It’s time! The poets have spoken, the judges have voted and now we’ve arrived at the GENESIS POETRY SLAM 2024 FINAL!

Join us in the bar at the Genesis Cinema on Thursday 5th of December, where our new Genesis Grand Slam champion will be crowned! There can only be one winner, but who will it be? YOU DECIDE!

TICKETS HERE! 

We have NINE of our fantastic monthly heat-winners returning to duke it out for the title and they’re the crème de a crème, the cat’s pyjamas, the top bananas…

·       Representing February… GEORGIE WILEMAN

·       Representing March… KOFI ACHINA

·       Representing April… ELLE DILLON-REAMS

·       Representing May… REDEEMING FEATURES

·       Representing June… SVEN STEARS

·       Representing July… TIM KIELY

·       Representing September… SAM BROWNE

·       Representing October… JAKE NATHAN

·       Representing November… PATRICK BAXTER

PLUS, if that’s not enough for you – we’re very pleased to welcome one of our favourite poets on the whole damn planet KAT FRANÇOIS to kick off the show!

Kat François is a Performance and Movement based Artist, Writer and Educator, Writing and Performance Coach, and is a World Poetry Slam Champion. Kat has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, Saturday Live and Woman’s Hour, as well as BBC TV & Sky, and featured on BBC television’s Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers. She has written and performed solo plays and comedy shows.

She is published in many anthologies and recently won a short story competition with her piece, INDIGO WATERS, which is featured in HIDDEN REALMS, SHORT STORIES, published by Flame Tree Publishing. RAISING LAZARUS, her play about Caribbean soldiers in the First World War, has been published by TSL Publications. Kat is currently working on a full poetry collection, a novel based on the experiences of Caribbean soldiers in World War One, a collection of short stories, as well as fiction and poetry for children.

All this for just £5! And if that’s STILL not enough for you, there’ll be the usual shenanigans and singsongs from the Genesis Slam Crew! (Warning: There will be Christmas music if Laurie has anything to do with it.)

There’s only one thing missing that would make the night perfect – YOU! Come cheer on your favourite poets and help us find our Genesis Slam 2024 Champion!

Our finals truly are one of the best poetry nights in the country – if you think the heats are good, you ain’t seen nothing yet! So whatever you do, don’t you dare miss this one and remember the points aren’t the point, the point is… THE POETRY!

Doors: 18:00

Start: 19:30

Curfew: 23:00 – Please note the final may run later than our monthly heats

*PLEASE NOTE: The final is not an open slam. Only poets who have qualified through one of our 2024 monthly heats can compete. Our next open heat will be in February 2025.*

Homebrew is a freshly-brewed poetry open mic and feature night at the Hillbilly Social 101, Bounds Green.

Host Laurie Eaves invites you to come share your words on the open mic or just kick back with some lovely food and drink and check out feature sets from some of the UK's best poets.

Our next event is on Wednesday 27th of November and we've gone and booked two wonderful features in the forms of Sumner Brook and Hannah Chutzpah!

TICKETS HERE!

SUMNER BROOK

Sumner Brook (they/them) is a poet, writer, comic and activist from South East London. Like a reverse youth pastor, they're here to plant subversive thoughts while you chuckle at their politically flavoured nonsense.

Sumner is a BBC Young Writer of the Year finalist and Roundhouse Poetry Slam semi-finalist. They're a regular at London open mics and have been featured by events including the Totally Thames Festival, Process Productions, Trans History Week, Extra Second London, Catford Pride, Fed Up and Rhymes & Stitches. They think you look very nice today.

HANNAH CHUTZPAH

Hannah Chutzpah has been described as 'fine' by three therapists, as 'of good character' by a high court judge, and as a 'potential maggot-thrower' by the Metropolitan Police. She studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia, and has been performing poetry since 2009, at venues ranging from Occupy Protests to the Royal Albert Hall. Hannah has taken one-woman poetry shows to the Edinburgh Fringe, and once on a UK Tour.

She is one third of the Dead Darlings Podcast, and hosted Incite, London's longest-running LGBTQ+ spoken word night, for four years. Hannah’s third collection, Permeable, was published by Burning Eye Books in 2017.

OPEN MIC

Open mic slots are 5 minutes each. We have a select number of Open Mic tickets available in advance - if you're lucky enough to grab one of these you're guaranteed a slot on the mic. We'll also have a limited number of slots for sign-ups on the night selected at random from the almighty poetry hat!

- Date / time: Weds 27th November. Doors 19:00, Start 19:30, End 22:00

- Price: All tickets £5

- Location: Hillbilly Social, 101 Myddleton Road, N22 8NE

- Tube: Bounds Green (8 mins walk)

- National Rail: Bowes Park (3 mins walk)

HATERS GONNA HATE OUR HATE POETRY WORKSHOP!

The Genesis Slam crew are back with the next Genesis Poetry Workshop and this time it’s all about hate. That’s right – for one evening only, we’re sacking off gushy love sonnets and going to Room 101 to explore our biggest pet peeves, the niggles that get under our skin and just make us want to scream.

TICKETS HERE!

Hate is a state of mind we all try to avoid, but it’s a word we use for a multitude of reasons on a daily basis. It permeates the course of human history and is perhaps one of the strongest feelings we experience. It’s intoxicating as it is destructive, but is also hugely fertile ground for poetry! From rhymes to rants to raps, poets have always written to get things off their chest, so if you’re ready to vent your spleen, this is the workshop for you!

Please note: although we’re exploring hate poetry in this workshop, this is not a place for hate speech. We’re creating a fun space to write about the niggles that frustrate us, not carte blanche for bigotry – racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, sexism and any other forms of discrimination are not acceptable here (or anywhere else).

·       Place / Time: Genesis Cinema Bar (Upstairs), Mon 18th November, 19:00-21:30

·       Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.

·       Focus: Generating new writing

·       Price: £10

·       Who’s Welcome: All abilities – from first-timers writers looking to pick up a pen in a safe environment to seasoned slammers looking to push their craft to the next level.

This workshop will be led by Genesis Slam’s own Panos Skoutelis. Panos is a Greek-born, London-based spoken word poet, known for his animated performative energy, which his friends describe as "someone in dire need of a wee". He draws inspiration from topics as disparate as the cracks in our education system, the beauty of quantum mechanics, and Hinge fatique. His hate poem about a pooing pigeon needs to be heard to be believed.

Feedback from previous Genesis Poetry Workshop participants:

“I'd recommend this workshop to every poet who wants a supportive space to share their work and develop in community with fellow poetry enthusiasts.”

“An intensely inspiring experience that has extended my writing practice and I would be very much interested in attending future workshops.”

“I enjoyed the poetry workshop at Genesis so much! It was inspiring to sit together and create.”

Answer the call of the wild and join us at the Genesis Cinema bar on Monday 30th September!

REMEMBER, REMEMBER GENESIS POETRY SLAM IS 7th OF NOVEMBER!

Yes folks, we’re back to blow your minds once again with incredible FREE poetry and it’s our final heat of the year before our GRAND FINAL in December.

Join us on Thursday 7th November upstairs at the Genesis Cinema in Stepney Green for your monthly dose of friendly competitive poetry slamming!

Who will be next to join our other amazing poets in the final? AUDIENCE, YOU DECIDE! Poets, this is your last chance to qualify for the final, so you don’t want to miss this one!

TICKETS HERE! 

AUDIENCE MEMBERS:

 Tickets are £1 each and must be booked in advance. Last slam we were SOLD OUT so grab yours quickly! If you book a ticket but then can't make it, please contact Genesis Cinema to release your ticket.

 On the night, just grab a cocktail, a pie and a comfy sofa and watch poets battle it out for a chance to compete in our grand final in December!

 POETS:

 There are two ways to sign up for a slot:

1)     In the PRE SIGN-UP or

2)     ON THE NIGHT

 We’re always looking for new ways to make our sign-up process fair and accessible for people and at the moment this is the most accessible format we’ve found.

 To apply for a PRE SIGN-UP slot, simply comment on our Facebook event page or email poetry@genesis-cinema.co.uk. We have 4 female, 4 male and 4 non-binary slots available for the PRE SIGN-UP – so please let us know where you fall on the gender spectrum when you sign up. Please note we will not offer you a slot until you provide your gender info, so please include this when you get in touch to avoid disappointment. These spaces fill quickly and are strictly first come first served. Poets with a pre-sign up slot do not need to purchase tickets, your name will be on the door at the box office.

If you don’t get a pre-sign up slot, we will be reserving a couple of additional ON THE NIGHT slots, for those who want to try their luck. Again these ON THE NIGHT slots are strictly first come first served.

 We’re a 3 round slam, so please bring 3 poems just in case. Each poem should be 3 minutes or under.

If you’ve scored a PRE SIGN-UP slot please arrive by 7.15pm to keep your slot, or we will allocate it to the next person on the reserve list. To keep things fair for the other slammers, if you haven’t arrived by the time the slam has started and made yourself known to us, you won’t be able to perform!

No props, no costumes (reading your poem from paper or a phone is fine!) and no hate. Other than that the only thing to remember is that the points are not the point.... THE POINT IS THE POETRY!

Whether you come to share your poetry, or just to listen- we really are a very lucky bunch with friendly people and incredible poets!

We don’t have the reputation for being the friendliest slam in town for no reason! We have a great team at Genesis that are so helpful to all our audience and slammers, and we look after each other during the night!

You all make the space we hold as wonderful as it is - we really couldn’t do it without your words and your enthusiasm, which we want to match always! So bring all your good vibes our way and let’s continue 2024 in style!

Doors at 18:00 for a 19:30 start.

Homebrew is a freshly-brewed poetry open mic and feature night at the newly-opened Hillbilly Social 101, Bounds Green.

Host Laurie Eaves invites you to come share your words on the open mic or just kick back with some lovely food and drink and check out feature sets from some of the UK's best poets.

Our next event is on Wednesday 23rd of October and we've only gone and booked England Slam Champion Sven Stears and former UK Slam Champion Tyrone Lewis! Cor blimey!

TICKETS HERE!

SVEN STEARS

Sven Stears is a multi-grand-slam champion, English National Slam Champion and performance poet. They have performed across the UK and Europe, winning multiple slams in both the UK and Germany. Their heartfelt poetry touches on themes of personal loss, societal trauma, mental health and addiction, but always with little messages of hope.

"Some of the most painfully raw songwriting I've heard all year. Brilliant but emotionally shattering work." Tom Robinson - BBC Radio 6 MUSIC

TYRONE LEWIS

A pop-culture powerhouse of a poet. As comfortable in front of a camera as he is behind it, Tyrone is a full time video editor. He says words to people sometimes.

Tyrone Lewis (He/him), UK Poetry Slam Champion, Roundhouse Poetry Slam Champion, Axis Poetry Slam Champion and Author of his debut collection 'Blackish' and its sequel, '2 Black 2 Furious'.

Tyrone is the Founder of Process Production as well as its monthly Spoken Word Night; Process. He was also one of the inaugural Albany Associate Artists as well as hosting, producing, and featuring at many Spoken Word nights across the UK.

Tyrone has also been involved with a number of major national poetry events over the years including 2010's Word Cup, 2012's Shake The Dust and 2015's Shot From The Lip, as well as helping out with UniSlam in from 2016 - present.

OPEN MIC

Open mic slots are 5 minutes each. We have a select number of Open Mic tickets available in advance - if you're lucky enough to grab one of these you're guaranteed a slot on the mic. We'll also have a limited number of slots for sign-ups on the night selected at random from the almighty poetry hat!

- Date / time: Weds 23rd October. Doors 19:00, Start 19:30, End 22:00

- Price: All tickets £5

- Location: Hillbilly Social, 101 Myddleton Road, N22 8NE

- Tube: Bounds Green (8 mins walk)

- National Rail: Bowes Park (3 mins walk)

I’m featuring at the inaugural Slamden, Camden’s own, and the UK’s only, Sober, Metal, Poetry Slam. Hosted by English National Slam Champion Sven Stears.

TICKETS AND INFO HERE

FALL FALLS ON GENESIS POETRY SLAM IN A NATIONAL POETRY DAY SPECIAL!

Yes folks, the leaves are turning a treacle umber and we’re back to blow your minds once again with incredible FREE poetry! And as the calendars have aligned, it’s only a NATIONAL POETRY DAY SPECIAL!

Join us on Thursday 3rd October upstairs at the Genesis Cinema in Stepney Green for your monthly dose of friendly competitive poetry slamming!

Who will be next to join our 2024 grand final? AUDIENCE, YOU DECIDE!

TICKETS HERE! 

AUDIENCE MEMBERS:

 Tickets are £1 each and must be booked in advance. Last slam we were SOLD OUT so grab yours quickly! If you book a ticket but then can't make it, please contact Genesis Cinema to release your ticket.

 On the night, just grab a cocktail, a pie and a comfy sofa and watch poets battle it out for a chance to compete in our grand final in December!

 POETS:

 There are two ways to sign up for a slot:

1)     In the PRE SIGN-UP or

2)     ON THE NIGHT

 We’re always looking for new ways to make our sign-up process fair and accessible for people and at the moment this is the most accessible format we’ve found.

 To apply for a PRE SIGN-UP slot, simply comment on our Facebook event pagee or email poetry@genesis-cinema.co.uk. We have 4 female, 4 male and 4 non-binary slots available for the PRE SIGN-UP – so please let us know where you fall on the gender spectrum when you sign up. Please note we will not offer you a slot until you provide your gender info, so please include this when you get in touch to avoid disappointment. These spaces fill quickly and are strictly first come first served. Poets with a pre-sign up slot do not need to purchase tickets, your name will be on the door at the box office.

If you don’t get a pre-sign up slot, we will be reserving a couple of additional ON THE NIGHT slots, for those who want to try their luck. Again these ON THE NIGHT slots are strictly first come first served.

 We’re a 3 round slam, so please bring 3 poems just in case. Each poem should be 3 minutes or under.

If you’ve scored a PRE SIGN-UP slot please arrive by 7.15pm to keep your slot, or we will allocate it to the next person on the reserve list. To keep things fair for the other slammers, if you haven’t arrived by the time the slam has started and made yourself known to us, you won’t be able to perform!

No props, no costumes (reading your poem from paper or a phone is fine!) and no hate. Other than that the only thing to remember is that the points are not the point.... THE POINT IS THE POETRY!

Whether you come to share your poetry, or just to listen- we really are a very lucky bunch with friendly people and incredible poets!

We don’t have the reputation for being the friendliest slam in town for no reason! We have a great team at Genesis that are so helpful to all our audience and slammers, and we look after each other during the night!

You all make the space we hold as wonderful as it is - we really couldn’t do it without your words and your enthusiasm, which we want to match always! So bring all your good vibes our way and let’s continue 2024 in style!

Doors at 18:00 for a 19:30 start.

GENESIS POETRY WORKSHOP GOES WILD!

The Genesis Slam crew are back with the next Genesis Poetry Workshop and this time it’s all about the wild. In this workshop, we’ll be writing all about the natural world, from rugged heather-covered wildernesses to weird and wonderful flora and fauna.

TICKETS HERE!

We’ll be looking at why writers are fascinated by the wild, learning what the natural world can teach us about ourselves and having a crack at writing our own poems inspired by the wild. Don’t worry – it won’t be all hippy-dippy daffodils and wandering lonely as clouds: if you’re ready to explore new landscapes and wildlife in your writing, this is the workshop for you!

·       Place / Time: Genesis Cinema Bar (Upstairs), Thurs 30th September, 19:00-21:30

·       Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.

·       Focus: Generating new writing

·       Price: £10

·       Who’s Welcome: All abilities – from first-timers writers looking to pick up a pen in a safe environment to seasoned slammers looking to push their craft to the next level.

This workshop will be led by Genesis Slam’s own Laurie Eaves. Laurie is a writer and editor who hosts Genesis Slam, Homebrew Poetry, the Vogon Slam and the Dead Darlings spoken word podcast. His work has been published by Bad Betty Press, Broken Sleep Books and Fawn Press amongst many others. His debut full-length collection Biceps is out on Burning Eye Books.

Feedback from previous Genesis Poetry Workshop participants:

“I'd recommend this workshop to every poet who wants a supportive space to share their work and develop in community with fellow poetry enthusiasts.”

“An intensely inspiring experience that has extended my writing practice and I would be very much interested in attending future workshops.”

“I enjoyed the poetry workshop at Genesis so much! It was inspiring to sit together and create.”

Answer the call of the wild and join us at the Genesis Cinema bar on Monday 30th September!

Homebrew is a freshly-brewed poetry open mic and feature night at the newly-opened Hillbilly Social 101, Bounds Green.

Host Laurie Eaves invites you to come share your words on the open mic or just kick back with some lovely drinks and check out feature sets from some of the UK's best poets.

Our next event is on Wednesday 25th of September with incredible feature sets from the fantastic Ellie de Satgé and the fabulous Danny Mash!

TICKETS HERE!

ELLIE DE SATGÉ

Ellie de Satgé is a London based poet & facilitator. She completed her creative writing BA & MA at the University of Birmingham, and was one of the co-coaches for the Birmingham Unislam team in 2023, bringing the team to victory in first place. She was also the Volunteers co-ordinator for the Kirkby Lonsdale poetry festival 2022 and will be an organiser for the next festival. Ellie now lives in Greenwich and runs a monthly poetry night, called “Everything”. Her debut pamphlet, “Rein it in”, is out now with Broken Sleep Books.

DANNY MASH

Danny Mash is the meal deal of the spoken word scene.

With a little something for everyone at unbelievable value for money, he'll leave you feeling like you've discovered the meaning of life.

OPEN MIC

Open mic slots are 5 minutes each. We have a select number of Open Mic tickets available in advance - if you're lucky enough to grab one of these you're guaranteed a slot on the mic. We'll also have a limited number of slots for sign-ups on the night selected at random from the almighty poetry hat!

- Date / time: Weds 25th September. Doors 19:00, Start 19:30, End 22:00

- Price: All tickets £5

- Location: Hillbilly Social, 101 Myddleton Road, N22 8NE

- Tube: Bounds Green (8 mins walk)

- National Rail: Bowes Park (3 mins walk)

I’ll be reading at the launch of Off the Chest’s Spaces of Significance anthology at Rich Mix!

TICKETS HERE!

Expect readings from some of the poets published within the anthology, as well as a feature set from internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning poet and best-selling author, Anthony Anaxagorou FRSL.

This anthology is published in association with Broken Sleep Books and Bad Betty Press. The poetry in this anthology spans wide and diverse spaces – from the girls’ toilets to the ocean floor.

Edited by acclaimed poets and publishers Aaron Kent of Broken Sleep Books and Jake Wild Hall of Bad Betty Press, the anthology includes poetry from award-winning poets Dean Atta, Laurie Bolger, Molly Naylor, Francis-Xavier Mukiibi, James McDermott, and many more.

From 2pm there will be a writing workshop in the space, before the main event which starts at 3pm. As part of this, there will also be a mini open mic session where you can perform your own work on this theme, plus performances from poets in the anthology. As ever, hosts Iftikhar Latif and Ella Dorman-Gajic will be welcoming you to the space.

DO YOU REMEMBER? GENESIS SLAM IS BACK IN SEPTEMBER!

 That’s right folks, fresh off our usual summer break the Genesis Slam crew is back to blow your minds once again with incredible poetry this September!

 Join us on Thursday 5th September upstairs at the Genesis Cinema in Stepney Green for your monthly dose of friendly competitive poetry slamming!

Who will be next to join our 2024 grand final? AUDIENCE, YOU DECIDE!

TICKETS HERE! 

AUDIENCE MEMBERS:

 Tickets are £1 each and must be booked in advance. Last slam we were SOLD OUT so grab yours quickly! If you book a ticket but then can't make it, please contact Genesis Cinema to release your ticket.

 On the night, just grab a cocktail, a pie and a comfy sofa and watch poets battle it out for a chance to compete in our grand final in December!

 POETS:

 There are two ways to sign up for a slot:

1)     In the PRE SIGN-UP or

2)     ON THE NIGHT

 We’re always looking for new ways to make our sign-up process fair and accessible for people and at the moment this is the most accessible format we’ve found.

 To apply for a PRE SIGN-UP slot, simply comment on our Facebook event page or email poetry@genesis-cinema.co.uk. We have 4 female, 4 male and 4 non-binary slots available for the PRE SIGN-UP – so please let us know where you fall on the gender spectrum when you sign up. Please note we will not offer you a slot until you provide your gender info, so please include this when you get in touch to avoid disappointment. These spaces fill quickly and are strictly first come first served. Poets with a pre-sign up slot do not need to purchase tickets, your name will be on the door at the box office.

If you don’t get a pre-sign up slot, we will be reserving a couple of additional ON THE NIGHT slots, for those who want to try their luck. Again these ON THE NIGHT slots are strictly first come first served.

 We’re a 3 round slam, so please bring 3 poems just in case. Each poem should be 3 minutes or under.

If you’ve scored a PRE SIGN-UP slot please arrive by 7.15pm to keep your slot, or we will allocate it to the next person on the reserve list. To keep things fair for the other slammers, if you haven’t arrived by the time the slam has started and made yourself known to us, you won’t be able to perform!

No props, no costumes (reading your poem from paper or a phone is fine!) and no hate. Other than that the only thing to remember is that the points are not the point.... THE POINT IS THE POETRY!

Whether you come to share your poetry, or just to listen- we really are a very lucky bunch with friendly people and incredible poets!

We don’t have the reputation for being the friendliest slam in town for no reason! We have a great team at Genesis that are so helpful to all our audience and slammers, and we look after each other during the night!

You all make the space we hold as wonderful as it is - we really couldn’t do it without your words and your enthusiasm, which we want to match always! So bring all your good vibes our way and let’s continue 2024 in style!

Doors at 18:00 for a 19:30 start.

I’m reading at the launch of Issue 14 of Fourteen Poems on Tues 3rd Sept at Tenderbooks London.

Full details and tickets here!

THINGS GET FORMAL AT GENESIS POETRY WORKSHOP!

It’s finally time. We’re going there. The Genesis Slam crew are back from our summer break with our next Genesis Poetry Workshop, and this time it’s every performance poet’s nightmare: form!

TICKETS HERE!

In this workshop we’ll be going over some of the basics of poetic form. You’ll learn to tell your sonnets from your sestinas, your haikus from your haibuns and your ballads from your blank verse – and gain a better understanding of when to use each!

We’ll be asking what form means, sharing some great examples of poems that make the most of different forms and playing with forms to see how they can push our writing.

·       Place / Time: Genesis Cinema Bar (Upstairs), Thurs 29th August, 19:00-21:30

·       Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.

·       Focus: Experimenting with different forms and learning how to use them

·       Price: £10

·       Who’s Welcome: All abilities – from first-timers writers looking to pick up a pen in a safe environment to seasoned slammers looking to push their craft to the next level. Novices are likely to learn new things about unfamiliar forms, while more advanced poets are likely to find the session a helpful refresher of some basics.

This workshop will be led by Genesis Slam’s own Laurie Eaves. Laurie is a writer and editor who hosts Genesis Slam, Homebrew Poetry, the Vogon Slam and the Dead Darlings spoken word podcast. His work has been published by Bad Betty Press, Broken Sleep Books and Fawn Press amongst many others. His debut full-length collection Biceps is out on Burning Eye Books; his forthcoming collection Metal Gear Sonnets is a sonnet sequence retelling the story of the 1998 PlayStation game Metal Gear Solid.

Feedback from previous Genesis Poetry Workshop participants:

“I'd recommend this workshop to every poet who wants a supportive space to share their work and develop in community with fellow poetry enthusiasts.”

“An intensely inspiring experience that has extended my writing practice and I would be very much interested in attending future workshops.”

“I enjoyed the poetry workshop at Genesis so much! It was inspiring to sit together and create.”

Come get formal with us at the Genesis Cinema bar on Thursday 29th August!

Homebrew is a freshly-brewed poetry open mic and feature night at the newly-opened Hillbilly Social 101, Bounds Green.

Host Laurie Eaves invites you to come share your words on the open mic or just kick back with some lovely drinks and check out feature sets from some of the UK's best poets.

Our next event is on Wednesday 28th of August with incredible feature sets from the poetic equivalent of a hug-in-a-mug Laurie Bolger and the poetic equivalent of spiced-rum-in-a-Pepsi-machine Kid Anansi!

TICKETS HERE!

LAURIE BOLGER

Laurie Bolger is a London based writer and the founder of The Creative Writing Breakfast Club. Laurie’s work has been widely anthologised and has featured at Glastonbury, TATE and Sky Arts. Laurie’s first publication Box Rooms celebrated community and her W10 roots.

Laurie was the winner of 2023 Moth Poetry Prize and in the same year was shortlisted for The Sylvia Plath, Bridport and Forward Poetry Prize. Her latest books include ‘Makeover' and ‘Spin' celebrating the resilience of working class women, autonomy and love. Her first full length book ‘Lady’ is to be published in Spring 2025.

KID ANANSI

"That creative hurricane and me good friend, Kid Anansi!" Benjamin Zephaniah.

The poetic equivalent of finding out that the drinks machine in your local McDonalds has quietly replaced its Pepsi button with spiced rum. Kid Anansi is confusing, frightening, delicious with ginger ale and lemon, and unhealthy in large doses. His poetry will have you laughing, crying, biting your knuckles in second-hand embarrassment, or all three, mixing history and melancholy with slapstick humour and inimitable energy. A regular face on the BAFTA Award winning first season of Life & Rhymes, and host of poetry nights around London: Extra Second London, Riverside Rhyme, That God Damn Poetry Jam & Word of Mouth.

OPEN MIC

Open mic slots are 5 minutes each. We have a select number of Open Mic tickets available in advance - if you're lucky enough to grab one of these you're guaranteed a slot on the mic. We'll also have a limited number of slots for sign-ups on the night selected at random from the almighty poetry hat!

- Date / time: Weds 28th August. Doors 19:00, Start 19:30, End 22:00

- Price: All tickets £5

- Location: Hillbilly Social, 101 Myddleton Road, N22 8NE

- Tube: Bounds Green (8 mins walk)

- National Rail: Bowes Park (3 mins walk)

I’ll be doing my first in-person feature set for a little while at Process Open Mic this October. There’ll be Biceps poems alongside some newer poems that I can’t wait to share with you.

I’m super excited to be featuring alongside my Genesis Poetry Slam partner-in-crime Caz Teague! Their fantastic pamphlet Good Earth is out on Burning Eye here if you haven’t got it yet.

Tickets: https://www.rulezero.co.uk/product/process-spoken-word-open-mic-25-10-22/

Date/Time: Tues 25th October, Doors 19:00

Location: Rule Zero, 3 Succession Walk, Fish Island, London E3 2RX

Ages: 18+ (sorry)

Accessibility etc.: Sadly, the venue is not wheelchair accessible - there are 20 steps to the venue. Wearing masks whilst not seated is advised, please do not attend if you or any of your household have Covid-19 symptoms or have recently tested positive.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/233713492347

Doors are at 6pm (six) for a strict 6:30 start.

Tickets are Pay What You Can (suggested donation £10) to help cover venue hire and pay the acts.

The (phenomenal) line up is:

Amy Acre - Mandisa Apena - Joel Auterson - Harry Baker- Iris Colomb - Rebecca Cooney - The Last Dinosaur - Rick Dove - Cai Draper - Laurie Eaves - Caleb Femi - Maria Ferguson - Kat Francois - Gecko - Anne Gill - Salena Godden - Kate B Hall - Lucy Hall - Josh Judson - Anna Kahn - Aaron Kent - Latekid - Antonia Jade King - Chris Lanyon - Tyrone Lewis - Alex Max - Gboyega Odubanjo - Repeat Beat Poet - Karl Queensborough - Yomi Sode - Spike Zephaniah Stephenson - Joelle Taylor - Daisy Thurston-Gent - Celeste Veazey - Phoebe Wagner - Harry Wills - Tanika Yearwood

I’ll be doing a set from Biceps for the good folks down at Spork! in June via Zoom.

Link and details TBC.

DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED, BUT WE HOPE TO RESCHEDULE FOR THE FUTURE.

Shinner & Sudtone, Sutton.

Family friendly, stairs to venue. 19:30 doors.

I’m doing a set from Biceps for the Word Up livestream on Monday 4th May!

Details and link TBC

To celebrate the launch of Biceps, I’m taking over the Burning Eye Books Instagram for a set of poems, chat, Q&A and squinting at a webcam!

Join me at https://www.instagram.com/burningeyebooks

DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED, BUT WE HOPE TO RESCHEDULE FOR THE FUTURE.

Blue Walnut Cafe, 14 Walnut Rd, Torquay TQ2 6HS

All ages, 20:00 start

Upstairs at the Western, Leicester.

Ages 12+.

Unfortunately due to the nature of the building there is no wheelchair access to the venue. But the venue do support people with mobility needs with the stairs with early admission to the auditorium, nominated member of staff and personal evacuation plans. Blue Badge parking is available right outside the pub/theatre.

19:30 Doors.

SET Dalston, 27A Dalston Ln, Dalston, London E8 3DF

All ages, wheelchair accessible via ramp (disabled toilet within 100 metres). 19:00 doors.

The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London

All ages, wheelchair accessible, free on the door

Support from very special guests: Laurie Bolger, Hannah Gordon, Hannah Chutzpah and Hattie Grünewald.