Testing Ground

@testing.ground.performance

A performance night taking place at @wearebardbooks every month. ⚡️ Fresh poetry, music & open mic. Founded by @yungifto 🎟️ Tickets ⬇️
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✨ Aaaaand we’re back on the 3rd June with the super talented @kofi_achina headlining our final event for the season 💫 Kofi Achina is a London-born writer, storyteller, poet and spoken-word artist. Known for blending comedy with tragedy to explore cultural, political and existential themes, his dynamic performances, impactful as they are introspective, have seen him featured at poetry events, exhibitions, workshops and festivals across the UK, as well as internationally as the England National Slam Champion. Kofi is the founder and host of the spoken-word fundraiser, @heart.ofthe.community ➡️ Don’t miss out as we take to @wearebardbooks for our last event before we take our summer break for July and August. It’s gonna be a good one so grab your ticket via the link in our bio 🎟️ Design by the talented @claramntgz 🤍
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1 day ago
Whilst writing Bad Queer, I was also thinking about the future possibility of having a child and what this child might call me. It’s vital that we have more trans and queer parents in books because what we read/ consume forms the building blocks of our imaginations…of what we think is possible in our own lives. From the start of this process, I knew I was writing a trans parent into the heart of this story 💌 I feel like writing is a way of testing out possible futures and these words landed with me after a Tamil lesson with @thetamilchannel 🫶🏾 Thank you for this time to sit with our language together. A huge thanks to @testing.ground.performance & @wearebardbooks for having me last month. The vibes are always 🔥🔥
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5 days ago
🚨 TONIGHT at 7pm!! We’re back for the latest instalment of Testing Ground, the hottest poetry night this side of East London. Don’t miss: 🔸 Headliner @jakewildhall with poems from his newest poetry collection ‘Alanis Morrisette’ (Broken Sleep, 2026) 🔸Guest spotlight feature @laeilitarising who returns after winning her spot at our previous event 🔸 A whole load of open mic performances! Including a chance for one open micer to perform with a longer set at our next event as part of our spotlight Last chance to be a part of it. Get your tickets in our bio or on the door 🔥
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10 days ago
🔉 Sound up to hear from our upcoming headliner @jakewildhall Less than a week to go until we’re back at @wearebardbooks on the 6th May! Get your ticket now, via the link in the bio 🎟️
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15 days ago
Some of our recent performers! Want to be next? Join us for our open mic on Wednesday May 6th (grab tickets via the link in bio 🎟️) back at our home @wearebardbooks . Plus one standout open mic act will be picked for a Guest Spotlight slot at our next event with a longer set 🤍 Performers get 4–5 minutes each. Sign-ups happen on the door, so roll through early to lock in your spot!
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17 days ago
📸 More action shots of @valera_simonchuk and his incredible spotlight performance 👏🏽 A stunning piece of drama delivered all in the best independent bookshop in east London, @wearebardbooks Don’t miss us Wednesday 6th May for the latest instalment of Testing Ground. Tickets in bio 🎟️🎟️🎟️
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19 days ago
BOOM! 💥Delighted to announce @laeilitarising is our guest spotlight feature for our next event on the 6th May 👑 Clara-Læïla Laudette is a writer, facilitator and journalist; her debut pamphlet is forthcoming in 2026 with fourteen publishing. She won Magma Judge’s Prize, placed third in the Poetry London Prize and was an Adrienne Rich Poetry Award semifinalist. She’s been shortlisted for the Oxford Poetry and Pat Kavanagh Prizes, Aesthetica Creative Writing Award, and longlisted for the National Poetry Competition, among others. Her poems, translations and reviews are widely published, including in Poetry Review, Propel, And Other Poems, Ink Sweat & Tears and Wet Grain. We are so excited to get going for a beautiful spring edition of Testing Ground back at our home in @wearebardbooks Clara-Læïla won her feature spot through our open mic. It could be you! Make sure to sign up to perform on the night. Tickets? In our bio! Go go go 🎟️ Design by the incredible @claramntgz 🤍
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26 days ago
👀 Just a handle of our incredible open micers from our April event pictured here 🤍 We couldn’t make Testing Ground happen without the fantastic performances we get every month. Best of all it’s all open mic so anyone can get a chance to share their stuff! ➡️ Join us again on the 6th May at @wearebardbooks Sign up for the open mic on the night. Lucky dip! 🎟️ Tickets in bio
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1 month ago
👑 We’ve got poetry royalty headlining our next event on the 6th May: @jakewildhall 🎉 Jake Wild Hall is an award winning poet and one half of @badbettypress . He has performed on BBC Radio and at festivals and literary events across the UK. He is a multiple slam champion and his work has been published in magazines, anthologies and online journals. He is the Author of two pamphlets, Solomon’s World which was longlisted for the Saboteur award for best pamphlet and Blank. He has worked with partners including Penguin, Apple’s and Snakes, Writing East Midlands, Derby Poetry Festival and Pearsons. His debut collection, Alanis Morissette, was published by @brokensleepbooks in January 2026. Join us for a very special evening of open mic poetry and performance, capped off by an excellent feature set from one of the UK’s most influential poets. As always, you’ll catch us at the award winning independent bookshop @wearebardbooks 🥳 🎟️ Tickets in bio 🤍🤍🤍
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1 month ago
🥹 Very kind words from @valera_simonchuk our guest spotlight feature from our event on the 1st April 🤍 All open mic performers get a chance to win a longer feature set at Testing Ground. Sign up for the next one, coming soon on the 6th May! #openmic
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1 month ago
🌼 April’s instalment of Testing Ground was once again carried by an incredible energy cultivated by audience members and performers alike as a packed @wearebardbooks was again treated to an exceptional night of creative writing from some of the finest voices in poetry, music and story telling. 🎤 @valera_simonchuk embodied the Testing Ground spirit in an experimental, bold spotlight set which spanned across a range of disciplines, uniquely compelling the audience as only he can. 📖 After another stellar set of open mic performances, we were treated to excerpts from our headliner @unembarrassable new novel ‘Bad Queer’ available now from @faberbooks 👀 keep your eyes on Testing Ground socials over the coming weeks for details of our next event on Wednesday 6th May in addition to more content from last night’s phenomenal open mic performers!
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1 month ago
📸 Check out our past performers! You too can share your stuff on our open mic this Wednesday 1st April (tickets 🎟️ via link in bio) as we return to @wearebardbooks . And don’t forget, one lucky open mic performer will win a longer set at our next event as part of our Guest Spotlight. All performers get 4-5 minutes to perform on the night. Sign up on the day but make sure you come early as space is limited 🤍
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1 month ago