VERVE
FESTIVAL
of
POETRY &
SPOKEN WORD
'VERVE Poetry Festival Stands at the beating heart of all that is poetry, and all that might be.
Bibrant, alive, provactive and curious - we need more festivals like this.'
- VERVE Patron Joelle Taylor
T. S. Eliot Prize-winning poet, former UK Slam Champion, and founder of SLAMbassadors, whose work has electrified international stages and earned her a fellowship of The Royal Society of Literature
ABOUT
Not just an annual 5 day poetry festival!
We also host monthly open mic nights, quarterly featured poetry, a year long Poetry Collective for new writers, and a sell out workshop series featuring established poets all year long.
VERVE has cultivated a reputation for its dynamic and celebratory approach to programming poetry of every kind, whether it be raucous spoken word events, quiet poetry readings, studious workshops, immersive poetry, collaborative projects, or open mic.
LOCATION
BIRMINGHAM @
THE HIVE /
THE HIPPODROME /
GLEE CLUB /
CHERRY REDS /
ONLINE
'Being at the Verve Poetry Festival feels like an instant buzz of energy.
It comes from every direction: the vibrant diversity of the audiences, the imaginative programming, the connection with other poets at every stage in their careers.
It is the poetry festival that Birmingham richly deserves'.
- VERVE Patron Imtiaz Dharker
Multi-award-winning poet, artist and filmmaker, recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, former Chancellor of Newcastle University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, whose work has been studied on the UK national curriculum.
OUR PATRONS
Joelle Taylor is the author of five collections of poetry. Her collection C+NTO &
Othered Poems won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT
authors. This was followed up in November 2025 by Maryville (Bloomsbury) which continues the story started in C+NTO. Her novel of
inter-connecting stories The Night Alphabet was
published by Riverrun in Spring of 2024. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and
has appeared at VERVE four times including our very first festival in 2017.
​
Imtiaz Dharker is a Pakistani-born British poet, artist, and video film maker. She won the Queen's Gold Medal for her English poetry and was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University from January 2020. She is a prescribed poet on the British AQA GCSE English syllabus and her most recent collection is Shadow Reader (Bloodaxe, 2024). She received the Cholmondeley Award, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Imtiaz has appeared at VERVE three times including a career review interview event with Poetry Unbound in 2024.
Daljit Nagra is a poet, professor of poetry, presenter of a weekly poetry programme on Radio, former Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, and Lead Advisor to Poetry By Heart. He has won The Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem and Best First Book, the South Bank Show Decibel Award and Cholmondeley Award. His next collection, Yiewsley, is published with Faber in May 2026. Daljit has appeared at VERVE three times including our popular zoom workshop series and was the first poet to read at our very first festival in 2017.
Hannah Silva is a writer and performer working in sound poetry, radio, and experimental non-fiction. She has an MFA in Theatre Practice and a PhD on poetry in performance from Stirling University. She is currently a Leverhulme Early Career fellow at Queen Mary University, London. Her most recent work is the performative non-fiction book My Child, the Algorithm (Footnote, 2023). Hannah has appeared at VERVE three times, including the first festival in 2017 and always completely memorably.
'VERVE has hand-crafted community, aspiration and pride in the Birmingham poetry and spoken word scene out of pure passion, quirk and creative ideas over the past almost-decade.
VERVE is a central reason why Birmingham is seen as a centre and beacon for poetry and development.'
- Jazmine Gardosi
Jasmine Gardosi is a previous Birmingham Poet Laureate, a BBC Words First finalist, and the 2021 UK Slam Champion, known for her electrifying performances blending poetry, beatboxing, and gender identity.
OUR PARTNERS
