London literary weekend aims to redress festivals imbalance for writers of colour
Malika Booker, Jane Yeh, RA Villanueva, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Anthony Anaxagorou and Raymond Antrobus are among the poets that will be taking part in a new literature festival in London next weekend that will be focused entirely on black, Asian and minority ethnic writers. Organisers of Bare Lit festival, taking place from 26-28 February, say: “Last year, the UK’s three largest literary festivals ...
28th February 2016
Underneath the arches ... three spoken word stars at new venue in Bristol
Three spoken word stars - Salena Godden, pictured, Sabrina Mahfouz, and Vanessa Kisuule - are lined up at appear together at a new underground arts venue in Bristol next month. Joelle Taylor, regular compere of National Poetry Day Live at the Southbank, will be hosting the Mother Foucault event at t...
27th February 2016
Write Out Loud's David Andrew heads off for philosophy stint in Iceland
Write Out Loud’s David Andrew is taking up a new challenge next month. Our long-standing Gig Guide editor and now board member will be philosopher in residence for a month at a “creative centre” at St...
23rd February 2016
Hebden Bridge stages poetry night in aid of flood appeal
Rose Condo, pictured, and Rosie Garland will be the guest poets at a spoken word open mic night in aid of the Calder valley flood appeal at the Fox and Goose pub in Hebden Bridge on Thursday 18 Februa...
18th February 2016
Poetry from the heart at Write Out Loud Marsden tonight
Forget February fourteenth, select the seventeenth to consider affairs of the art of poetry. Romantic fools, or foolish romantics might focus on the heart as a theme at Write Out Loud Marsden at Marsd...
17th February 2016
Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre tonight
There are plenty of open mic slots available at Write Out Loud Sale at the Waterside arts centre, Sale on Tuesday 16 February. Your hosts are Sarah Pritchard and Mo Harrop, and it starts at 7.30pm. En...
16th February 2016
Malika Booker will be chairing the Forward prize judges
Writer and spoken word artist Malika Booker will be chairing this year’s judging panel for the Forward poetry prizes. The panel also includes poets George Szirtes and Liz Berry, singer-songwriter Trac...
14th February 2016
Stepping up to the mic: Steve Pottinger is Write Out Loud's new chief executive
Write Out Loud is delighted to announce that poet Steve Pottinger has agreed to become its chief executive to oversee the next stage of this unique poetry organisation’s development. With his fantasti...
12th February 2016
Sweetheart deal tonight for Write Out Loud in Wigan
It’s a Valentine’s special at Write Out Loud Wigan on Thursday 11 February. The message is: Bring your words of love, romance, sex, even anti-valentine! This free open mic night starts at 8.30pm at th...
11th February 2016
Louise Fazackerley to open new spoken word night in Wakefield
Louise Fazackerley will be the guest poet at a new monthly spoken word night in Wakefield opening later this month, organised by Wakefield’s A Firm of Poets, in partnership with Sheffield-based Word L...
11th February 2016
Northern poets Kim Moore and Andrew Forster selected for Read Regional campaign
Kim Moore’s debut collection, The Art of Falling, and Andrew Forster’s Homecoming have been selected by arts organisation New Writing North in their list of 10 titles from the north of England for thi...
10th February 2016
VerseMobbers look for recruits to create public poetry encounters
A London-based group of poets that aims to create “public poetry encounters”, writing, creating and then performing together ”in unusual and unexpected places” are looking for more recruits. VerseMobb...
9th February 2016
Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight
Members of Write Out Loud Stockport will be meeting at Stockport art gallery on Monday 8 February for another open-floor poetry reading, starting at 7pm. Each month the group produces a collage poem b...
8th February 2016
Nicaragua declares poet a national hero to mark centenary
Parliamentarians have declared a revered Nicaraguan poet a “national hero” on the centenary of his death, the Telesur news agency reported. Rubén Darío was given the accolade by the national assembly ...
6th February 2016
Poets back National Libraries Day as campaigners fight closures
There will be poetry events in libraries up and down the country on Saturday 6 February to mark National Libraries Day, with campaigners hoping it will also draw attention to the number of libraries f...
6th February 2016
Luke Wright brings award-winning Edinburgh show about Blair years to London
Luke Wright will be appearing in his latest show, What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, which won two awards at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, in a three-week run starting in February at London’s Soho thea...
3rd February 2016
Poet reprieved from execution but still faces 800 lashes and long jail term
A Saudi court has overturned the death sentence of a Palestinian poet accused of renouncing Islam, and imposed an eight-year prison term and 800 lashes instead. The decision by a panel of judges came ...
2nd February 2016
