VERVE Poetry Festival may have tidied away its fifth iteration but that doesn’t mean we’re done for the year – far from it, in fact. Not only do we have another festival in the works for September in partnership with the BBC, but we’ve also put together not just one but TWO regular nights to add to the Birmingham Poetry Scene. Everything you need to know below!
VERVE Open Door
WHEN: 3rd Tuesday of every month @ 7:00pm – 9:30pm
FIRST DATE: April 19th
WHERE: The Hive Cafe & Bakery, The Jewellery Quarter
COST: Pay As You Feel!
First up we’ve got a monthly night hosted at The Hive Café & Bakery in The Jewellery Quarter. Purely open mic, Open Door is looking to make a space for poets of all different levels of experience and expertise to showcase their work and listen to what their peers are working on.
There’ll be ten open mic slots available before the event via eventbrite, and a further ten on the night. It’s a pay-what-you-feel deal, with all funds going to our brilliant venue, The Hive, who are generously sponsoring this event for free.
Join us on the third Tuesday of every month with your lively host and VERVE veteran Rick Sanders aka Willis the Poet and celebrate poetry sharing in its purest form.
“VERVE Open Door is an open mic poetry night designed to give space to new voices in the city as well as a platform for more experienced poets. It is an opportunity to rebuild the poetry community in Brum in the aftermath of COVID and can be a building block for poets wanting to develop their spoken word craft and carve out their own niche on the Birmingham scene. It’s free to get involved and a safe space to try new material, have a go at hosting or just hang out with likeminded creatives.”
Rick Sanders
Poet and Host
VERVE Poetry Night
WHEN: Second Tuesday of July, October, January & April @ 7:00pm – 9:30pm
FIRST DATE: 12th July
WHERE: The Glee Club
COST: £6
But wait, there’s more! Starting in July we’re also running a quarterly poetry night at The Glee Club, booking amazing poets from all over the country alongside brilliant local talent and – why not? – throwing some open mic slots in there too.
Our first iteration will feature the incredible Joelle Taylor (TS Eliot Prize Winner and VERVE Fest competition judge, you may have heard of her?), brilliant Bristol-based poet and host Saili Katebe PLUS two gems of the Birmingham scene Jemimah Hughes & Ryan Sinclair, all hosted by the ever-energetic Sam J. Grudgings.
Each half of the night will have 6/7 open mic slots followed by two of our features, so there are loads of opportunities to get involved here too. Either way it’s not a night you’re going to want to miss!
“I’m thrilled to have agreed with Glee Club Birmingham to host a new quality quarterly poetry night in the heart of the city! The night will feature superstar headliners, three other features combining national and local talent and twelve open mic slots, all hosted by VERVE Poetry Press poet Sam J Grudgings. It’s going to be SO good!”
Stuart Bartholomew
VERVE Founder & Event Programmer
For info and tickets for all our amazing upcoming events including future dates, head over to our events page! In the meantime, be sure to check back here regularly for updates and sign up to our mailing list for all the latest direct to your inbox.