Watershed

Grassroots warmth with literary weight! Lyrafest hosts a welcoming women’s open mic – open to first-time poets and old hands alike – alongside Clare Pollard’s witty, historically attuned readings from her latest collection Lives of the Female Poets, and performance poetry from BBC Sport’s favourite slam powerhouse Deanna Rodger. Women Poets’ Network: Open Mic at Watershed.

Sell out warning! Bristol’s best-loved spoken word series returns with a headline set from legendary iconoclast Salena Godden, alongside avant-garde acolytes from Bad Betty Press: Desree, Antosh Wojcik, and Rowan Lyster. Plus NGAIO will be setting the sonic pulse with afrobeats and global bass on the decks! Raise the Bar and Bad Betty Press present an Autumn poetry spectacular at Arnolfini. Headlined by legendary UK performance poet Salena Godden.

Sell out warning! Free entry! Is this the dawn of bionic bardism!? Lyra Fest goes deeper down the rabbit hole with their investigation into the interplay between creative writing and technology, and the possibilities and pitfalls of their co-existence. Featuring presentations pairing poets with AI researchers to try and accurately model our inner lyrical experiences. The UK's first ever AI and Poetry symposium, as poets, technologists and creatives share their work, ideas and research. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event (advance booking essential) and to join the conversation around AI, poetry and creativity in a relaxed, fun and friendly environment.

The Ukrainian writer, translator, and critic Ilya Kaminsky took the literary world by storm in 2019 with his internationally exalted “fairy tale in verse” ‘Deaf Republic’. He joins Lyrafest for an intimate reading and book signing – a rare chance to see this genuine poetry master at work. 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.

Free entry! Reclaiming Scots lexicon for a new generation of queer and trans voices, Harry Josephine Giles makes a subversive, lyrical noise for our troubling times. Alongside our beloved City Poet Caleb Parkin, she’ll host an unmissable reading using weird lit as a lens to peer into the deep vortex of climate collapse. 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.