A event held at Arnolfini on Saturday 3rd May. The event starts at 19:00.
✅ BSL Interpreted
✅ Live Streamed (book a ‘Live Stream Ticket’ at checkout)
✅ The Live Stream will be Captioned
All Lyra Fest venues are wheelchair accessible. Our full 2025 Access Information Pack is available at www.lyrafest.com.
Date: Saturday 3rd May 2025
Venue: Arnolfini
Time: 19:00 - 21:00
Tickets: £8 (£10 solidarity, £6 concessions)
Raise the Bar: Poetry and Resistance
Raise the Bar presents another raucous, dynamic, thought-provoking and life-affirming evening, with a long-awaited return to Arnolfini. Featuring poets Suhaiymah Manzoor-Kahn and Jamie Thrasivoulou, and music from Hzeyran. Plus Ahmed Alnaouq, editor of the forthcoming book, We Are Not Numbers, reading the stories of young people from Gaza.
Coinciding with Raise the Bar’s Arnolfini exhibition of the same name, Poetry and Resistance features poetry of revolution, resistance and activism, showcasing the power of poetry to question authority, speak up for the oppressed, and call for radical change.
Poetry and Resistance Exhibition Info: https://arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/poetryandresistance-2/
Presented in association with Penguin Random House UK.
Raise the Bar:
The South West’s leading live poetry night, running blockbuster spoken word events in Bristol and beyond since 2014.
“Raise the Bar is one of the most professionally run and dynamically curated events in the country, poetry or otherwise” - Harry Baker
“Raise the Bar are hands down one of the best nights out this country has to offer, for poetry lovers and poetry newbies” - Hollie McNish
“Out-loud reactions are encouraged…shaking off traditional theatre etiquette” - Bristol 24/7
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan:
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan is a writer, poet, playwright, and educator from Leeds, challenging dominant views on history, race, and violence. Her debut play, Peanut Butter and Blueberries, premiered in 2024. She’s authored Seeing for Ourselves (2023), Tangled in Terror: Uprooting Islamophobia (2022), addressing Islamophobia and racism and her poetry collection Postcolonial Banter (2019). Her poetry has millions of views online and Suhaiymah is currently active co-founder of The Nejma Collective, supporting Muslims in prison.
Jamie Thrasivoulou:
Jamie Thrasivoulou is an award-winning writer and educator. He is also the vocalist in the band Kez. In 2018 he was a winner of the Culture Matters: Bread & Roses award. In 2019 he won the Saboteur award for Best Spoken Word Artist in the UK. His work has been published and broadcast widely; his latest collection FERAL is published through Verve poetry Press.
Ahmed Alnaouq:
Ahmed Alnaouq grew up in Gaza where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from al-Azher University. Ahmed was the inspiration for, and original project manager of, We Are Not Numbers. He later won the UK’s prestigious Chevening scholarship and earned a master’s degree in international journalism from Leeds University. He also serves as advocacy and outreach officer for the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Ahmed’s writings have been published by the Gulf News, New Arab, and other websites. He is currently based in London.
Hzeyran:
Hzeyran is a cross-disciplinary artist who works with space, sound, and words. Through braiding together the crafts of theatre, poetry, and music, she interrogates how art puts people and our relationships at the centre of the political narratives we inhabit, while particularly exploring the diasporic experience of building cultural bridges, unpacking generational and familial baggage, and creating space for pockets of joy.
Part of Lyra – Bristol Poetry Festival 2025
#LyraFest
Filters:
Live Event ✓
BSL Interpreted ✓
Captioned ✓
Online/Streamed ✓
Entry requirements: 16+, any under 18s accompanied by 21+ adult 1:1 ratio
✅ Live Streamed (book a ‘Live Stream Ticket’ at checkout)
✅ The Live Stream will be Captioned
All Lyra Fest venues are wheelchair accessible. Our full 2025 Access Information Pack is available at www.lyrafest.com.
Date: Saturday 3rd May 2025
Venue: Arnolfini
Time: 19:00 - 21:00
Tickets: £8 (£10 solidarity, £6 concessions)
Raise the Bar: Poetry and Resistance
Raise the Bar presents another raucous, dynamic, thought-provoking and life-affirming evening, with a long-awaited return to Arnolfini. Featuring poets Suhaiymah Manzoor-Kahn and Jamie Thrasivoulou, and music from Hzeyran. Plus Ahmed Alnaouq, editor of the forthcoming book, We Are Not Numbers, reading the stories of young people from Gaza.
Coinciding with Raise the Bar’s Arnolfini exhibition of the same name, Poetry and Resistance features poetry of revolution, resistance and activism, showcasing the power of poetry to question authority, speak up for the oppressed, and call for radical change.
Poetry and Resistance Exhibition Info: https://arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/poetryandresistance-2/
Presented in association with Penguin Random House UK.
Raise the Bar:
The South West’s leading live poetry night, running blockbuster spoken word events in Bristol and beyond since 2014.
“Raise the Bar is one of the most professionally run and dynamically curated events in the country, poetry or otherwise” - Harry Baker
“Raise the Bar are hands down one of the best nights out this country has to offer, for poetry lovers and poetry newbies” - Hollie McNish
“Out-loud reactions are encouraged…shaking off traditional theatre etiquette” - Bristol 24/7
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan:
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan is a writer, poet, playwright, and educator from Leeds, challenging dominant views on history, race, and violence. Her debut play, Peanut Butter and Blueberries, premiered in 2024. She’s authored Seeing for Ourselves (2023), Tangled in Terror: Uprooting Islamophobia (2022), addressing Islamophobia and racism and her poetry collection Postcolonial Banter (2019). Her poetry has millions of views online and Suhaiymah is currently active co-founder of The Nejma Collective, supporting Muslims in prison.
Jamie Thrasivoulou:
Jamie Thrasivoulou is an award-winning writer and educator. He is also the vocalist in the band Kez. In 2018 he was a winner of the Culture Matters: Bread & Roses award. In 2019 he won the Saboteur award for Best Spoken Word Artist in the UK. His work has been published and broadcast widely; his latest collection FERAL is published through Verve poetry Press.
Ahmed Alnaouq:
Ahmed Alnaouq grew up in Gaza where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from al-Azher University. Ahmed was the inspiration for, and original project manager of, We Are Not Numbers. He later won the UK’s prestigious Chevening scholarship and earned a master’s degree in international journalism from Leeds University. He also serves as advocacy and outreach officer for the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Ahmed’s writings have been published by the Gulf News, New Arab, and other websites. He is currently based in London.
Hzeyran:
Hzeyran is a cross-disciplinary artist who works with space, sound, and words. Through braiding together the crafts of theatre, poetry, and music, she interrogates how art puts people and our relationships at the centre of the political narratives we inhabit, while particularly exploring the diasporic experience of building cultural bridges, unpacking generational and familial baggage, and creating space for pockets of joy.
Part of Lyra – Bristol Poetry Festival 2025
#LyraFest
Filters:
Live Event ✓
BSL Interpreted ✓
Captioned ✓
Online/Streamed ✓
Entry requirements: 16+, any under 18s accompanied by 21+ adult 1:1 ratio
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