Opening Night Cabaret, with Luke Wright
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
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: expect poems with sharp edges, strong rhythms and a big heart. Opening the night, we’ll enjoy poems from EmmaClaire Brightlyn and Nick Makoha and music from rapper RamZee.
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New Writers Awards 2027: Spoken Word Shortlist
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Cheer on Scotland’s emerging spoken word talent and discover the scene’s future headliners! Our friends over at Scottish Book Trust are joining us for an evening of short performances. As part of this year’s New Writers Awards selection process, the shortlisted Spoken Word applicants will be sharing their skills in front of a live audience.
Get TicketsPoetical Pub Quiz
6:15 pm - 7:45 pm
Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. But do you know who actually said that? If you do, you might just be in luck.
Join Ross McCleary and Beth Cochrane, aka Slamothy Jones, for a highly competitive and stylishly aggressive poetry pub quiz that will stretch the definitions of Poetic General Knowledge and Pub Quizzery alike.
Get TicketsTemporary Autonomous Poetry Zone – A Flotsam Flourish
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More Fun With Games invite you to join us for a game of playful, palimpsest, poetic perambulations. A self-guided and paced immersive experience via our mobile web app for you to discover detritus and hidden gems. Unmoor yourself and drift on the currents of our Dérive, wander and wonder. Perhaps you might discover some prizes at the end of our treasure trail?
Working With Marginalised Groups
10:15 am - 11:45 am
If you’re interested in using poetry to work with marginalised groups, don’t miss this workshop with social worker and researcher Dr Autumn Roesch-Marsh. Sharing her experience of working with care-experienced young people on a project about friendship, Autumn will support participants to think about how they themselves might develop sessions for working with marginalised groups.
Get TicketsBetween and Beyond Stage and Page: Documenting Spoken Word
10:30 am - 11:30 am
For many poets, spoken word is their way into writing and sharing poetry – but what if you want a spoken word piece to continue after you perform it? Join us to consider the possibilities of publishing, filmed poems and more with Mark Gallie of spoken word collective I Am Loud, Charlie Roy of Stewed Rhubarb Press, and writer and artist Julie Laing.
Get TicketsMentorship and Support: Programmes for Emerging Poets
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Mentorship schemes for emerging writers can be invaluable – but what exactly are they, and what support do they provide? Join Caitrin Armstrong, Head of Writing Communities at the Scottish Book Trust, Jim Carruth from the Clydebuilt Verse Apprenticeship Scheme and Nick Makoha from the Obsidian Foundation to find out.
Chaired through the ConVERSE Emerging Chairs Programme with the University of Edinburgh
Get TicketsShared Reading with Open Book
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Fancy digging deeper into the amazing talent taking part in this year’s festival? Join Jess and Lizzie from Open Book for a gentle session of shared reading and discussion of poems by a selection of poets featured. Expect to go away with new favourites! No homework or experience is required.
Get TicketsEditing Your Own Work
1:45 pm - 3:30 pm
Good editing can make the difference between a good poem and a great one. Join Helena Nelson (HappenStance Press) and Eleanor Livingstone (poet and former festival director) for a hands-on editing workshop. Bring along a draft poem, ideally 8 – 16 lines long, and experiment with techniques to take your writing to the next level…
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