Much is made of the distinction between poems written for the page, and pieces that have performance at their heart. Performance allows poets to communicate with immediacy, to engage an audience in a collective experience, feeding our need for communion, while the page gives writer and the reader a different stage to work with, one that can linger longer, and presents infinite opportunity for both presentation and personal interpretation.

This event will feature a panel discussion exploring these themes and looking at the similarities and differences between these two forms. This will be followed by a Q&A session and an extended open mic event,  with readings from our panelists.

The panel will consist of:

Sarah Hehir: Sarah's writing for theatre is collaborative and experimental. In 2013, she won the inaugural BBC Writer’s Prize for her drama Bang Up, and in 2016, her TV drama The Seafort was selected for the BBC TV Drama Writers’ Programme. Sarah writes for The Archers and wrote for the BBC's Doctors.

JP Seabright (she/they): JP is a queer disabled writer living in London. They have published five solo pamphlets, four collaborative works and one full collection in 2024, White Clouds Over Purple. JP explores themes of gender, sexuality, trauma, technology and the climate crisis. Their pamphlets have been shortlisted (twice) for Best Collaborative Work in the Saboteur Awards, and they have had prose and poetry nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and (twice) a Forward Prize.

Jake Nathan: Jake is a producer, rapper, spoken word poet, multiple slam champ and current undisputed Kent Poetry Champion. As well as headlining poetry shows across the southeast, his poems have featured on BBC Radio Kent and the Word Spoken podcast. His work focuses on subjects including class, social justice and mental health.

Barnaby Harsent (panel chair): Barnaby is an author, journalist and poet who lives on the north Kent coast. He has been published in the annual poetry anthology 14, and was a finalist in the 2024 Rosemary McLeish poetry prize.