Really enjoyed hosting 'Small Presses, Big Impact!' yesterday. The discussion was so thoughtful and fascinating and the panellists were so generous with their ideas. One of those events you just know is going to linger with you.
I'll stop unislam posting now, I'll stop, just had to get some photos of the suit up (ps the resemblance in those last 2, uncanny). Thank you @arspoeticel for the pictures, legend.
This stunning little magazine has been on quite the trek! After getting lost in postal redirection it has finally found my doormat and I'm so chuffed. @tamarindlitmag is such a delightful magazine and I'm so pleased that my space bees poem found a home here. Huge huge thank you to @jackcooper0696 for picking it out.
DON'T WAIT, BOOK NOW!!! (link in bio or at bottom of this)
(NOT in an hour, or tomorrow, or next week, NOW) for one of the most vital events for emerging poets!!!
Small Presses. Big Impact: with Burning Eye Books, Bad Betty Press, & Broken Sleep Books
Saturday 28 March 2026
15:00-16:00
@brlsi (Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution)
Get a glimpse inside the indie publishing world and how bold presses are shaping the future of writing.
Are you a poet (or any other writer) curious about independent publishing? With arts funding shrinking and costs rising, taking your work further can feel daunting but independent presses are creating exciting opportunities for writers.
This panel brings together three leading UK poetry publishers to share their insights, experiences and how their presses help writers reach new audiences.
Clive Birnie of Burning Eye Books has been publishing performance poets since 2012, championing both emerging and established writers and connecting them with audiences often overlooked by traditional presses. Alongside him, Jake Wild Hall, co-founder of Bad Betty Press, is known for supporting bold, risk-taking poetry while curating dynamic live literature events across the UK. Completing the line-up is Aaron Kent of Broken Sleep Books, whose work focuses on widening access to poetry by publishing politically engaged, formally adventurous writing and amplifying underrepresented voices.
Whether it’s your first time exploring publishing or you’re already on the journey, this event aims to offer advice, insight, and ideas to help your writing reach the audience it deserves.
The session will be chaired by Caleb Simon, TS Eliot Prize young critic and former Young Worcestershire Poet Laureate.
/events/small-presses-big-impact-with-burning-eye-books-bad-betty-press-broken-sleep
@bathartscollective@curiousmindsfest@bathpoets@brlsi@jakewildhall@badbettypress@godzillakent@brokensleepbooks@clivebirnie@burningeyebooks@csimonstuff
Introducing our final poet for team Uni Of Bath @csimonstuff !
Which team do you support? Join us on THURSDAY (not our usual Wednesday!) December 4th CandleLIT brings you a festive special event at The Bath Brew House! 5 poets from University of Bath and 5 poets from Bath Spa University will compete in our first annual VARSITY slam!
A fun, vibrant and eclectic event of spoken word slam, plus sets from our judges and featured artists Harper Walton and Maria Robinson! 7pm doors (and sign up to slam), 7.30pm event starts. The event costs £5 for a seat, £3.50 to stand at the back - but there is a 50p surcharge when ordering your tickets online to help pay the ticketing system costs! We have discount codes if you face financial barriers, just message us for the code which you apply at check out! You can grab tickets (including cheaper standing tickets) here https://shorturl.at/675JP or comment ‘tickets’ to get the link automatically sent to you. Find us @CandleLITSlam on Instagram or Facebook.
HARPER WALTON
Harper Walton is the author of Common Only in Name (Porters Books) Midnight Movies (Femmesocial Press) and the editor of Carnival at the End of the World (Buoy Press). Their work has been featured by 1883 Magazine, Whitechapel Gallery, Venice Architecture Biennale and more.
MARIA ROBINSON
Maria Robinson is a Bath based poet. Their work focuses on the intimate and the grotesque. They have been featured in The Bath Magazine, Carnival at the End of the World, and other mysterious places. They also have a cool and fun substack; Dogeared.
The University of Bath are beginning their search for their 2026 Uni Slam team and here are the details of this life changing opportunity!
Link in bio is actually here: /244jmhz5
And you can message @csimonstuff directly with questions.
Little poem that insists it is not ars poetica.
Thank you for having me @ledburypoetry , great week volunteering seeing all kinds of amazing events, having brilliant conversations.
(Little clip of the amazing @jasminegardosi in there, I forgot to do videos of other events because I'm bad at running my own socials and kept forgetting I wanted to make a thing)
Artist Spotlight | 2 June: Elena and Caleb
Elena and Caleb met on the Uni of Bath UniSlam team and have since endeavoured to drag as many of their peers as possible into the local poetry scene through various means. Elena Chamberlain is a poet and writer. They were longlisted for the Outspoken prize for poetry (2023), participated in Apple's and Snakes Future Voices (2023) and Word's a stage (2024). She is particularly interested in the role of poetry as a tool for storytelling and wellbeing. Caleb Simon is a poet and maths student. He is the Young Worcestershire Poet Laureate 2023-24, and Worcester Slam champ 2024. He has performed at Ledbury Poetry Festival, Out-Spoken London and supported Simon Armitage on his library tour. His work can also be found in various litmags on the internet.
Join @arspoeticel and @csimonstuff at our next event at @thewardrobetheatre on 2 June. Tickets in our bio.
#spokenword #bristolevents #poetry
I have two poems out in @fruit.journal ! I'm really proud of these two and they've found the absolutely perfect home alongside such awesome work. I really cannot thank Tom and Tawseef enough, their editorial guidance was so helpful and really pushed these poems into being something cool. Plus one of them has a graph and dice rules. So go read and read the rest of the issue.
