A workshop series for experimental poetry, open to all.
Innovative Poetry Readings in London
Writers Forum Workshop is pleased to host this listing of readings, exhibitions, performances, discussions, workshops and courses taking place on London’s innovative poetry scenes.
If you write innovative poetry and would like to share it with an interested audience, please consider attending Writers Forum Workshop’s London or virtual meetings.
See the bottom of the page for an FAQ, including how to get your own event listed here.
Key for colour coding:
Blue: In-person event.
Pink: Online event featuring London-based poets or organisations.
Green: In-person event in London, with simultaneous online broadcast.
Ongoing Exhibitions and Shows
Until Sat 3 October, Tue-Sat 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on most Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The Yard Theatre, Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick E9 5EN.
£10-£40, bookable.
Until Sun 10 January, Tue 12pm-6pm, Wed-Sun 12pm-8pm.
Poetry Buildings: Exhibition by visual poets and artists exploring the relationship between poetry and buildings.
National Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
Free, no booking required.
September 2026
Thursday 24 September
6pm-9pm.
Decelerating Futurism: Evening viewing of the venue’s art exhibitions, plus a listening and writing workshop with curator Sohyeon Kim, on exploring the Futurist movement differently through sound and text.
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, Islington N1 2AN.
The Yard Theatre, Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick E9 5EN.
£10-£40, bookable.
Friday 25 September
Fri 25 September – Fri 18 December.
Plastic Language: Poetry on Record Masterclass: Will Rene leads a five-session course on intersections between poetry, sound and music, inspired by poets like Henri Chopin, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Anthony Joseph.
Online for the Poetry School.
£290, booking required.
2pm-4.30pm.
David Bowie-Inspired Poetry Workshop: Claire Watt leads a poetry workshop incorporating experimental writing techniques used by singer David Bowie, such as cut-ups and strategy cards.
V&A East Storehouse, Parkes Street, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick E20 3AX.
Free, booking required.
7.30pm.
Poetry Club: Poetry with Anthony Joseph and Rachel Long.
Coronet Theatre, 103 Notting Hill Gate, Notting Hill W11 3LB.
£20, bookable.
Saturday 26 September
9am-5pm.
Enfield Poets Literary Festival: Day One: Poetry readings, workshops and talks, featuring Damaris Silvester, Kinga Ram, Akshay Gajria, Courtney Ward, Katherine Gallagher, Jill McCarthy, Lena Helikia Ngoudjo Siewe, Adriana Polifrone, Anna Maria Mickiewicz, Mary T Duggan, Anthony Fisher, Hannah Copley, Marina Sánchez, M Anne Alexander and Jacky Flower.
Forty Hall, Forty Hill, Enfield EN2 9HA.
Some activities are free with no booking required; others require payment and are bookable. See the link for details.
10am-10pm.
Typographia: Fair for independent publishing and print culture, including stalls from poetry publishers. With a programme of talks.
Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields E1 5JL.
£14, bookable.
1pm-4.20pm.
Penance Poetry Workshop: Nols Nathanski leads a workshop on creating automatic poetry under deliberately restricted conditions.
Make Poetry Weird Again Studio, Grosvenor Avenue, Canonbury N5.
Pay what you can, booking required.
2pm-4pm.
Book Marks Book Club: Reading group on US poet Ocean Vuong’s novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
Drawing Room, Unit 1b, New Tannery Way, Bermondsey SE1 5WS.
Bangladesh Centre, 24 Pembridge Gardens, Notting Hill W2 4DX.
Free, bookable.
7pm.
Cubitt x Ma Bibliothèque: Readings by writers and poets from experimental press Ma Bibliothèque, featuring book launches from Gill Houghton, Katharina Ludwig, Timothy Mathews and Adam Walker, plus David Berridge, Sam Dolbear, Michael Hampton, Sam Keogh, Louis Mason, Louise O’Hare, Bridget Penney, Adam Roberts and Simon Wortham.
8 Angel Mews, Cubitt Artists, Islington N1 9HH.
£7, bookable.
Sunday 27 September
9am-5pm.
Enfield Poets Literary Festival: Day Two: Poetry readings, workshops and talks, featuring Ramya Julian, Damaris Silvester, Aifric O’Neill, Mary T Duggan, Cheryl Moskowitz, Alastair Gavin, Valerie Darville, Roshni Beeharry, Abe Gibson, Gill Paul, Louisa Treger, Sara Kapadia, Patience Agbabi, Kinga Ram, Akshay Gajria, Courtney Ward, Katherine Gallagher, Jill McCarthy, Lena Helikia Ngoudjo Siewe, Adriana Polifrone, Sue Wallace-Shaddad and Mary Mulholland.
Forty Hall, Forty Hill, Enfield EN2 9HA.
Some activities are free with no booking required; others require payment and are bookable. See the link for details.
4.30pm.
Strivings and Rousings: How Does Art Criticism Continue Today?: Part of a weekend of panel discussions for the fiftieth anniversary of Art Monthly magazine. This session features conceptual poet Nick Thurston, plus Helen Cammock, Sarah James and Vali Mahlouji.
Srijon Celebrates the Birth Centenary of the Poet Sukanta Bhattacharya: Performances to celebrate the legacy of revolutionary Bengali poet Sukanta Bhattacharya, featuring singers Sanjoy Dey, Gouri Choudhury, Farzana Sifat and Laboni Barua; musicians Amith Dey and Piyas Barua; dance from Monirul Islam Mukul; recitations by Munira Parvin, Shatarupa Chowdhury, Ariya Nath, Dhananjoy Paul, Bonya Chakraborty, Bristi Gomes, Cleopetra Paul, David Lee Morgan, Polina Polozhentseva, Agnese Graudina and Mona Dash; and a theatrical interpretation of Bhattacharya’s The Entry Pass with cellist Harvey Gibbons, Sarwar-E Alam, Nazia Amin and Asmitha Keer. Plus talks by Shahaduz Zaman, Palto Ranjan Datta and TM Ahmed Kaysher.
Brady Arts & Community Centre, Hanbury Street, Spitalfields E1 5HU.
Free, booking required.
7pm.
Book Launch: And Suddenly into Nothing: French writer Suzanne Doppelt reads to launch a new translation of her novel And Suddenly into Nothing. Plus readings by her translator the poet Cole Swenson, and poets Laynie Browne and Ágnes Lehóczky.
Housmans, 5 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross N1 9DX.
Free, booking required.
Monday 28 September
5.30pm-7.30pm.
Dadaist Poetry Collage Workshop: Artists Eleanor McLean and Melissa McLean lead a workshop on creating collage poetry using Dadaist techniques.
The London Art Bar, 300 High Holborn, Holborn WC1V 7JH.
£11.55, booking required.
Tuesday 29 September
Tue 29 September – Tue 8 December.
Exploring Beauty & Frictions of Identity Through Place: Theresa Lola leads a five-session course exploring layered approaches to including place in poems, inspired by poets like Liz Berry, Carl Sandburg and Hannah Lowe.
Online for the Poetry School.
£160, booking required.
Tue 29 September – Tue 8 December.
Becoming: Transreading Interspecies Empathy & Innovative Poetics: Camilla Nelson leads a five-session course on accessing nonhuman ways of being to create innovative, more-than human poetry, inspired by poets like Stephen Emmerson, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett and Maggie O’Sullivan.
The Common Press, 118 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch E2 6DG.
Free or pay what you can (£17.99 with a copy of the anthology), bookable.
Wednesday 30 September
Wed 30 September – Wed 9 December.
Prose for Poets, Poets for Prose: Rachel Bower leads a five-session course on how writing poetry can inform prose and vice versa, inspired by authors like Claudia Rankine, Virginia Woolf and Gboyega Odubanjo.
Online for the Poetry School.
£160, booking required.
Doors 7pm, event 7.15pm.
International Translation Day: Poet Jen Calleja chairs discussions of translation, featuring translators Sawad Hussain, Daniel Hahn and Annie McDermott, bookseller Alison Henry, publisher Kishani Widyaratna and podcaster Evelyn Heis.
Brixton Library, Brixton Oval, Brixton SW2 1JQ.
£20/£10, bookable.
October 2026
Thursday 1 October
Thu 1 October – Wed 16 December, Mon-Fri 10.30am-5pm, Sat 12pm-5pm.
Visionary Landscapes: Group exhibition exhibition exploring the relationship between landscape, imagination and visionary states, including works by poets like Iain Sinclair and William Blake.
The Swedenborg Society, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, Bloomsbury WC1A 2TH.
Swedish Poetry Celebration: Poetic collaborations by Swedish and UK-based poets, featuring Jörgen Gassilewski and Xelis de Toro, Anna Hallberg and Mary Paterson, Tom Jenks and SJ Fowler, Andra Simons and Ivor Kallin, Julia Rose Lewis and Annie Katchinska, Alex Murphy and Petra Pálkovácsová, Patrick Cosgrove and Richard Marshall, and Cat Paronjan and Caitlin Nugent.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, Hoxton E2 8JD.
Book Launch: Hungarian Literature as World Literature: Book launch for an essay collection about how Hungarian poets and writers have influenced international literature. With a discussion featuring scholars Péter Hajdu, Zoltán Z Varga, Galin Tihanov, Jozefina Komporaly and Christina Horvath.
Liszt Institute, 17-19 Cockspur Street, St James’s SW1Y 5BL.
Free, bookable.
Saturday 3 October
2.45pm-4.45pm.
Writers Forum Workshop: Workshop for experimental poets to share their writing. All welcome.
Hold Space Gathering: Poetry, performance art and music to mark the midpoint of the Hold Space Poetry Festival.
St Pancras New Church, 165 Euston Road, Bloomsbury NW1 2BA.
Pay what you can (£10 suggested), bookable.
Sunday 4 October
1pm-8pm.
Black British Book Festival: A wide-ranging celebration of Black British literature, including a poetry reading by Raymond Antrobus and Courtney Conrad (3pm on the Conservatory Terrace), and a Black Poetry Shutdown featuring Malika Booker, Kadija Sesay, Rachel Long, Nick Makoha, Ty’rone Haughton, Casey Bailey, John Bernard, Jah Digga and Sanity (7pm in the Barbican Theatre).
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, City of London EC2Y 8DS.
£49 (VIP pass) or £24, bookable.
4pm-6pm.
Sonic Expansion: US poet Julie Carr leads a workshop on expanding the sonic range of writing, inspired by poets like Cesar Vallejo, Harryette Mullen and Nathaniel Mackey.
Online, via Zoom for Pamenar Press.
£50 (sliding scale available), booking required.
6pm.
Launch of ORC and Poetry on Drugs Zine: Launch of two poetic publications: Organised.Radical.Community and Poetry on Drugs Zine. With readings by Stephen Mooney, David Ashford, Rhys Trimble and more.
Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green E1 5QJ.
Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town NW5 2RX.
£6/£5 cash on the door.
7.30pm.
JJJJJerome Ellis + Willow Swan: Performance by poet, artist and musician JJJJJJerome Ellis, plus sound artist Willow Swan.
Cafe OTO, 18–22 Ashwin Street, Dalston E8 3DL.
£17 advance, £19 on the door.
Monday 5 October
Mon 5 October – Mon 14 December.
Fragility of the Gods: Zena Edwards leads a five-session course on writing poetry inspired by the Greco-Roman gods.
Online for the Poetry School.
£135, booking required.
Tuesday 6 October
Tue 6 October – Tue 15 December.
Poetry of the Displaced: Olha Shvets leads a five-session course on writing poetry that responds to forced displacement connected with flight from conflict, regime, or war.
Artist’s Talk and Exhibition Preview: Cecilia Vicuña: Chilean poet and textile artist Cecilia Vicuña discusses her new exhibition at the venue with curators curators Leila Hasham and Carolina Jozami. Plus a preview of the exhibition.
Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel E1 7QX.
£25/£9.50, bookable.
6.30pm.
To an Unknown Receiver: Erica Hesketh reads to launch her poetry pamphlet To an Unknown Receiver, and discusses her work with poet Will Harris.
Lively, Straightforward, Ancient, Clever and Strange: Artists’ collective Shanzhai Lyric give a poetry-talk responding to themes of mistranslation, fashion and the lyric tradition in Evelyn Taocheng Wang’s exhibition at the venue. Followed by a discussion with feminist scholar Silvia Bombardini.
Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, St James’s, New Cross SE14 6AD.
Free, bookable.
7.30pm.
2026 WB Yeats Bedford Park Lecture: Modernist scholar Fintan O’Toole gives a lecture on ‘National Pride & National Vanity: Yeats, Art & Patriotism’.
St Michael & All Angels Church, Bath Road, Chiswick W4 1TT.
£15, bookable.
8.10pm.
An Evening with an Immigrant: Poet Inua Ellams performs a one-man play about his experiences as a Nigerian immigrant in Britain.
Young Vic, 66 The Cut, Waterloo SE1 8LZ.
£23, bookable.
Wednesday 7 October
Wed 7 October – Sun 14 February, Tue-Wed and Fri-Sun 11am-6pm, Thu 11am-9pm.
Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel E1 7QX.
£9.50-£18.15, bookable.
8pm.
Special Edition: Shanzhai Lyric Runway Reading: Collaborators of Shanzhai Lyric read and wear poetry inspired by counterfeit T-shirts made in China, challenging ideas about language and power.
National Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
From £13 plus £4 booking fee, bookable.
8.10pm.
An Evening with an Immigrant: Poet Inua Ellams performs a one-man play about his experiences as a Nigerian immigrant in Britain.
A Feeling for Poetry: Readings to launch the Dark Angels poetry collective’s anthology Family Matters, featuring Rishi Dastidar, Galen O’Hanlon and more.
Goodenough College (London House), Mecklenburgh Square, Bloomsbury WC1N 2AB.
£20/£12/£6, bookable.
7.30pm.
Screening: Blood Ah Go Run & Dread Beat and Blood: Screenings of Dread Beat and Blood, Franco Rossi’s 1979 documentary about dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, and Blood Ah Go Run, Menelik Shabazz’s 1982 documentary about protests following the 1981 New Cross Fire.
UCL East Cinema, 1 Pool Street, Stratford E20 2AF.
Free, booking required.
7.30pm.
Field Crafting: Experimental music with [Something’s Happening] (poet Iris Colomb and composer Daryl Worthington), Kate Carr, Lia Mazzari and Mark Peter Wright.
Sound and Breath: Hebridean poet Niall Campbell and Australian poet Todd Turner read their work.
Keats House, Keats Grove, Hampstead NW3 2RR.
£7, bookable.
Doors 7pm, event 7.30pm.
Little Books, Long Titles: Daniela Cascella and Ellen Dillon read from and discuss their new poetry collections, Beauty, Burning: The Condition of Music and How complete + final the feeling as I lift its curve in the net.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, Hoxton E2 8JD.
Free, bookable.
Saturday 10 October
10.30am-12pm.
The Business of Poetry: Christy Ku leads a workshop on how to make a living from poetry, inspired by the careers of poets like TS Eliot, Audre Lorde and Nina Mingya Powles.
Meeting point: St Olave’s Church, 8 Hart Street, City of London EC3R 7NB.
Free, booking required.
3pm.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem: Screening of William and David Greaves’ documentary about the Harlem Renaissance movement in music, poetry, fiction and art.
ICA, The Mall, St James’s SW1Y 5AH.
£18, bookable.
Doors 4pm, event 4.30pm.
Dissidences. Sound, Voice, Word: Poetry, music and performance with Joanne Morrison, Serena Bobowski, Rafael Peñas and Zheng Hao.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, Hoxton E2 8JD.
Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black’s Road, Hammersmith W6 9DT.
£25, bookable.
6pm-8pm.
A Patchwork Orange: Anthony Anaxagorou leads a workshop on how to shape poetry around an organising principle rather than direct or literal modes of address.
Online for the the87press.
£36.45, booking required.
6.15pm.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem: Screening of William and David Greaves’ documentary about the Harlem Renaissance movement in music, poetry, fiction and art.
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XT.
£18, bookable.
6.20pm.
At Night: Screening of Beatrice Gibson’s new film following a group of women in Paris at night. Inspired by the poetry of Alice Notley, and featuring poet Sophie Robinson.
Launching MPT At the Gate of Exile: Focus on Archives: Readings to launch the new issue of Modern Poetry in Translation magazine, themed around archives. Featuring Norman Erikson Pasaribu, Ni Made Purnama Sari, Yoo Heekyung and Stine An.
Online for Modern Poetry in Translation magazine.
Free (donations encouraged), booking required.
7pm.
The History of Korean Folklore & Women: Poet Melanie Hyo-In Han gives a lecture on how Korean folklore carries women’s grief, resistance and transformation.
21Soho, 3-5 Sutton Row, Soho W1D 4NR.
In person £15.50-£20, online £15/£13, bookable.
Tuesday 13 October
4.15pm.
At Night: Screening of Beatrice Gibson’s new film following a group of women in Paris at night. Inspired by the poetry of Alice Notley, and featuring poet Sophie Robinson.
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XT.
£13, bookable.
6.30pm-9pm.
First Steps: A Closer Look: Isabelle Baafi leads a beginner-friendly workshop on turning everyday details into striking poems, inspired by poets like Frank O’Hara, Nuar Alsadir and Rachel Long.
Online, via Zoom for the Poetry School.
£45, booking required.
Thursday 15 October
6.30pm.
You Must Become Field – A Book Launch: Lebanese-Armenian poet Perla Kantarjian reads to launch her poetry collection You Must Become Field, and discusses her work with poet Sarah Mnatzaganian.
Armenian Institute, 1 Onslow Street, Clerkenwell EC1N 8AS.
£8/£4, bookable.
7pm.
Edward W Said London Lecture 2026: Palestinian-American poet Fady Joudah gives a lecture titled ‘Notes on Solidarity’, addressing the need for deeper solidarity with Palestine in the English-speaking world.
Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, South Kensington SW7 2AR.
£15/£11.50, bookable.
Friday 16 October
Doors 6pm, event 7pm.
Launch of Somali Week Festival 2026: Discussion and performances to open this year’s Somali Week Festival, featuring Somali-Italian poet Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, plus film-maker Ilhan Abdullahi, food writer Ifrah F Ahmed, actor Sabrina Ali and fashion designer Hussein Suleiman.
British Library, 96 Euston Road, Kings Cross NW1 2DB.
£12/£6/£5, bookable.
Saturday 17 October
10.30am-1pm on this day; see the link for a detailed schedule.
Somebody’s Walking over My Grave: Sascha Akhtar leads a six-week course for the Poetry School, on writing poetry inspired by graveyards and the dead.
Various cemeteries around Greater London, plus online activities.
£135, booking required.
1pm-8pm.
Penance: The Long Day: Nols Nathanski leads a seven-hour workshop on creating automatic poetry under deliberately restricted conditions. Stamina is required.
Address to be confirmed upon booking, Grosvenor Avenue, Canonbury N5.
Mushaira: Performances from publisher the87press, featuring poets Roger Robinson, Anthony V Capildeo, Perla Kantarjian, Tom Branfoot, Maya Caspari and Lagnajita Mukhopadhyay, plus DJing by Jimmy Two Shoes and a pop-up kitchen from Chef Yogi.
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston E8 3DL.
£12/£10, bookable.
Sunday 18 October
4.30pm.
Somali Poetry Day: Readings by Somali poets Cabdirisaaq Xaamud Caydiid (Jaylaani), Cabdinasir Bidixo, Asha Lul Mohamud Yusuf and Buurmaax.
Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green E2 6HG.
£6.13, bookable.
Tuesday 20 October
6.30pm.
The Art of Translation: Poet Leo Boix and translator Sarah Ardizzone discuss translation as an act of creative reinvention.
Halcyon London International School, 33 Seymour Place, Mayfair W1H 5AU.
£10, bookable.
Wednesday 21 October
6pm-8.30pm.
Creative Encounters: Inky Poems: Poet-artist Sadegh-Sepanta Aleahmad leads a workshop using words and stamp-making to make a giant, collaborative visual poem.
Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
Free, no booking required.
7.30pm.
Made You Look: Ty’rone Haughton performs a show fusing poetry, physical theatre, visual art, and sound to interrogate masculinity.
The Exhibit, 12 Balham Station Road, Balham SW12 9SG.
£3..30/free, bookable.
8pm.
Kwame Dawes: Afro-Style School & Kinships: Jamaican Poet Laureate Kwame Dawes discusses how poetry programmes and collectives have fought against literature and publishing’s lack of diversity.
National Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
From £13 plus £4 booking fee, bookable.
Friday 23 October
7.30pm.
Out-Spoken: Poetry with Kwame Dawes, Alice Oswald and Max Porter, plus live music.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
From £19 plus £4 booking fee, bookable.
Saturday 24 October
10.30am-4.30pm, then 10.30am-1pm on Sat 7 November.
Fontasia: Poetry & Rebellious Typography: Lydia Kennaway leads a short course for the Poetry School, on experimenting with typeface in poetry, inspired by poets like George Herbert, Raymond Queneau and Tom Phillips.
Holborn House Community Centre, 35 Emerald Street, Bloomsbury WC1N 3QW.
£120, booking required.
10am-5pm.
Hackney Indie Press Fair: Fair with stalls from independent publishers, including poetry presses. Plus a programme of talks and panel discussions.
Poetry Day!: Curated displays showing highlights from the collections of the National Poetry Library, plus drop-in poetry workshops.
Foyer, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
Free, no booking required.
11am-1.30pm.
Attention Practices: Author and poet Julia Bell leads a workshop on how paying attention to the world and one’s body can feed into writing.
Online, via Zoom for London Lit Lab.
£40, booking required.
12pm.
A Celebration of British Somali Poetry: Readings and discussions with poets from the Somali diaspora, featuring Samatar Elmi, Asmaa Jama, Ibrahim Hirsi, Safiya Mohamed and Zakariye.
Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
Level 5 Function Room, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
From £18 plus £4 booking fee, bookable.
5pm.
Poems on the Underground: 40th Anniversary: Readings to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Transport for London’s public poetry programme, featuring poets Patience Agbabi, Judith Chernaik, Imtiaz Dharker and George Szirtes. With music from Apollo String Quartet and Juliet Lewis.
Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
In person from £14 plus £4 booking fee, bookable; online free, no booking required.
8pm.
Dua Lipa & Mustafa: Nour: Sudanese-Canadian poet Mustafa discusses his poetry anthology Nour with musician Dua Lipa.
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
From £29 plus £4 booking fee, bookable.
Sunday 25 October
10.30am-3.45pm.
Creative Future Writers’ Day: Talks and panels about how to develop a career in literature, including (at 1.30pm) a panel on how to get one’s poetry published, featuring Anthony Anaxagorou, Jane Commane and more.
SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, Bloomsbury WC1H 0XG.
Free, bookable.
7pm-9pm.
Passing: A Writing Workshop: Elaine ML Tam from Fieldnotes magazine leads a writing workshop exploring identity, displacement and the travelling fragment, inspired by Evelyn Taocheng Wang’s art exhibition at the venue.
Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, St James’s, New Cross SE14 6AD.
London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, Bloomsbury WC1A 2JL.
£10, bookable.
8pm.
Hexentexte: Patricia Allmer gives a lecture on the role of witchcraft in the work of women surrealist writers and artists, such as Unica Zürn and Meret Oppenheim.
Online, via Zoom for the Last Tuesday Society.
£11.79/£6.59, booking required.
Friday 30 October
Fri 30 October – Fri 27 November.
Acts of Telling: Extraordinary Narrators Studio: Catherine Smith leads a four-week course on experimenting with narrative voice in poetry, inspired by poets like Edwin Morgan, Terrance Hayes and Les Murray.
Online for the Poetry School.
£118, booking required.
7pm.
Edition 54 Poetry and Performance: Poetry, music and performance to launch Edition54 magazine, featuring Graham Clifford, Stephen Curtis, Satya Bosman, Alice Border, Shona Handley, Catherine Balaq, the Something Puffs, Muscle Flex and Spinmaster Plantpot.
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX.
Free, bookable.
Saturday 31 October
10.30am-1pm.
The Talking Dead: Lewis Buxton leads a workshop on horror, zombies and deadness in poetry.
British Library, 96 Euston Road, Kings Cross NW1 2DB. Also livestreamed online.
In person £30/£15/£13.50, online £20/£15/10, booking required.
1pm-4.20pm.
Penance Poetry Workshop: Nols Nathanski leads a workshop on creating automatic poetry under deliberately restricted conditions.
Make Poetry Weird Again Studio, Grosvenor Avenue, Canonbury N5.
Pay what you can, booking required.
2pm-7pm.
Wild Thing Poetry Masterclass: Tara Brown, Katie Dunstan and Jess Grynfeld lead a poetry workshop celebrating Samhain with a focus on the more-than-human.
Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town NW5 2RX.
£20/£15 cash on the door.
November 2026
Monday 2 November
Mon 2 November – Mon 30 November.
Gutsy Cute Studio: Ellora leads a four-week course on using cuteness in poetry, inspired by poets like Kim Hyesoon, Selima Hill and Phoebe Stuckes.
Online for the Poetry School.
£118, booking required.
Tuesday 3 November
Tue 3 November – Tue 1 December.
Tales from the Wetlands Studio: Penny Boxall leads a four-week course on writing poetry about wetlands, inspired by poets like Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jaan Kaplinski and Ella Frears.
Online for the Poetry School.
£118, booking required.
Thursday 5 November
8pm.
More Fire: Poetry performances to celebrate the birthday of poetry organisation Apples & Snakes, featuring Yomi Sọde and more.
Moor Mother: Performance by US poet and composer Moor Mother.
ICA, The Mall, St. James’s SW1Y 5AH.
£24.21, bookable.
Tuesday 10 November
6.30pm-9pm.
First Steps: Finding Inspiration: Isabelle Baafi leads a beginner-friendly workshop on getting started in writing poetry, inspired by poets like Kei Miller, Mahmoud Darwish and Elizabeth Acevedo.
Online, via Zoom for the Poetry School.
£45, booking required.
Doors 3.15pm, workshop 3.30pm-5.30pm.
Learning from Dead [Women] Poets: Clare Pollard leads a workshop on writing poetry inspired by female writers who have come before.
The London Library, 14 St James’s Square, St James’s SW1Y 4LG.
£35/£30, bookable.
Doors 6.30pm, event 7pm.
Dead [Women] Poets Séance: Sophie Herxheimer and Clare Pollard discuss the works of Amy Levy and Christina Rossetti, and read new poetry inspired by these Victorian poets.
The London Library, 14 St James’s Square, St James’s SW1Y 4LG.
£14/£10, bookable.
Wednesday 11 November
2pm.
Art, Poetry and the Great War: Val Woodgate gives a lecture on how the First World War was documented by artists and poets with direct experience of the conflict.
Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, City of London EC2V 7HH. Also livestreamed via YouTube.
The Roger Ely Experience: Discussion about countercultural artist and publisher Roger Ely, whose circle included experimental poets and writers like John Giorno, William S Burroughs and Derek Jarman. Featuring Anne Bean, Barry Miles, Dave Stephens, Neil Butler, Lois Keidan, Rob La Frenais and Steve Cleary. Tickets also give entry to a later cabaret event at The Water Rats (see below).
British Library, 96 Euston Road, Kings Cross NW1 2DB.
British Library, 96 Euston Road, Kings Cross NW1 2DB. Also livestreamed online.
In person £16/£8/£7.50, online £15/£10/£5, booking required.
8pm.
The Roger Ely Experience – A Cabaret: Cabaret celebrating the late countercultural artist and publisher Roger Ely, whose circle included experimental poets and writers like John Giorno, William S Burroughs and Derek Jarman. Performers include Performers include Liz Aggiss, Richard Strange, Phil Minton, Dave Stephens, Steve Beresford and Neil Butler.
The Water Rats, 328 Gray’s Inn Road, Kings Cross WC1X 8BZ.
£13.75/£11.12, bookable.
Saturday 14 November
1pm-4pm.
The Body of Work: Victoria Adukwei Bulley leads a workshop on structuring a pamphlet or collection of poetry.
Online, via Zoom for Out-Spoken.
£30, booking required.
4.30pm.
Dissidences: Performance incorporating poetry, music and movement, featuring Carla Cías, Ivy Tsui, Montse Gallego and Charlie Folorunsho.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, Hoxton E2 8JD.
Free, no booking required.
6.30pm.
Voices for Dissent, Voices for Desire: Poet Gayathri Kamalkanthan leads a creative writing workshop exploring the relationship between language, desire and representation, responding to Charan Singh’s art exhibition at the venue.
Autograph, Rivington Place, Shoreditch EC2A 3BA.
£10, booking required.
Tuesday 17 November
6.30pm.
New Dutch Writing: Dutch poets Anne Vegter, Charlotte Van den Broeck and Astrid Alben read their work, and discuss contemporary Dutch writing, to launch Alben’s translation of Vegter’s collection Pig Data.
Gresham College, Barnard’s Inn Hall, Holborn EC1N 2HH.
Free, booking required.
Friday 20 November
Doors 6.30pm, event 7pm.
Live Art Bookshop: Abscission Launch: Dani d’Emilia gives a presentation to launch their book of performance texts, and discusses the book with poet Sam Amsler and artist Joseph Morgan Schofield.
Live Art Development Agency, The Garrett Centre, 117A Mansford Street, Bethnal Green E2 6LX.
Pay what you can (£0-£12) plus £5 book deposit, bookable.
Saturday 21 November
1pm-8pm.
Penance: The Long Day: Nols Nathanski leads a seven-hour workshop on creating automatic poetry under deliberately restricted conditions. Stamina is required.
Address to be confirmed upon booking, Grosvenor Avenue, Canonbury N5.
The 90s Nostalgia RAP Party: Readings by poets and writers Inua Ellams, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Bidisha, Joe Dunthorne, Lauren Elkin, Dominique Heyse-Moore, Daniel Rachel, Miriam Robinson and Sathnam Sanghera, plus 90s tunes from DJ Tone.
The London Library, 14 St James’s Square, St James’s SW1Y 4LG.
£12/£10, bookable.
Saturday 28 November
1pm-4.20pm.
Penance Poetry Workshop: Nols Nathanski leads a workshop on creating automatic poetry under deliberately restricted conditions.
Make Poetry Weird Again Studio, Grosvenor Avenue, Canonbury N5.
£5 (or £12 with one of the poets’ new books), not yet bookable.
Friday 4 December
7.30pm.
From the Lips to the Moon: Multimedia performance with poet Tara Fatehi and musicians Pouya Ehsaei, Maddalena Ghezzi, Maria Chiara Argirò and Ruth Goller.
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston E8 3DL.
£14 advance, £16 on the door.
Saturday 5 December
1pm-4pm.
Run, Don’t Walk from the Monstrous Cute!: Fran Lock leads a workshop on the poetics of kitsch ephemera and schlocky body horror, inspired by poets like Aase Berg, Chelsey Minnis and Harry Josephine Giles.
Online, via Zoom for Out-Spoken.
£30, booking required.
2.45pm-4.45pm.
Writers Forum Workshop: Workshop for experimental poets to share their writing. All welcome.
First Steps: A Closer Look: Isabelle Baafi leads a beginner-friendly workshop on turning everyday details into striking poems, inspired by poets like Frank O’Hara, Nuar Alsadir and Rachel Long.
Online, via Zoom for the Poetry School.
£45, booking required.
Saturday 12 December
1pm-4.20pm.
Penance Poetry Workshop: Nols Nathanski leads a workshop on creating automatic poetry under deliberately restricted conditions.
Make Poetry Weird Again Studio, Grosvenor Avenue, Canonbury N5.
For the Love of Great Writing: The TLS at 125: Discussion about the role of classicism in contemporary literature, with poet Paul Muldoon, classicist Mary Beard, and novelists Gwendoline Riley and Ben Markovits.
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
Mayfair Mini Book Fair: Book fair with stalls from independent publishers, plus a programme of talks and readings. Followed by an early evening gala with an open mic.
Mayfair Library, 25 South Audley Street, Mayfair W1K 2PB.
Free, bookable.
2.45pm-4.45pm.
Writers Forum Workshop: Workshop for experimental poets to share their writing. All welcome.
The listing is primarily maintained and updated by Matt Martin, with assistance from other attendees of Writers Forum Workshop.
Haven’t I seen this page elsewhere?
Innovative Poetry Readings in London was developed by the poet Peter Philpott in 2009 as part of his website, www.modernpoetry.org.uk. He continued to run the listings as a service to London’s poetry communities until August 2018; the rest of his site remains active and is of great interest. In 2018, Peter bequeathed the listings to the website of the Contemporary Poetics Research Centreat Birkbeck, University of London, where Matt Martin took on its maintenance. In 2022, changes to the university’s IT systems made it impractical for the listings page to continue there; it moved to its current home at the beginning of 2023.
Why only London?
Exciting things definitely happen in the rest of the UK; this page’s focus on London reflects that Writers Forum Workshop convenes there. To maintain listings of innovative poetry events nationwide would be a forbiddingly huge task, given that the page is updated by volunteers in their spare time.
How can I get my event listed?
Contact us herewith details of any readings or other events for this page, including a link to a webpage or social media post for the event if possible. Contact us when we’ve made a mistake also, please. Bear in mind:
The listings are not always updated daily. To ensure that your event is posted in time to spread the word, please send information at least a week beforehand: the further in advance, the more useful the listing will be for you.
The listings are for activities within the traditions or communities of innovative poetry – those that Writers Forum Workshop exists to further. We aim to be inclusive, incorporating cross-cultural and internationalist currents, and extending to celebrations of modernist precursors, but there are limits to what will be publicised here.
What do you mean by ‘innovative poetry’?
Broadly speaking, poetry that challenges the traditionally accepted definitions of the art form – work which might also be dubbed ‘experimental’, ‘avant-garde’, ‘modernist’, ‘postmodernist’, ‘neo-modernist’, etc. Such poetry can diverge from the conservative norm in many different directions – a personal view from Peter Philpott is online here. These scenes are constantly developing. In the UK, the last couple of decades have seen an increasing (though still frustratingly sporadic) acceptance of innovative poetry by universities, major publishers, literary prize-givers and other institutions. Simultaneously, the field has been enriched by a growing number of intersections between poetry communities, while women, non-binary, Black British and British Asian poets, as well as UK-based poets born overseas, have all become more prominent.
Can you guarantee that these events will be good?
We hope they will be, but we cannot take responsibility for the quality of events organised by other parties, or for the reliability of information made available to us by others. However, every event here is listed because it promises something of interest to those keen to explore new possibilities for poetry. Descriptions in the listings are based on publicity material.
