Reimagining Home: Michael Mullen & Sree Sen
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Reading from and discussing their debut collections, Sree Sen and Michael Mullen explore community, identity and questions of home.
Cracked Asphalt seeks to untangle the strings of guilt Sree found herself wrapped in after her move from Mumbai to Dublin, while Michael’s Goonie considers how we form community and how community, in turn, forms us.
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Takeover: The Shore Poets
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
The Shore Poets are an informal but durable collective who have been providing a platform for poets since 1991. Each month, the collective showcases two poets alongside musicians, capping it all off with the legendary lemon cake raffle! Prepare to be dazzled by the brilliant ecopoetry of Karen Solie and Tim Cresswell, and groove to tunes from The Self-Righteous Brothers.
Get TicketsWomen Speaking Volumes in Verse
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
‘Women have always been 50% of the population, but only occupy around 0.5% of recorded history’ (Bettany Hughes, 2016) — with only a fraction of those the stories of black and brown women. But women have long been telling the tales of our lives.
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Come and hear multi-talented poets and artists Cheryl Martin, Raman Mundair and Rommi Smith read and talk to Sharmilla Beezmohun about their activist writing lives.The Ranting Poets
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
The ranting poets burst into the 1980s, with poets who were furious, funny, and frenetic – and while spoken word may have gone academic there are still some poets seething. In this event, we’re thrilled to bring together two poets whose work blends defiance with compassion and a cutting sense of humour to challenge gentrification, austerity and pretension. Tim Wells, who started as ranter in the 80s, will be joined on stage with poet and multi-slam champion, Jay Mitra – named as one of Apples & Snakes’ 40 Future Voices in Poetry.
Get TicketsPoetry Jam with RJ Hunter & the SpeakEasy House Band
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Expect the unexpected – as long as the unexpected includes poetry, music and plenty of improvisation. This year, our perennially popular poetry jam joins forces with RJ Hunter and the SpeakEasy House Band. Bring along a poem you’d like to perform, or come along to listen, and settle in for a night of musical fun.
Get TicketsPoetry as Exile: Marjorie Lotfi and Najwan Darwish
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
The experience of creating art from afar when your homeland is in conflict is uniquely challenging. Najwan Darwish and Marjorie Lotfi will each present new work considering this theme, especially commissioned for the festival, alongside readings from their powerful repertoires. This will be followed by a discussion chaired by Esa Aldegheri.
Get TicketsPunk, Poetry and Politics
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
In our festival theme Poetry Is Punk, we explore poetry as a DIY art form: political, exciting and subversive. Join punk poets Paul Case, Mátyás Dunajcsik and slam champion Kemi George Simpson, in conversation with Jay Mitra, as they dig into the intersections between poetry, politics and punk.
Get TicketsPoetry is Punk
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Don’t miss what promises to be an electrifying performance with two experimental poets and performers! Between them, German-Hungarian polyglot punk poet Mátyás Dunajcsik and Edinburgh-based poet and activist Nat Raha combine spoken word, bass, loop pedals and a whole lot of energy.
Get TicketsBàird Bhaile: Gaelic Poetry and Song Night
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Round out the festival with an evening of Gaelic poetry and songs, brought together by Jeni Flannigan (of Bothan Dhùn Èideann and Lusan Buì) and hosted by Niall O’ Gallagher. Come with us and immerse yourself in the witty, soulful world of the ‘local bards’, past and present. You’ll be in good company: Josie Duncan, Iona Mairead Davidson & Calum ‘singing weatherman’ MacColla, alongside other established and emerging voices from the wider Bothan Dhùn Èideann community.
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