Nottingham Poetry Festival

Home
United Kingdom
Nottingham
Nottingham Poetry Festival

Directions Website

Nottingham's poetry festival, showcasing the finest in local, national and international poetry.

07/10/2026

Grab a drink. Grab the mic. Become someone else entirely. 🍻🎙️

We're back at the Fox & Grapes for a Halloween Open Mic. It's FREE entry as always, it's welcoming, and it's going to get weird (in the best way), like really weird. We’re wanting poems from Edgar Allen Poe, Zoro, Homer (Simpson), LeBron James or a pen!

Tag a mate who loves dressing up AND loves poetry, we know you’re out there. 👇

The Challenge:
👻 Best Costume
🗣 Best Poem Performed in Character

The Prize:
💸 Cash
🎟 Free tickets to next year's festival

📅 3rd Nov | 6PM
📍 Fox & Grapes

Come as you aren't. Leave with a prize (hopefully).

28/09/2026

“Who needs poetry anymore?”

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Nottingham Poetry Festival so special.

We’re celebrating by sharing this wonderful commissioned poem by Nottingham’s Nature Poet Laureate, Cara Thompson, filmed around Nottingham city centre by Urban Camera, with Keiran Donnelly, winner of the Young Creative Awards.

We’d also like to say a massive thank you to our brilliant partners, UNESCO Nottingham City of Literature and Broadway, for their continued support.

The poem was showcased at Broadway Cinema for 12 days during the festival, reaching the largest audience we’ve ever had for a commissioned poem. What an incredible way to bring poetry into the heart of the city and share it with so many people.

So, to the question…

“Who needs poetry anymore?”

WE DO.

Poetry gives us a way to see our city differently, to connect, to reflect, to celebrate and to imagine what’s possible. And we’re so proud to be part of that.

PS. We’re submitting our Arts Council England (ACE) grant application for next year very soon… wish us luck!

🫶

14/07/2026

The whole of Nottingham Poetry Festival is deeply saddened to hear the news that Tony Challis has passed away. Tony has been a much loved fixture of the Nottingham Poetry Community for decades, as a writer, workshop leader and performer. We want to remember him for his support and generous warmth to poets wherever he found them. His work as a teacher, advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, time as Chair of Nottingham Poetry Society and his poetry book Rainbow Candles are fitting markers for a legacy with poetry at its heart. Our deep condolences to those who knew and loved him.

Thank you for being such an integral part of the community Tony, you will be missed, you will be remembered. 🤍

21/06/2026

Nottingham Poetry Festival 2026 🤲

Over 10 incredible days, we shared 57 events full of poetry, creativity, conversation, and connection. What a fantastic time we’ve had.

A huge thank you to all of the poets, organisers, venues, volunteers, and staff who made the festival possible. Thank you also to everyone who came out to celebrate poetry with us. We couldn’t do it without you!

We’re incredibly grateful to our sponsors and funders: Castle Rock Brewery, ChalleNGe, and Arts Council England. Your support helps make everything we do possible.

The festival may be over, but there’s still plenty more to come from NPF this year, alongside the wonderful year-round work of Nottingham’s poetry community, including several projects yet to conclude.

Over the next few months, we’ll be adding events, workshops, and community groups to our website, making it easier than ever to stay up to date with plenty of poetry happenings across Nottinghamshire.

We’ll be back before you know it. But for now, please enjoy these photos from another fantastic NPF.

With love,
Team NPF 🫶

📸: Tom Platinum Morley Lamar Francois Laurie Illingworth
🫶 Arts Council England Challenge Nottingham

14/06/2026

is a Nottingham-born rapper, poet, performer, and cultural organiser whose work sits at the intersection of grime, hip-hop, dub, and spoken word. Emerging from the East Midlands underground scene, he built a reputation through raw lyricism, high-energy live sets, and socially rooted storytelling that reflects working-class life, Black British identity, mental health, and community resilience.

Beyond music, Jah Digga has become a major figure in Nottingham’s grassroots arts culture.

He founded Poets Off The Endz, a platform designed to give young and emerging creatives space to perform, develop confidence, and connect through poetry and music.

His work regularly bridges performance with activism, education, and youth engagement.
Known for mixing sharp grime flows with reflective spoken-word delivery, he’s collaborated across the UK urban and alternative arts scenes while appearing at festivals, community events, TEDx stages, and independent music showcases.

His style pulls influence from reggae sound-system culture, UK rap, dub poetry, and conscious hip-hop, balancing humour, realism, and political edge.

Whether on stage hosting a poetry night, delivering bars over bass-heavy production, or mentoring younger artists, Jah Digga represents a distinctly Nottingham voice in modern UK culture.

14/06/2026

In the run-up to NPF, we handpicked 8 local poets in collaboration with 🩷

Here is performing his poem ‘it’s not me’

Polis Loizou is an award-winning Cypriot author, playwright and poet based in Nottingham.

A member of Nottingham’s GOBS Collective, he has shared his poetry at Bad Betty Live, been commissioned by Nottingham City of Literature to write a poem about the city for the Toponomie exhibit in Quebec and was part of Apples & Snakes’ Future Voices programme.

He has also written a number of one-act theatre shows that have toured the UK fringe circuit

Shoutout to the NPF partners 🫶

Video:

14/06/2026

It’s Sunday, what better day to share this poem by .macpherson.1 titled ‘Kindred’ which delves into the life of the humble pigeon - a greatly misunderstood creature 🦅

To see some real life in person poetry there are events today at the as well as an online poetry sharing session! Check out our website for more info 🩷💚

13/06/2026

Saturday 13th, from 12pm Rough Trade Nottingham 💚✨️

In collaboration with We, The Poets, BBC Upload and Dean Jackson , join us for an afternoon of panel chats, podcasting, performance and jolly good fun.

Today we are bringing organisations such as BBC Upload , Nottingham City Of Literature and Bad Betty Press for a round of speed-networking.

An opportunity for you to have questions answered, connections made and ideas shared, an unmissable event if you’re looking to take the next step in your poetic career.

12/06/2026

In the run-up to NPF, we handpicked eight local poets in collaboration with BBC Upload and filmed exclusive performances with them. You’ll be able to watch these videos across BBC and NPF social channels. Here’s ***rcomrades123 with his poem Self-Portrait As A Banana 🍌

Join us tonight at as we celebrate these incredible poets and their work at a special & NPF collaboration event, headlined by Leicester’s Poet Laureate, ✌️

🫶

Hongwei Bao (he/him) is a Nottingham-based q***r Chinese writer, translator and academic. He is part of the Fifth Word Playwrights, GOBS Spoken Word Collective and Nottingham Playhouse Writers’ Room. He is also a Middle Way Mentee for writing fiction and a New Earth Theatre theatremaker. His work explores q***r desire, Asian identity, diasporic positionality and transcultural intimacy.

Hongwei Bao’s latest collection, Self-Portrait as a Banana, is a candid exploration of his q***r, diasporic, East Asian identity and cross-cultural relationships. Appropriating, subverting and q***ring cultural tropes like the banana, rice and beckoning cat, and identities such as q***rness and Chineseness, this is a powerful journey. A bold, humorous and refreshing celebration of q***r desire, identity and cultural differences.”

Address

Fox & Grapes, 21 Southwell Road
Nottingham
NG1 1DL

Website

http://nottinghampoetryfestival.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Nottingham Poetry Festival posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your establishment to be the top-listed arts & entertainment in Nottingham?

Nottingham Poetry Festival

07/10/2026

28/09/2026

14/07/2026

21/06/2026

14/06/2026

14/06/2026

14/06/2026

13/06/2026

12/06/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request