Our first regional shows in Manchester and Bristol were two of the best events that we’ve ever run, and I’ve no doubt that Birmingham will be just as good. After a showcase in 2018, we’re returning to Verve Poetry Festival – and this time it’s at the Hippodrome. Tickets are on sale here.

Poetry powerhouse Salena Godden needs no introduction to Nymphs & Thugs’ followers. We released her ‘LIVEwire’ album on 2LP gatefold vinyl in spring 2017, which saw it shortlisted for The Poetry Society’s prestigious Ted Hughes Award and was supported by a DIY theatre and indie music venue tour.

Salena has since published the epic pamphlet ‘Pessimism Is For Lightweights’, which took the spoken word world by storm in summer 2018, and is set to publish her debut novel ‘Mrs Death Misses Death’ with Canongate early next year.

Salena will be joined by Nymphs & Thugs label-mate Toria Garbutt, whose 2016 album ‘Hot Plastic Moon’ was released to huge acclaim, and followed by Toria’s debut poetry collection ‘The Universe and Me’ on Wrecking Ball Press in 2018. Toria has spent the last 4 years touring the UK and Europe with Dr John Cooper Clarke.

oakley is a writer originally from the West Midlands. As a playwright: This Queer House (VAULT Festival, OPIA Collective). They have recently been published in Wasafiri ‘Queer Worlds’ & ‘Poems from a Green & Blue Planet’ (Hachette Kids, ed. Sabrina Mahfouz). They were the winner of the Out-Spoken Prize for Page Poetry 2018 and is a member of Roundhouse Poetry Collective. They are currently writing their first full-length collection.

Saili Katebe is a Zambian born writer and performer based in the South West. Often writing under the pen name “The Blissful Nomad”, he uses poetry and theatre to exercise his curiosity and perfect the art of recklessness, challenging his language and its hidden music.