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 Sun 29 November, Mon-Fri 10am-3pm.
Rivers: Exhibition combining poetry by Costas Mannouris and visual art by Eugenios Gavriil, exploring dry riverbeds as metaphors for memory. See under Sun 25 October and Sun 29 November for ‘open house’ events with guided tours of the exhibition.
Cyprus High Commission, 13 St James’s Square, St James’s SW1Y 4LB.
Free, no booking required.
Until Wed 16 December, Mon-Fri 10.30am-5pm, Sat 12pm-5pm.
Visionary Landscapes: Group 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.
Free, no booking required.
Until Tue 8 December, Mon-Fri 10am-6pm.
Oracle Machines: Group exhibition bringing together computer text generation and art, poetry, AI and contemporary digital practices, tracing a path from early experiments in machine-generated language to today’s AI systems.
The Chartered Institute for IT, 25 Copthall Avenue, City of London EC2R 7BP.
Free, no booking required.
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.
Until 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.
November 2026
Friday 6 November
Fri 6 – Thu 12 November, 8.15pm each day.
La Bola Negra: Screenings of Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s new film inspired by the works of Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.
Barbican Cinema 1, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, City of London EC2Y 8DS.
£15.50/£12.50, bookable.
3pm-8pm.
Pátria Língua Portuguesa: Festival of Portuguese-language arts and heritage. Featuring a discussion on ‘Digital Society and Mental Health’ with poet-psychiatrist Virna Teixeira and NHS Director Chris Streather. Plus a creative writing workshop with Nilton Marlúcio Arruda, and performances and talks with Andreia Cunha, Gui Tavares, Wiri, Inácio Botelho, Del Feliz, Wiri, and Jamie Whelligan. The festival continues with other activities on Saturday and Sunday.
Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley Park, Wembley HA9 0FJ.
£12.62, bookable.
Doors 7.30pm, event 8pm.
Spirit Plastic: The theatre company ,Bruch‘- perform a play about Dadaist poet and artist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.
London Performance Studios, Penarth Centre, Penarth Street, Bermondsey SE15 1TR.
£10-£18, bookable.
Saturday 7 November
11am-1pm.
Voices in the Verse: Laila Sumpton leads a workshop on extending poetry beyond rhyme and traditional forms.
Booking unavailable – it is unclear whether this event is going ahead.
1pm-5pm.
Stories of Small Boat Crossings: An afternoon of craft and writing workshops, exploring how law shapes refugee boat journeys. Includes a flash fiction workshop with poet Jennifer Cooke (2pm-3.30pm).
Queen’s House, Romney Road, Greenwich SE10 9NF.
Free, booking required.
1.30pm.
Launch of Long Poem Magazine – Issue 36 Launch: Readings to launch the new issue of Long Poem Magazine, featuring Simon Jenner, Robert Minhinnick, Ian Dudley, Mary Wilson, M Stasiak and Ruth Wiggins.
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX.
Free, no booking required.
2.30pm-3.30pm.
Dispersal: Multimedia happening combining poetry, music, performance and visual art. Featuring poet Iris Colomb, plus Chris Hill, Ed Shipsey, Kate Carr, Jo Morrison, Lucia H Chung, Daryl Worthington, Joy Salomon-Corlobe and Virag Pazmany.
Window 135, 135 New Cross Road, New Cross SE14 5DJ.
Free, no booking required.
2.45pm-4.45pm.
Writers Forum Workshop: Workshop for experimental poets to share their writing. All welcome.
Spirit Plastic: The theatre company ,Bruch‘- perform a play about Dadaist poet and artist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.
London Performance Studios, Penarth Centre, Penarth Street, Bermondsey SE15 1TR.
£10-£18, bookable.
Sunday 8 November
1pm-3pm, then at the same time on Sun 29 November.
Digging & Hungering: Tatevik Sargsyan and Leah Cowan lead a two-part workshop on zine-making against techno-fascism, and queering the archive through writing and imagining.
The Feminist Library, 161 Sumner Road, Peckham SE15 6JL.
£5, booking required.
Doors 3.30pm, event 4pm-6pm.
It May Have Killed the Cat…: The British Bilingual Poetry Collective hosts a poetry workshop in English and Bangla on the theme of curiosity.
Pinter Studio, ArtsOne, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, Mile End E1 4PA.
Free, booking required.
5pm.
Huella: Tunisian-French movement artist Isadora gives an ecopoetic performance tracing a waterfall’s memory, inspired by the work of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.
The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, Lisson Grove NW8 8EH.
£15, bookable.
6pm.
And Party And Bullshit: Celebration of poetic hip-hop duo The Last Poets, featuring this pair in performance, plus poetry, discussion and music with Black Geographies, Marcos Santana, Bridget Minamore, Roger Robinson and Belinda Zhawi, and DJing by Daniel Oduntan.
Reference Point, 2 Arundel Street, Temple WC2R 3DA.
£8 (redeemable against purchase of Choi’s book), 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.
The Boardroom, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, Marylebone W1B 2HW.
Free, bookable.
6.30pm.
Rising and Sinking like Mountains in Streams: Multimedia poetry performance exploring creative connections between the River Wye in the UK and the Red River in Vietnam. Featuring a live performance by montenegrofisher (Luna Montenegro and Adrian Fisher) and cellist Isidora Edwards, plus presentations of work from Nhã Thuyên, Lowri Hedd Vaughan, Wanda O’Connor, Nguyễn Hữu Hải Duy and Thuỳ Dương.
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX.
Free, bookable.
Doors 6.30pm, event 7pm.
New Poetry at the Horse Hospital: Fran Lock, Stephen Romer, Sylvie Jane Lewis and Paul O’Prey read from their collections from Dare-Gale Press.
The Horse Hospital, Colonnade, Bloomsbury WC1N 1JD.
Free, 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.
Morocco Bound Bookshop, Unit 3A Pilot’s Walk, New Acres, Wandsworth SW18 1UZ.
£6.18, bookable.
7.30pm.
Playback Poetics: Vinyl listening session spotlighting poetry recordings from the London Review of Books and the National Poetry Library, with poet Denise Riley.
National Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
£13, 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.
Dummy #1 Launch: Launch event for the first issue of Dummy, a literary journal dedicated to the difficult, the obscure and the overlooked.
Small Press Futures Bookshop, Unit AG1 Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, Peckham SE15 4ST.
Free, bookable.
Thursday 12 November
Doors 5.45pm, event 6.15pm.
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.
£15/£7.50/£6, bookable.
6.30pm.
Echoes of the Past, Voices of the Present: Readings and discussion to mark the 130th anniversary of the start of the Hamidian Massacres. Featuring poet Tamara Wilson, and authors Andrew Finkel and Maureen Freely.
Armenian Institute, 1 Onslow Street, Clerkenwell EC1N 8AS.
£8/£4, bookable.
Archiving 6pm, poetry 7pm.
Free Trials: Poetry with Lila Matsumoto and Sarah Riggs, preceded by archiving activities.
MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, City of London EC4Y 1DH.
British Library, 96 Euston Road, Kings Cross NW1 2DB. Also livestreamed online.
In person £16/£8/£7.50, online £15/£10/£5, booking required.
Doors 7pm, event 7.30pm.
Storm: An Irish Nigerian Family Story: Irish Nigerian brothers, poet Gabriel Gbadamosi and storyteller David Gbadamosi, perform a multimedia tribute to their older brother Storm.
Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black’s Road, Hammersmith W6 9DT.
£10, bookable.
7.30pm.
Poetry London Autumn 2026 Readings: Hannah Lowe, Maura Dooley, Michelle Szobody and Esther Morgan read to launch the new issue of Poetry London magazine.
Space 5: Experimental music featuring poet Zara Joan Miller with sound artist Ellis Berwick, sound poet Michael Barthel with musician Luciano Maggiore, and musicians Seijiro Murayama, Silvan Schmid and Regan Bowering.
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston E8 3DL.
£12 advance, £14 on the door.
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.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, Hoxton E2 8JD.
£7, bookable.
7pm.
Windows of Displacement: Performance by movement artist Akeim Toussaint Buck, combining dance and poetry to address migration, home, borders and identity.
Theatro Technis, 26 Crowndale Road, Somers Town NW1 1TT.
£15/£7.50, bookable.
7.30pm.
Sighman’s Sense of Time Is Delusional: Poet and musician Simon Pomery (a.k.a. Blood Music) plays music from his recent record Skin String Sine and new tunes. Link forthcoming.
Dash the Henge, 348 Camberwell New Road, Camberwell SE5 0RW.
Free, no booking required.
Saturday 14 November
Sat 14 and Sun 15 November, 10am.
Alchemy: Exploring Metaphorical Transformations and Arts-Based Research: Interdisciplinary conference about alchemy’s metaphorical function within the realms of creativity and scholarship. The call for papers is open until Fri 9 October; papers about alchemy in poetry and poetics are welcome.
Online for the London Arts-Based Research Centre. Also available as an in-person event in Oxford.
Online £109.05, in person £195.72, booking required.
1pm-4pm.
The Body of Work: Victoria Adukwei Bulley leads a workshop on structuring a pamphlet or collection of poetry.
A secret, offsite location near the meeting point, which is Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston E8 3DL.
£10 advance, £12 on the door.
2pm-3.30pm.
Writing with Trees: Poet Anna Brook leads a workshop on writing write transitions, transformations and journeys.
RuptureXIBIT, 55 High Street, Hampton Wick KT1 4DG.
£20/£5, booking required.
3pm-6pm.
Launch Event: Decolonising the Page: A Forgotten Golden Age of Arabic Book Arts: Launch for Decolonizing the Page: A Forgotten Golden Age of Arabic Book Arts (1950s–80s), a new online exhibition and archival resource on Arabic book arts. With a panel discussion featuring Zeina Maasri, Sophie Demay, Jana Traboulsi, Erik Hartin and Daniel Lowe, plus a screening of Kais al-Zubaidi’s short film Testimony of Palestinian Children in Wartime.
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.
7pm.
Housmans Poetry Series: Sam Rodilosso reads to launch his poetry collection Fuse Box: Triple Sonnet Crown, and discusses his work with poet Maria Sledmere. Plus more poetry with K Lewis Hood and Luke Roberts.
Housmans, 5 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross N1 9DX.
Free, bookable.
7pm.
Windows of Displacement: Performance by movement artist Akeim Toussaint Buck, combining dance and poetry to address migration, home, borders and identity.
Theatro Technis, 26 Crowndale Road, Somers Town NW1 1TT.
£15/£7.50, bookable.
Sunday 15 November
5pm.
Re-Enchant: Poetry with Gale Burns, Luigi Coppola and Nadia Larina, plus an open mic.
The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, Lisson Grove NW8 8EH.
£12/£10, bookable.
7.30pm.
Venn Diagrams: Poetry with Iris Colomb and Jake Wild Hall, plus an open mic.
Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town NW5 2RX.
£6 cash on the door.
Monday 16 November
6.30pm.
University of Cambridge Creative Nonfiction Reading: Readings by creative non-fiction writers from the University of Cambridge, featuring poet Nina Mingya Powles, plus Freya Bromley, Midge Gillies, Amy Iggulden, Mohamed Alghanami and Chloe Whiting.
5×15 Special: Sleep Poetry, Live!: Editor Allie Esiri, actors Paterson Joseph, Lindsay Duncan, Nigel Lindsay, Diana Quick and Samuel West, and broadcasters Tony Robinson and Ruby Wax launch the anthology Sleep: A Poem for Every Quiet Hour of the Night, reading poems from Bashō to Charles Bukowski.
The Tabernacle, 34-35 Powis Square, Notting Hill W11 2AY.
£36/£32/£27, bookable.
Tuesday 17 November
11am-3.30pm.
Access to Literature: Day One: Two-day symposium on access to literature for disabled writers. Speakers and readers for today’s three panels include poets Khairani Barokka and Gayathiri Kamalkanthan.
Online for London Writers Centre.
Free, booking required. Each panel is bookable separately.
Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, Bloomsbury WC1H 0XG.
Free, booking required.
6.30pm-8pm.
Black Feminist Reading Group: Reading group for Black people and people of colour, discussing Tanya Shirley’s poetry collection She Who Sleeps with Bones.
The Feminist Library, Sojourner Truth Community Centre, 161 Sumner Road, Peckham SE15 6JL.
Free, booking required.
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.
Joanot Martorell Lecture 2026: Pol Guasch: Catalan poet Pol Guasch gives a lecture entitled ‘Love, Literature and Otherness’, about Joanot Martorell’s fifteenth-century novel Tirant lo Blanc.
ArtsOne, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, Mile End E1 4PA.
Free, bookable.
Wednesday 18 November
10am-3pm.
Access to Literature: Day Two: Two-day symposium on access to literature for disabled writers. Speakers for today’s four sessions include poet Jamie Hale.
Online for London Writers Centre.
Free, booking required. Each panel is bookable separately.
Doors 5.30pm, event 6pm.
Apocalypse in the Alps: Seán Williams gives a lecture about three writers’ experiences of the Swiss Alps: Algernon Blackwood, Franca Kraig and poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
Gresham College, Barnard’s Inn Hall, Holborn EC1N 2HH.
Free, booking required.
6.30pm.
Splendor: Trans Poetry Night: Readings from Splendor, an international anthology of trans poets. Featuring Juliet Jacques, Leo Boix, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, Hasti and Lateisha Davine Lovelace-Hanson, plus an open mic.
London Launch: Blood Tundra: Sophia Argyris reads to launch her poetry pamphlet Blood Tundra. Plus more poetry with Anthony Anaxagorou, Sitron Panopoulos and Juliette Morton.
Armenia’s House Museums on Screen: Parajanov, Charents and Aguletsi: Christopher Atamian introduces a trio of his short documentaries about the museum houses of significant Armenians, covering the homes of poet Yeghishe Charents, artist and ethnographer Lusik Aguletsi, and filmmaker Sergei Parajanov.
Armenian Institute, 1 Onslow Street, Clerkenwell EC1N 8AS.
£8/£4, bookable.
7pm.
The Fair Organ Reading: Poetry with Imogen Cassels, Leonie Rushforth and Dom Hale. Link forthcoming.
Staffordshire Street Gallery, 49 Staffordshire Street, Peckham SE15 5TJ.
The Chancellor’s Hall (Rooms G26 & G22), Senate House, Malet Street, Bloomsbury WC1E 7HU.
£125 (one day) or £165 (both days), booking required.
Doors 6.30pm, event 7pm.
Live Art Bookshop: Abscission Launch: Dani d’Emilia gives a presentation to launch their new collection 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.
Doors 7pm, event 7.30pm.
Church Of Sound 10th Birthday | British Jazz Songbook: The Church of Sound perform a celebration of British jazz from 1965 to 1975, featuring a large ensemble of musicians, including vocals by poet Anthony Joseph.
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, City of London EC2Y 8DS.
£24-£39, bookable.
7.30pm.
Book & Album Launch: Performances to launch Tom McLaughlin’s collection In Rooms of Falling Rain, and musician Owen Duff’s album What and Nothing.
The Music Room, 49 Great Ormond Street, Bloomsbury WC1N 3HZ.
Free, 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.
£33 or pay what you can, booking required.
1.30pm-3.30pm.
Hold Everything Dear: On Dumplings: Tatevik Sargsyan and Joyce TK Mak lead a workshop on the significance of gatherings, inspired by poems and photos from the venue’s archives.
The Feminist Library, 161 Sumner Road, Peckham SE15 6JL.
£6, booking required.
2pm-5pm.
Literary Culture Symposium: Symposium on the ecology of the writing and publishing industries. Speakers include poet Degna Stone, plus Monique Jackson, Anne Teahan and Gaylene Gould.
The Universe is an Animal: London Book Launch: Jessica Mookherjee reads to launch her new poetry collection The Universe Is an Animal. Plus more poetry from Caroline Smith, Lisa Kiew and Matthew Caley.
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX.
Free, bookable.
7pm.
Un Tiro Te Peguen – Julio Ruiz + To Lorca with Amor by Patricia Langa: Two flamenco performances with queer themes: Patricia Langa’s To Lorca with Amor, a tribute to Spanish poet Federico García Lorca on the anniversary of his murder; and Un Tiro te peguen by Julio Ruiz. Plus a book launch by Ruiz.
The Divine, 33-35 Stoke Newington Road, Stoke Newington N16 8BJ.
£10, bookable.
Sunday 22 November
7pm.
Screening of Juana La Lorca: Screening of Valeriano López’s film Juana La Lorca, about a drag performer’s identification with Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. Followed by a Q&A with Jorge Gárriz.
The Divine, 33-35 Stoke Newington Road, Stoke Newington N16 8BJ.
The Tabernacle, 34-35 Powis Square, Notting Hill W11 2AY.
£36/£32/£27, bookable.
7pm.
The African Origins of UFOs – Book Launch: Reading and discussion with poet Anthony Joseph to launch a reissue of his novel The African Origins of UFOs. Plus music.
Reference Point, 2 Arundel Street, Temple WC2R 3DA.
Wembley Library, 32 Engineers Way, Wembley Park HA9 8TS.
Free, bookable.
Wednesday 25 November
2pm.
BSL Tour: Cecilia Vicuña: Artist Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq leads a British Sign Language tour of the venue’s exhibition by Chilean poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña.
Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel E1 7QX.
Free, booking required.
5pm.
Poetry London Presents: Poets Natalie Linh Bolderston, Catherine Redford and Shagufta K Iqbal read from and discuss their work.
Room 137, Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths University of London, Lewisham Way, New Cross SE14 6AF.
Free, no booking required.
6pm.
Creamy Pumpkins: A Celebration of Ivor Cutler: Performances to celebrate a new Selected Poems by Scottish poet-musician Ivor Cutler. Featuring poets Phyllis King, WN Herbert and Ivor Kallin, musicians Loré Lixenberg, Steve Beresford, David Toop and Linda Hirst, and actors Toby Jones and Bill Paterson.
Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0DT.
£20, bookable.
Doors 6.30pm, event 7pm.
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.
London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, Bloomsbury WC1A 2JL.
£10, bookable.
Thursday 26 November
6pm-7.30pm
Anamot Press Workshop Series: Memory for Water: Canisia Lubrin leads a poetry workshop on hesitation, precarity, and the boundary between knowing and unknowing as strategies for compelling composition.
Online for Anamot Press.
£25/£15, booking required.
7pm.
Sonnets of Dark Love by Lorca. Poetry Reading: Leo Boix, Adriann Ramírez, Helen Bowell, Shannon S Meekings and Peter Scarpello read Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s sequence Sonnets of Dark Love.
Gay’s The Word, 66 Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury WC1N 1AB.
£10, bookable.
Friday 27 November
7pm.
The Performance: When Poetry Steps Off the Page: Romanian poet Peter Sragher reads to launch his collection The Performance, and discusses poetry in performance with poet Andy Willoughby and actor Elena Hadjiafxendi.
Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, Belgravia SW1X 8PH.
Free, bookable.
7pm.
Round Table: The Business of Women’s Writing: Discussion of the challenges and opportunities that women writers and their translators face today. Speakers include poet Jen Calleja, plus agent Rebecca Servadio, editors Laurel Plapp and Alice Spawls, and translator Sophie Lewis. Plus the launch of Claire Williams and Maria-José Blanco’s book Feminine Plural: Women in Transition in Luso-Hispanic Life-Writing. Part of a wider conference on The Business of Women’s Writing: Circulation, Translation, Criticism.
Senate House, Malet Street, Bloomsbury WC1E 7HU.
Free, booking required.
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.
Pay what you can, booking required.
2pm-3.30pm.
Writing with Texture: Poet Anna Brook leads a workshop on ways to capture textures in writing.
Good Shepherd Studios, 15A Davies Lane, Leytonstone E11 3DR.
£20/£5, booking required.
Sunday 29 November
1.15pm-5.30pm.
Rivers – Closing Open House: ‘Open house’ event with guided tours of the venue’s exhibition Rivers, which combines poetry by Costas Mannouris and visual art by Eugenios Gavriil to explore dry riverbeds as metaphors for memory.
Cyprus High Commission, 13 St James’s Square, St James’s SW1Y 4LB.
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX.
Free, bookable.
Wednesday 2 December
Wed 2 and Thu 3 December, 10am.
The Art of Chaos: Interdisciplinary conference about the role of chaos in the creative arts. The call for papers is open until Sun 1 November; papers about chaos in poetry and poetics are welcome.
Special Edition: A Razmik Davoyan Celebration: Arminé Tamrazian and actor Seta White read Tamrazian’s translations of Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan. Plus footage of musician Vahan Artsruni performing his settings of Davoyan’s poems.
National Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, Waterloo SE1 8XX.
£13, bookable.
Thursday 3 December
6.30pm.
‘Vervaceous’ Launch: Celebrating 10 Years of Verve: Readings to launch Vervaceous, an anthology celebrating ten years of the Verve Poetry Festival. Featuring Jennifer Wong, Keith Jarrett, Richard Scott, Hannah Copley, Kathy Pimlott, Deb Alma, Fathima Zahra and Imtiaz Dharker.
Goethe-Institut, 50 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, South Kensington SW7 2PH.
£6/£3, 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.
Cafe OTO Winter Fair: Stalls selling books, records and zines from experimental publishers, including poetry publishers.
Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston E8 3DL.
Free, no booking required.
Tuesday 8 December
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.
Friday 11 December
7pm.
Friday Lates Tour and Poetry Readings: SJ Fowler and other poets read their poetry responding to the venue’s collections of early Italian Renaissance paintings. Plus a tour of the exhibits with Fiona Alderton.
Room 57, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross WC2N 5DN.
Free, no 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.
Pay what you can, booking required.
Doors 4pm, event 4.30pm.
Dissidences: Performance incorporating poetry, music and movement, featuring Isabel Ros-López, Mabel Encinas-Sánchez, JoWonder and Stephanie Webber.
Hundred Years Gallery, 13 Pearson Street, Hoxton E2 8JD.
Free, no booking required. Donations for the artists are encouraged.
6.30pm.
‘Like’ by Héloïse de Satgé Book Launch: Héloïse de Satgé reads to launch the poetry pamphlet Like. Plus more poetry from Rishi Dastidar and Kayla Martell Feldman, and an open mic.
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H 9BX.
Free, bookable.
Friday 18 December
7pm.
Burley Fisher Xmas Party & Broadside Launch: Peter Scalpello, Raymond Antrobus, Victoria Adukwei Bulley and Will Harris read to launch poetry broadsides from Burley Fisher Books. Plus Christmas festivities.
Rose Lipman Building, 43 De Beauvoir Road, De Beauvoir Town N1 5SF.
£5, bookable.
Saturday 19 December
2pm-3.30pm.
Writing with Trees: Poet Anna Brook leads a workshop on writing in response to trees and forests.
Good Shepherd Studios, 15A Davies Lane, Leytonstone E11 3DR.
Audio Description Tour: Cecilia Vicuña: Audio description tour of the venue’s exhibition by Chilean poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña, designed for blind and partially sighted visitors.
Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel E1 7QX.
Free, booking required.
Saturday 30 January
8pm.
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.
Burmese Days: Opera based on George Orwell’s novel Burmese Days, written by poet Sarah Howe and composer Prach Boondiskulchok, with music performed by Dutch ensemble Het Muziek.
LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street, City of London EC1V 9NG.
From £31, bookable.
July 2027
Saturday 3 July
2.45pm-4.45pm.
Writers Forum Workshop: Workshop for experimental poets to share their writing. All welcome.
Fri 24 September – date in January 2028 TBC, Tue-Sun 10am-6pm.
Gozo Yoshimasu: Exhibition of works by Japanese experimental poet Gozo Yoshimasu, combining ink painting, visual poetry and other media.
Serpentine North, West Carriage Drive, Hyde Park W2 2AR.
Free, bookable.
FAQ
Who updates this page?
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.
