Contains Strong Language LINE-UP
8th-11th September 2022
All events are FREE to attend but need booking!
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival programme was suspended. It respectfully resumes at 7pm on Friday 9th September. Hippodrome Events only; those at the Mother Tree Stage at PoliNations are cancelled. Click through to the CSL Website for more details.
VERVE Poetry Festival is proud to be partnering with the BBC and B2022 Festival to bring you Contains Strong Language 2022, supported by Arts Council England, the British Council and PoliNations.
The Full Contains Strong Language Line-up & Tickets to in-person events are available on the CSL Website. We’re once again running a Digital Festival alongside our in-person one, the full line-up of which you can see below! We will also be running a Contains Strong Language/VERVE Indie Poetry Press Bookfair on the 11th which will include books not normally available in the UK!
OUR ONLINE EVENTS
“…poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don’t know you know.” Adrienne Rich This workshop explores how embracing the unknown can challenge our preconceptions and certainties, allowing […]
How can we as Poets approach the examination of both Space as in the galactic, and the space which occupies the small gaps or silences in between the spoken and […]
What truths are your poems telling? If not for your poems, what truths would never be spoken at all? In this workshop, we’ll chart a course for radical honesty in […]
Gifts are often objects that are loaded with emotional weight and memory – the kind that can engender powerful lyric poetry, anchored in concrete detail. This workshop aims to harness […]
This workshop looks at the art of revising myths through poetry, exploring the approach taken by poets such as Fiona Benson, Jericho Brown and Leila Chatti. Learn to find the […]
In this session, Kostya will guide you through the labyrinth of possibilities when translating queer experiences across borders and between languages. Are there ‘untranslatable’ words? Can we translate non-English queer […]
The Laurel Prize for eco and nature poetry is the world's largest prize for best collection awarded annually. Join Prize Founder, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and this year's judges Glyn […]
Hosted by Roy Mcfarlane, this must-see reading accompanied by *sound-system* will be a lively celebration of these two giants of poetry. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fred-daugiar-and-linton-kwesi-johnson-feature-performance-tickets-396720550847
VERVE Poetry Press is five years old this year! Help us celebrate at this colourful and lively event hosted by Luke Kennard and Brum Poet Laureate Casey Bailey and featuring […]
Our Language is a Queer Thing project - funded by British Council and in partnership with The Queer Muslim Project (India) - pairs three queer UK poets with three queer […]
Join all 18 of the poets involved in our Across Borders – Poems from the Commonwealth project, presented by Birmingham 2022 Festival, and help them launch their Across Borders anthology […]