Date: Friday 17th April 2026
Venue: Arnolfini
Time: 19:30 - 21:30
Tickets: £10 (£12 solidarity, £8 concessions)

✅ BSL Interpreted (by Ali Gordon and Kat Wright)

✅ Live Streamed (book a ‘Live Stream Ticket’ at checkout)

✅ All Lyra Fest venues are wheelchair accessible. Access Information Pack available at www.lyrafest.com/accessibility

Queer Poetry Cabaret | Travis Alabanza + Guests

Join hosts Aish Humphreys and Sam J. Grudgings for an exciting bill of local and national talent to kick off Lyra Fest 2026. A raucous and dynamic evening headlined by the sensational Travis Alabanza, featuring poetry from Keith Jarrett and Raina Greifer, plus drag artists Fluxx Wlyldly and After Shock. Plus tunes from D4rling.

⭐ Travis Alabanza ⭐

Travis Alabanza is a writer, performer and theatre maker from Bristol. For stage, Travis wrote and performed in their debut show BURGERZ which won the Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, sold out at Southbank Centre and Traverse Theatre and toured internationally. It was also voted one of The Guardian Readers Top Shows of The Year. The text is published by Oberon Books. In January 2026, the show will be remounted in Australia at the Sydney and Melbourne theatre festivals.

Their play Overflow, which premiered at and streamed from The Bush, was met with critical acclaim including numerous four-star reviews and was shortlisted for the George Devine Award. Their latest theatre commission, Sound of the Underground, premiered as part of the Royal Court's new season in 2023 to critical acclaim. For screen, Travis is developing an original TV project with See Saw. They were part of this year's BFI Dark Room Lab and have an original feature film with Lobo Films. Their BFI funded short film is in post-production with Lena Dunham serving as Executive Producer.

Travis' debut book None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary was published in 2022 by Canongate and in the US by Feminist Press in 2023. It won the Jhalak Literary Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, and was listed in TIME Magazine's 100 books of 2023. Travis’ work has also appeared on BBC Front Row, The Verb and in 2019 they hosted their first radio documentary ‘Going to The Gay Bar’ for BBC Radio Four. Their work has also earned them a place on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list 2021, the Dazed100 list and in 2023 as an Evening Standard's future stars of stage and screen.

⭐ Keith Jarrett ⭐

Keith Jarrett’s writing explores Caribbean British identity, religion and sexuality. A multiple poetry slam champion, he was selected for the International Literary Showcase as an outstanding LGBT writer. His poem, ‘From the Logbook’, was projected onto St. Paul’s Cathedral. His play, Safest Spot in Town, was performed at the Old Vic and aired on BBC Four. 

Keith has judged the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the Foyle Young Poets Award and others. Screen appearances include the BAFTA-winning show Life & Rhymes with Benjamin Zephaniah. He holds a PhD from Birkbeck and teaches at New York University in London. Hide Me Under the Blood and I Shall Be Satisfied, his second poetry collection, is published by Bad Betty in 2026; his novel is forthcoming in 2027.

⭐ Raina Greifer ⭐

Raina Greifer is a performance maker, producer, and frequent party planner.  She has toured shows across the UK to venues like Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Roundhouse.  They were shortlisted for the SH24: Sexual Health Awards 2022 as Young Person of the Year and were a BBC Words First Finalist in 2021.  Her solo show MANIC won Best Solo Show at Fuse International in 2022 and was shortlisted for the 2023 Sabateour Awards.  Famously described as a “deranged Carrie Bradshaw” (Top of the Slops 2024), her work is some of the boldest and sexiest there is!

⭐ Fluxx Wyldly ⭐

They're here, they're queer, they only function in high-gear, it's Bristol's very own Drag Whatever, Fluxx Wyldly! Co-host and co-producer of the legendary Brizzle Boyz, Fluxx has been creasing audiences with cartoonish creativity and calamity for 10 years. Get ready for a total mind-fluxx!

⭐ After Shock ⭐

After Shock is Bristol's pro hun herder and CEO of dump trucks limited. Their stupid storytelling abilities will have you hooked as they serenade you through a nonsensical tale, you never know what to expect from this shape shifter. 

Part of Lyra – Bristol Poetry Festival 2026

#LyraFest

Filters:

Online/Streamed ✓

Live Event ✓

BSL Interpreted ✓

Entry requirements: 18+, any under 18s accompanied by 21+ adult 1:1 ratio — Read more — Read less