Opening Night Cabaret, with Luke Wright
Join us as we launch Push the Boat Out 2026 in style!
Luke Wright will take the stage with an explosive set spanning more than two decades of poetry and performance. There’ll be old favourites, work from Later Life Letter – his candid, funny and moving collection about family, adoption and the lives we might have led, longlisted for the 2026 Forward Prize for Best Collection – and brand-new material from Yes, his forthcoming 2027 live show. Expect poems with sharp edges, strong rhythms and a big heart delivered with the wit and precision that have made Wright one of Britain’s most distinctive live poets.
Before the interval, we’ll enjoy poems from EmmaClaire Brightlyn, who won the 2026 Scottish Book Trust New Writer’s Award for Spoken Word, and Nick Makoha, winner of the 2026 Cholmondeley Award, and music from the rapper RamZee.
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