Slam) and has been featured four times on BBC Radio Bristol’s Upload, being one of their ‘best of’ poets for 2024. "Jo’s poems are microscopes laser-etched from words. You want to shout to everyone, come and look!" Jonny Fluffypunk

Jo’s poems are microscopes laser-etched from words. Thoughtful, funny and heartbreaking. You want to shout to everyone, come and look! Jonny Fluffypunk