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Poetry & Spoken Word Events in Bristol

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Bristol's Poetry Scene

At the time of writing there are very few regular poetry events in Bristol. Milk hosts regular nights at Halo on Gloucester Road and The Wardrobe Theatre in Old Market. Hammer & Tongue occasionally bring their poetry slams to town and have used The Grain Barge for past events. Stand Up For Lyricism promotes poetry events in south Bristol at The Rope Walk and Tobacco Factory Theatre.

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What our editors say

“Kayla Martell Feldman (she/they) is a multi-award-winning director and writer for the page, stage, and screen. They co-host the monthly poetry night Process and work with Safe Spoken to improve safeguarding and inclusion in poetry. Kayla is an alum of the Roundhouse Poetry Weekender and the NO BORDERS Artists Project at the Royal Court Theatre, and co-produced the Kirkby Lonsdale Poetry Festival in 2024. Her work has been widely published in North America, the UK, and online, and their second poetry collection Same Story is out now from Verve Poetry Press.”
From: Milk Poetry | Great Minds Don't Think Alike

“Bournemouth Reggae Weekender is an independently run 3-day unique occasion to celebrate the diverse African-Caribbean culture and heritage in Bournemouth through reggae music with a full range of entertainment and traditional activities that support creative arts and performing artists through music, poetry, storytelling, and dance workshops.”
From: Bournemouth Reggae Weekender

“Rob made his television acting debut as a corduroy jacket wearing poet in ITV’s Cold Feet 2018. Since then, he performed in series 2 of The End of The F***ing World (Netflix/Channel 4), and Miracle Workers (TBS). Rob also starred in and co-wrote the short film The Peamaster which was nominated for best short film at the Milan Film Festival. Rob was a finalist for The Arts Foundation Spoken Word Award and a winner of a Three Weeks Editors Award. He is a regular poet at Bang Said the Gun (voted best poetry night in the UK by The Times).”
From: DOUBLE BILL: Huge Davies & Rob Auton

“Join us for an evening of poetry reading and a conversation with Palestinian-American poet, Fady Joudah. Fady will read from his poetry, and talk about writing and being Palestinian in a time of genocide. The conversation will be chaired by Palestinian-Italian writer, Sabrin Hasbun.”
From: A conversation with Fady Joudah

“Bath Spa University was the first university in the UK to run a specialist class in spoken word poetry and 2025 sees its 20th anniversary. This event, hosted by Bath Spa Professor Lucy English, is a showcase of talent from across the years and celebrates the former students who are now published poets, promoters and educators.”
From: 20 Years of Spoken Word at Bath Spa