20+ poets will compete for just 10 places in the annual Lyra Bristol Poetry Slam Finals.

The Poetry Takeaway is taking to the road to create unique, made-to-order poems, with the people of Bristol. Join us at Temple Church, as we celebrate together the everyday in the everyday - where your words come to life and stories are shared.

225 years after the publication of Lyrical Ballads Volume 2, and 230 years since Wordsworth and Coleridge met for the first time in Bristol, join us for a lively discussion around the enduring legacy of two giants of the Romantic poetry movement.

The Creative Writing Breakfast Club (as featured in Time Out) is a Free Flow Creative Writing session with Laurie Bolger. This workshop is about letting your creativity lead the way, generating new and exciting writing in your own unique style.

How can we keep our real and imaginary wildernesses and their creatures safe, so that we see with wonder and write into the deep? Pascale will share her own poems that venture into personal and planetary hinterlands, and we will be inspired by a bestiary of other poems and contemporary images to help us write into the wild.

Sometimes referred to as the Banksy of poetry, Brian Bilston has generated a huge social media following of more than 500,000 loyal fans, drawn to his witty, powerful, and accessible work. This show will see him reading a selection of much beloved poems from across his bestselling collections, while showcasing new poems destined to take their place in books to come.

Join the Women Poets' Network for an in-person version of our popular open mic, featuring a special set from the brilliant Laurie Bolger. Whether you're a seasoned performer or a first-timer, all women poets are welcome to sign up to the open mic. And everyone is welcome to come along and listen.

Join three nationally acclaimed poets Pascale Petit, Fran Lock and Susie Wilson as they each respond to the theme of wild animals and nature. Pascale Petit’s ninth poetry collection, Beast, published by Bloodaxe in 2025, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Fran Lock is the author of fourteen poetry collections including Hyena! Susie Wilson's melanoma pamphlet, Nowhere Near As Safe As A Snake In Bed (Verve), won the Disabled Poets Prize 2024.

World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker is back and more full of wonder than ever. Celebrating wellies, postcodes, funerals and fertility journeys, his combination of playfulness, vulnerability and irrepressible hope has reached millions online and now he is back for more.

Join Apples and Snakes for a day of creative exploration to develop your performance skills as a poet. The Lab is for poets of all stages of their careers curious of how they can use voice and body to enhance their words and connect with audiences. Let's play, let's meet and let's grow.

Join writer and academic Dr Edson Burton on a journey through Bristol taking in the streets, monuments, patches and pathways that inspired Bristol's post-war Black writers. Edson will deliver readings on route and offer insights into the development of Black writing in the city and its place in Bristol history. Fingers crossed he might be joined by a few literary friends.

Join Harry Josephine Giles and Caleb Parkin for a vibrant afternoon reading from their newly published books, both with themes around ecosystems, technologies, and singing of new possibilities. Them! by Harry Josephine Giles is an exuberant collection of poems about trans life as it is lived today. Caleb Parkin’s second poetry collection Mingle stirs up the toxicities between landscapes, ecosystems and bodies.

Let’s give a huge welcome to Poetry Wales - one of the UK’s longest-running poetry journals – celebrating 60 years of publishing this Spring. Featuring four contemporary voices who will excite, provoke and uplift: Jonathan Edwards, Taz Rahman, Abeer Ameer, Bethany Handley.

An exclusive Bristol reading from international guest poet Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic (Graywolf Press, 2019), Dancing in Odessa (Tupelo Press, 2004), and co-editor and co-translator of many other books. Plus support from Charlotte Shevchenko Knight. Followed by a book signing.

This special Bristol tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah will celebrate his extraordinary work and enduring legacy. The event will feature readings of Zephaniah’s iconic poems by renowned figures in UK poetry, including his 'Poem for St Pauls' performed in Bristol in 1983 for the BBC, as well as talks, personal stories and reflections from Benjamin’s friends and family members. Hosted by Professor Shawn Sobers.

As poets we often sit at the desk to write poems, feeling the pressure to create that finished draft. Yet the desk can be a place for experiment, play and practice. Join Malika Booker for this quick fire guide through writing techniques and forms. Come prepared to write and have fun, as we loosen and tighten our poetic corset strings.

Bristol vs Clevedon vs Exeter vs Weston! It’s a poetry showdown like no other! Teams of poets from four South West towns and cities will battle it out to impress the audience and win the title of South West Poetry Showdown Champions!

What is weird? What isn't? This session will examine how we can develop our own new language through poetic techniques to bring the world closer in all its miraculous strangeness. Join Jack Underwood for this Zoom webinar workshop.

Join Satellite of Love for the biggest open mic event at Lyra Festival 2025, with an extended open mic and a headline set from local legend Bertel Martin. Sign up on the door to perform on the night, or come along to enjoy an evening of local talent.

A raucous celebration of queer poetry headlined by the legendary T. S. Eliot prize-winning Joelle Taylor, with support from Oluwaseun Olayiwola and Ifẹ Grillo. Plus an epic open mic for queer poets in Bristol and beyond. With two dazzling hosts for the evening, Aish Humphreys and Sam J. Grudgings.

A lively reading at Waterstones from one of the finest poets and writers today. Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh and from 2016 - 2021 was the third modern Makar, National Poet for Scotland. With support readings from Abby Oliveira and Ola Majekodunmi, as part of Speaking Volumes' Breaking Ground Ireland project.

Join T. S. Eliot prize-winning poet Alice Oswald for a workshop on anonymity using various poems from the oral tradition, including the strange 17th century murder ballad of ‘The Two Sisters’.

In this F*cking with Forms workshop, participants will learn to approach performance with the same scrupulous eye as writing -- using acting techniques, dynamic volume, and the body itself to give poetry verve and vigor. The workshop incorporates elements of physical theatre, dance, and improv for performances that transcend traditional slams. Bring water and one poem ready for presentation, and wear clothing comfortable for moving and sweating.

Join David Johnson, Deborah Harvey, Dominic Fisher and Pameli Benham on a harbourside poetry walk with original poems on the people and the place - past, present, and possibly future. The walk will be gentle, level, wheelchair accessible and about an hour.

Join us for a delightful afternoon of poems, stories and lullabies. Aimed at 3-7 year olds (but bring the whole family!). Award-winning writer and the former National Poet for Scotland, Jackie Kay, will read from her brand new book Coorie Doon: A Scottish Lullaby Story. There will also be a short reading from Lorwi Ann, in association with The Mum Poem Press.

Through a series of writing activities, we will map our emotional responses to technology, build collaborative lexicons, and use chance operations to generate embodied poetic expression. Rather than using Chat GPT as prompts for writing, this poetry workshop will explore our own selves as datasets.

Come along and hear from two stunning UK-based poets as they share poems and discussions on motherhood and parenting. Maria Ferguson’s second poetry collection Swell (Penguin, 2025) is a raw and powerful documentation of one woman’s experience of becoming a mother. Joined by Bristol-based poet Deanna Rodger, who has performed across five continents

In this live-literature solo performance, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa brings Cane, Corn & Gully to the stage weaving the dances and stories of Black Barbadian women. Plus a short introductory performance from Decolonising Memory.

Raise the Bar presents another raucous, dynamic, thought-provoking and life-affirming evening, with a long-awaited return to Arnolfini. Featuring poets Suhaiymah Manzoor-Kahn and Jamie Thrasivoulou, and music from Hzeyran. Plus Ahmed Alnaouq, editor of the forthcoming book, We Are Not Numbers, reading the stories of young people from Gaza.

A writing workshop led by poet Maria Ferguson, author of Swell (Penguin, 2025). The body is a house, a friend, an enemy and a constant. But how do we translate physicality onto the page? Through close readings and provocations we will praise, scrutinise and celebrate the body in all its victories and betrayals.

This guided tour will connect a key work of English literature, and two key figures of British Romanticism, to the city which produced them. On the 225th anniversary of Lyrical Ballads Vol. II, this walk will take in some of the key sites connected to Wordsworth, Coleridge and their revolutionary poems. Led by Dr Rebecca Hutcheon.

Join Sukina Noor, Bristol City Poet (2024-26), for a workshop exploring poetry as a tool for resistance and ushering change. Whether you're a seasoned writer or new to poetry, this workshop invites you to explore the power of words to disrupt, heal, and spark change.

Pete the Temp & the Vibe Mechanics perform a storytelling stageshow on Bristol's radical past. Hear the story of two Bristol-based poets / revolutionaries who helped change the face of history. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge have been brought back to life in this rapturous collision of ecstatic poetry and classical instruments.

Explore how to engage with the compelling themes of heritage, ancestry and inheritance in your poetry. In this masterclass you will dive into the works of prolific writers to explore how they use form to develop a distinctive voice and rich narrative, and you will be guided through writing exercises and discussions.

Come along to see 10 of Bristol's finest wordsmiths battle it out to be crowned the 2024 Lyra Bristol Poetry Slam Champion, as well as feature performances from world-class poets.

Bath Spa University was the first university in the UK to run a specialist class in spoken word poetry and 2025 sees its 20th anniversary. This event, hosted by Bath Spa Professor Lucy English, is a showcase of talent from across the years including Shagufta Igbal, Kathryn O'Driscoll, Danny Carlo Pandolfi, Josie Alford and Rebecca Tantony.