RUBERY poet Giovanni Esposito, aka ‘Spoz’, will be one of four writers taking part in a showcase at Waterstones in Birmingham City Centre.
The Belfast to Brum event takes place at the venue at 6pm on Thursday, March 14.
Spoz was Birmingham’s Poet Laureate in 2006/7 and has performed at Glastonbury, Shambala, Cheltenham Lit Fest, Larmer Tree and other festivals. He has produced two poetry collections – ‘The Day the Earth Grew Hair’ and ‘Spoz’s Shorts….and the Occasional Long One’.
As well as Spoz, there will also be fellow Brummie Nafeesa Hamid and two Northern Irish poets – Sinead Coxhill and Michael Watson – making it two poets each from Birmingham and Belfast.
Nafeesa is a British Pakistani poet and playwright based in Birmingham who has featured at events around the UK.
She has been a performer at TedxBrum and is the founder and co-organiser of Twisted Tongues (Derby/Birmingham).
She was also a finalist in the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Slam 2018.
Sinead has been writing and performing her poetry for four years, including at a Waterstones bookshop in Coleraine for a Women Aloud event.
She has also performed open mic as well as festivals in Northern Ireland.
In October 2018 she performed open mic in a number of cities across England.
And Michael Wilson has been writing and performing poetry on the tried and tested themes of sex drugs and rock n’ dole.
He also writes using science as metaphor and mental health.
His first full book (Bedlam’s Best and Finest) has been performed at many locations in the UK, including a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe where it gained a five-star review.
He is a winner of the UK All Star Slam at the Cheltenham Lit Fest and has been a finalist in numerous regional and national slams.
Tickets for the event are £3, available at https://www.waterstones.com/events/from-belfast-to-brum-poetry-showcase/birmingham
