Amazing Poetry in Coventry

Ann Atkins and Raef Boylan. Photo by Alison Manning.

Coventry has a thriving poetry scene, with lots of events coming up in the city and the surrounding areas. This is a review of just one of those which should give you a flavour of the events taking place, and there is a list at the end of other upcoming events.

Upstairs  at the Belgrade Theatre on 13 June, the Burbidge room filled with around 40 people, a mix of talented poets and appreciative poetry fans gathering in anticipation of the second in a series of four free special poetry events, brought about by a collaboration between local poetry night  Fire and Dust in collaboration with national poetry organisation Apples and Snakes, featuring headliner Bradley Taylor from Birmingham and a great range of open mic poets.

Hosts Raef Boylan and Ann Atkins introduced the evening, with Ann kickstarting the open mic with a hard-hitting poem about fear and public toilets and contrasting it with a more humorous, but no less heartfelt one, starting with the pitfalls of scrolling online “At First Sight”. I can’t give any spoilers as Ann will be performing this as part of her own show at the First Draft Festival at the Albany theatre on 21 June.

Next up was Maxi Di Poet and his poem on burnout, followed by Lucy’s Fire and Dust debut “Dinnertime,” about striving to glue the family together, each concluding about the importance of love to both bind them and set them free.

Alison was up next with a slightly whimsical pair of poems, “Here be dragons” reflecting on the fiery creatures’ connection with elephants and Coventry’s history and “Strawberry moon” speculating on if the moon was made of strawberries rather than cheese. Cheryl’s debut reading of her poem “The Greenhouse in between” was a powerful exploration of feelings and beliefs with a gardening metaphor.

Amy started off an accidental theme of the evening, which was poems about poetry and poets, with her “Mighty Midland Poets”, celebrating poetic activities such as “stanza standoffs” and including some great references to Midlands places. Rayna continued this theme with a powerful poem about wanting to share her poetry and the conflict between feeling her words were now ready to be seen and having simultaneous doubts about it.

Bradley Taylor. Photo by Alison Manning.

This theme was later continued, by Andrea and Georgina, after Tracy’s debut poem she’d written for a former friend’s 40th birthday, “Golden Caravan” an invitation to adventure and live dreams. Andrea’s charming poem about the power of poetry was inspired by a misread sign, which Andrea thought said “Emergency rescue poem”, so she used this as the title, referencing great poems and how poetry sustains us. Georgina also reflected on the power of poetry, and how stopping to write it can calm chaos.

Host Raef Boylan added a twist with his piece on writing what you know, covering self-doubt, bluffing and striving for happiness, encompassing all in a great rhythm. Duo Black Lemons finished off the first half with Under Ben Nevis. Robin reading his words capturing the Scottish scene well with Peter’s atmospheric guitar accompaniment in a lament for the lost.

Unusually for a poetry event, there seemed to be about as many poetry fans present, who’d just come along to listen, as actual poets, so most poets read again in the second half which was kicked off by Raef Boylan who read a extract from a longer poem containing a great character portrayal of a university lecturer, amongst others. Later poems also featured great observations of characters, such as Georgina’s poem based on the head tie her mum used to wear, exploring her roots and bringing a great character to life. Fantastic character descriptions were also present in Andrea’s “Hero” and musical duo Black Lemon’s piece which featured careful observations with mythological overtones.

Meanwhile Ann Atkins continued the poetry theme reading "Crush" about idolising and obsessing over other poets and their work. Alison was inspired by Rayna’s first half contribution to share her poem “An Apology to my Poems for Apologising for them”- the title says it all! Cheryl mused on a related theme in her poem about words running free, inspired by the prompt “All language is irresponsible”.

For her second contribution, Rayna performed her popular poem “Council Flat”, a powerful poem written as a conversation detailing the frustrations of fighting authority to get a home fit for purpose. Other interesting ideas were explored in the rest of the open mic.  Robyn’s thought-provoking “I met younger me for a coffee” explores life choices and the paths we go down, whether they lead to suffering or strength. 

Maxi Di Poet marked Men's mental health week with his poem about balancing needs, facing stigma and not wanting labels. Amy read a short poem about the bonds of friendship. Lucy shared a great poem about a U shaped candle and her first sober Christmas which was suffused with humour and dismay about the arrangement of Christmas tree decorations which audience members strongly empathised with!

After all the open mic poets and reprises, it was time for the special guest headliner poet Bradley Taylor. It was definitely worth the wait. Bradley is an award-winning poet from Birmingham, who has performed poems at the Hay Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival and on the radio. He has won the Roundhouse Poetry Slam and been described as a brand new voice with a fresh perspective. He writes for and about people, often writing poems on demand. His great ability to sketch an entertaining character was clear from his opening poem about Carrie the taxidermist who lives amongst bones and innards but does not think of death. This latter activity is indulged in by her cat, who lives in fear.

Birmingham is defined by its people and there are some fantastic sketches of Birmingham people in his book, You Missed The Best Part, which he had on sale and from which the next poem came. This was about Brian, his parents' talkative neighbour. This was fast paced, energetic and energising, like all of his performance, whilst dealing simultaneously with death and humour. Another of his poems compared the local legends of Birmingham with mythological characters, including a clever poignant reference, evoking pathos, to kids who flew too close to the sun whose names are now on park benches.

Maxi di Poet. Photo Alison Manning.

Another frantically paced, hilarious piece took us through the experience of doomscrolling through Instagram in the early hours of the morning. Bradley would normally perform in a suit but accidentally left it on a train on the way to the event, which he managed to see the funny side of, cleverly incorporating it into his poem about announcements on trains (related through a megaphone!), imagining what these broadcasts really should say, especially when you’ve finally arrived.

And another side-splitting poem, coincidentally, if paradoxically, also about death, was about his nan’s desire to have a cheap funeral, at which she would be the “Only one who's allowed to be late”, but with an uplifting conclusion to “hold each other”.

Bradley got on board with the accidental poetry poem theme, adding in the poem which gave the name to his book, You Missed The Best Part. Another poem about great Birmingham characters was set in a pub, with one person repeatedly asking another “Got a light mate”, with each rhythmic refrain we slowly realise that this is not just the case of someone wanting a light for a cigarette but has a deeper meaning about an inner light and the possibility of that light being extinguished or rekindled. 

For the final poem all the audience obediently and hilariously clapped along to a poem about musicians and poets getting everyone to clap along. Some were having trouble clapping for laughing! The speed rapidly built to an appropriate crescendo. I have sore hands now!

There are many poetry events coming up in Coventry and the surrounding area, details of which you can find below:

Rael Boylan. Photo by Alison Manning.

LOCAL POETRY EVENTS – SUMMER 2025

Tuesday 17 June 7pm – ‘Action Rayz: Dread Beat an' Blood & Poetry Evening’, Chapter House Cinema, Coventry Cathedral, CV1 5FJ (get in via the wooden doors at the side of the New Cathedral on Priory Street).Action Rayz film screening of ‘Dread Beat an’ Blood’ (1979), a documentary about dub poet master Linton Kwesi Johnson in Brixton. Open mic hosted by Maxi Di Poet and Ann Atkins. Doors open 6.30pm. Ideally book your place online (free): https://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/events/action-rayz-dread-bead-an-blood-poetry-evening Pay As You Feel entry on the door (card preferred).

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Sat 21- Sun 22 June - First Draft Festival. The Albany Theatre, Albany Rd, Coventry CV5 6JQ. Poetry, plays and more. Some poets have shows on the Saturday, including Ann Atkins. Maxi Di Poet is running a poetry open mic (starts 4pm) and workshop on Sunday 22 June.  For more info: https://www.albanytheatre.co.uk/shows/first-draft-festival/

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Thursday 18 June 8pm (doors open 7.30pm) - 'Pure&Good&Right' poetry open mic, Tree House Bookshop, Kenilworth, CV8 1EB. Normally third Thursday of the month, hosted by John and Kim Watson. Headliner: Adam Horovitz.

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Thursday 26 June 7pm – Vibrations Poetry open mic, Coventry Caribbean Association, 159 Spon St, Coventry city centre, CV1 3BB. Normally last Thursday of the month, hosted by Maxi Di Poet. Keep an eye out for updates on IG: @maxidipoet or the Caribbean Centre: @covcaribbean

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Friday 27 June, bar opens 7pm, event starts 7.30pm – ‘Apples and Snakes X Fire&Dust’, Belgrade Theatre, Belgrade Square, Corporation St, Coventry, CV1 1GS. Special edition of Fire&Dust #3 – featuring a special headline set by visiting slam champion and beatboxer Jasmine Gardosi, plus open mic sections! Hosted by Ann and Raef. Tickets are FREE! (But please only book if you plan on attending.) Book here: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/apples-and-snakes-x-firedust-2/

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Wednesday 2 July 7.30pm – ‘Living With Buildings VIII’ poetry-film screening, Priory Visitor Centre, 6 Priory Row, Coventry, CV1 5EX. Living With Buildings is a festival of films that explore themes of people, poetry and place to understand how we live within the built environment of cities and urban spaces. Interested in submitting a poetry-film for July? https://disappear-here.org/living-with-buildings/

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Thursday 3 July 7.30pm - Fire&Dust Poetry Open Mic, Priory Visitor Centre, 6 Priory Row, Coventry, CV1 5EX, Fire&Dust spoken word open mic, hosted by Ann Atkins and Raef Boylan. Headliner: M.L.Walsh! Open mic: sign up on the night, (slots are 3 mins max.) You don’t need a ticket to attend. Pay As You Can donations/Free if you can’t. https://linktr.e fireanddustpoetry e/

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Saturday 5 July 10:30am – Workshop: ‘Verses from the earth’ Washbrook Meadows Retreat (within the Ancient Forest of Arden), Advent House, 35 Streamside Close, Allesley, Coventry CV5 9FF. Half-day session facilitated by poet Amy Rugg. Seasonal/’found’ nature poetry session. With homemade cake and a cuppa. Price: £12. Book online (search Washbrook Meadows Retreat).

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Thursday 10 July 7.30pm-10pm – 'Fire&Dust Poets: Zoom Around the World'. Online - 'Zoom room' opens 7.20pm, F&D’s virtual and international poetry open mic, hosted by Ann Atkins. Come and share your poems with some new faces! Headliner: TBC. Tickets via Eventbrite - details coming soon!

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Friday 11 July, bar opens 7pm, event starts 7.30pm – ‘Apples and Snakes X Fire&Dust’, Belgrade Theatre, Belgrade Square, Corporation St, Coventry, CV1 1GS. Gig #4 of four special editions of Fire&Dust – featuring a special headline set by Cov Poet Laureate John Bernard, plus open mic sections! Hosted by Ann and Raef. Tickets are FREE! (But please only book if you plan on attending.) Book via Belgrade website: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/apples-and-snakes-x-firedust-4/