Raise the Bar

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Raise the Bar

The South West's leading live poetry night. Events, open mics, retreats + more.

Raise the Bar is a premier live events organisation and talent development platform, providing a space for artists of all kinds of background and lyrical styles to perform their work, and providing high quality YouTube packages of their poetry. We also invite outstanding and internationally renowned poets, as well as fantastic local talent, to perform at our live events.

24/08/2026

🌟 Here’s the FULL LINEUP for our biggest ever event! 🌟

We’re bringing Raise the Bar: UK Poetry All-Stars back to Bristol Beacon — and this time, we’re going BIG.

Get ready for an unforgettable night celebrating some of the very best in contemporary spoken word, featuring:

✨ Harry Baker — World Poetry Slam Champion and Sunday Times bestselling author ✨ Hollie McNish — Ted Hughes Award winner and Sunday Times bestselling author ✨ Grace Nichols — acclaimed Guyanese poet and literary icon ✨ Travis — award-winning writer, performer and theatre-maker ✨ Nikita Gill — acclaimed poet, playwright, writer and illustrator ✨ Georgie Jones — acclaimed poet and performer with a formidable stage presence ✨ Michael Pedersen — prize-winning Scottish author and Edinburgh’s Makar
🎧 Plus music from NGAIO on the decks.

After a record-breaking 2024 edition that brought over a thousand people through the doors, we’re returning bigger than ever for a huge celebration of poetry, performance and live storytelling.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026 📍 Beacon Hall, Bristol Beacon ⏰ 7pm–9:30pm (doors 6:30pm) 🎟 Tickets via link in bio (from £16.80)

20/08/2026

🔥 Harry Baker performs “Dust” 🔥

A special performance from UK Poetry All-Stars headliner Harry Baker ()

For this performance, and more from an incredible line-up featuring:

✨  ✨ Grace Nichols ✨  ✨  ✨  ✨  ✨  🎧 on the decks

Head to the link in bio for tickets and full event info.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026 📍  ⏰ 7pm
🎥 at

19/08/2026

🔥 Join us on Thursday 17th September for Raise the Bar’s first Open Mic at our new regular home, The Pickle Factory — featuring two brilliant voices:

✨ Zakariye (Zakariye) — poet, playwright and filmmaker from Birmingham. His debut pamphlet Pulling Faces was longlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize, while his short poetry film Cages was broadcast on BBC 4 and BBC iPlayer. A former Roundhouse Resident Artist and Origins Artist with Birmingham Hippodrome, Zakariye brings poetry, film and theatre together in his work.

✨ Enzie (zee) — multi-genre artist and spoken word poet drawing on her Nigerian-Welsh, working-class roots. Recently awarded the Glenn Carmichael Audience Choice Award at LyraFest Poetry Slam 2026, her introspective work explores identity, love, grief, politics and the human condition.

🎤 Our open mic welcomes poets, storytellers, lyricists, rappers, songwriters and wordsmiths of all styles and experience levels — whether it’s your first time or your hundredth. Come share your work, or settle in with a drink and experience some of Bristol’s finest voices.

📅 Thursday 17 September 2026 📍 The Pickle Factory — All Hallows Rd, Easton, Bristol BS5 0HL ⏰ Doors 7:00pm | Show 7:30–9:30pm (incl. interval) 🎟 Tickets via link in bio

💡 Open mic sign-ups open Sunday 23 August at 10am 10 performers selected in advance, 4 drawn on the night 👉 Sign up via link in bio

✨ New venue, same Raise the Bar energy.

✅ Wheelchair accessible ✅ Reserved open mic spaces for underrepresented voices ✅ Zero tolerance for hate or discrimination

17/08/2026

✨ Welcome to The Pickle Factory! ✨ The Pickle Factory

After our regular venue, The Orchard, announced that it will be closing this month, we’ve been searching for a new home for our much-loved open mic — and we’re so excited to finally share the news.
We’re staying in East Bristol, continuing our mission to bring brilliant poetry events to this side of the city, and we couldn’t be happier to be partnering with a venue that shares our commitment to community.

A vibrant community hub in the heart of Easton, The Pickle Factory will be our new home for the rest of 2026.

And there’s more good news: our new venue has a larger seated capacity, meaning even more of you can join us for our (often sell-out!) nights — while we continue to platform as many open mic poets as possible.

📅 New regular date: the third Thursday of every month 🎤 First night: Thursday 17 September

We can’t wait to welcome you to our new home. See you there! 💚

14/08/2026

🔥 Safiya Kamaria Whitaker joins Raise the Bar: UK Poetry All-Stars 🔥

We’re incredibly excited to welcome choreopoet, scholar and live-literature artist Dr Safiya Kamaria Whitaker to Bristol Beacon this autumn.

Known for her compelling performances bringing movement, literature and research together, Safiya’s practice explores new ways of working with dance, poetry and storytelling across the Black diaspora. Her debut collection Cane, Corn & Gully was shortlisted for the 2023 Rathbones Folio Prize and Felix Dennis Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and won the 2023 Barbados ‘Gine On’ People’s Choice Award for Best Book.
Her work has appeared in publications including POETRY, Callaloo, Wasafiri, Poetry London and The Caribbean Writer, and she is the first alumna of the Obsidian Foundation.

Joining an already huge line-up featuring:

✨ Harry Baker — World Poetry Slam Champion and Sunday Times bestselling author ✨ Hollie McNish — Ted Hughes Award winner and one of the UK’s most beloved live poets ✨ Grace Nichols — acclaimed Guyanese poet and literary icon ✨ Travis — award-winning writer, performer and theatre-maker ✨ Nikita Gill — acclaimed poet, playwright, writer and illustrator ✨ — acclaimed poet and performer with a formidable stage presence ✨ Michael Pedersen — prize-winning Scottish author and Edinburgh’s Makar 🎧 NGAIO on the decks

After a record-breaking 2024 edition, UK Poetry All-Stars returns bigger than ever for a massive celebration of contemporary spoken word.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026 📍 Bristol Beacon ⏰ 7pm start 🎟 Tickets via link in bio

12/08/2026

🔥 Harry Baker joins us in Bristol on 27 September! 🔥

We’re so excited to welcome World Poetry Slam Champion and Sunday Times bestselling author to this autumn for Raise the Bar: UK Poetry All-Stars.

Harry is one of the UK’s most beloved live poets, known for his sharp wordplay, infectious energy and brilliantly funny performances. From winning the World Poetry Slam Championship to becoming a Sunday Times bestselling author, his work has brought poetry to audiences around the world.

We’re sharing a little throwback to Harry performing with Raise the Bar at this summer — a taste of the energy he’ll be bringing to Bristol. 🎥

Joining him for an incredible night of contemporary spoken word:

✨ — Ted Hughes Award winner and one of the UK’s most beloved live poets ✨ Grace Nichols — acclaimed Guyanese poet and literary icon ✨ — award-winning writer, performer and theatre-maker ✨ — acclaimed poet, playwright, writer and illustrator ✨ — acclaimed poet and performer with a formidable stage presence ✨ — prize-winning Scottish author and Edinburgh’s Makar ✨ Safiya Kamaria Whitaker — acclaimed poet and performer 🎧 — our resident DJ on the decks

After a record-breaking 2024 edition, UK Poetry All-Stars returns bigger than ever for a massive celebration of contemporary spoken word.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026 📍  ⏰ 7pm start 🎟 Tickets via link in bio
🎥 at

10/08/2026

🔥 Michael Pedersen joins Raise the Bar: UK Poetry All-Stars 🔥

We’re incredibly excited to announce prize-winning Scottish author, poet and Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen as the latest addition to the line-up at Bristol Beacon this autumn.

The former Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University, Michael writes across poetry, fiction and non-fiction, with work that has earned him a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Poetry. His writing has been shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prizes, Scottish National Book Awards and Indie Book Awards, and translated into languages including French, German, Spanish and Italian.

His work has received praise from writers including Stephen Fry, Bernardine Evaristo, Ocean Vuong and Kae Tempest — and we’re thrilled to welcome him to Bristol for this very special night.

Joining an already huge line-up featuring:

✨ Harry Baker — World Poetry Slam Champion and Sunday Times bestselling author ✨ Hollie McNish — Ted Hughes Award winner and one of the UK’s most beloved live poets ✨ Nikita Gill — acclaimed poet, playwright, writer and illustrator ✨ Travis — award-winning writer, performer and theatre-maker ✨ — acclaimed poet and performer with a formidable stage presence 🎧 NGAIO on the decks

And more amazing acts still to be announced 👀

After a record-breaking 2024 edition, UK Poetry All-Stars returns bigger than ever for a massive celebration of contemporary spoken word.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026 📍 Bristol Beacon ⏰ 7pm start 🎟 Tickets via link in bio

07/08/2026

🔥 Nikita Gill joins Raise the Bar: UK Poetry All-Stars 🔥

We’re incredibly excited to announce acclaimed poet, playwright, writer and illustrator Nikita Gill as the latest addition to the line-up at Bristol Beacon this autumn.

One of the most widely read poets of her generation, Nikita’s work draws on mythology, folklore and the stories we inherit — weaving the ancient with the contemporary through poetry that has reached millions of readers around the world. With eight volumes of poetry to her name and a community of over 850,000 followers on Instagram, she has become one of the most recognisable voices in contemporary poetry.

Nikita will be reading from her brand new forthcoming verse novel Styx, which tells the story of the goddess of the underworld river, beginning a generation before her Sunday Times bestselling 2026 novel Hekate.

Joining an already huge line-up featuring:

✨ Harry Baker — World Poetry Slam Champion and Sunday Times bestselling author ✨ Hollie McNish — Ted Hughes Award winner and one of the UK’s most beloved live poets ✨ Travis — award-winning writer, performer and theatre-maker ✨ — acclaimed poet and performer with a formidable stage presence 🎧 NGAIO on the decks

And more amazing acts still to be announced 👀

After a record-breaking 2024 edition, UK Poetry All-Stars returns bigger than ever for a massive celebration of contemporary spoken word.

📅 Sunday 27 September 2026 📍 Bristol Beacon ⏰ 7pm start 🎟 Tickets via link in bio

06/08/2026

For our last ever Open Mic at The Orchard Coffee + Bakery, we’re bringing together four brilliant feature acts:

✨ Edson Burton (Edson Burton) — award-winning writer of audio, live drama and poetry, winner of the 2025 Tinniswood Prize for Man Friday, with work spanning BBC Radio 4, theatre and poetry.

📅 Tuesday 18 August 2026 📍 The Orchard Coffee & Co, Bristol ⏰ Doors 7pm | Show 7:30pm
 🎟 PWYC £6 / £8 / £10 (£5 concessions) — tickets via link in bio

🎤 Open mic sign-ups are open too — 10 advance spots + 4 drawn on the night.

✨ Jan Swann (Jan Swann) — Welsh poet based in Bristol, whose work has featured on BBC Upload and in publications including Ink Sweat and Tears, Nuthatch Magazine and Black Nore Review.

📅 Tuesday 18 August 2026 📍 The Orchard Coffee & Co, Bristol ⏰ Doors 7pm | Show 7:30pm
 🎟 PWYC £6 / £8 / £10 (£5 concessions) — tickets via link in bio

🎤 Open mic sign-ups are open too — 10 advance spots + 4 drawn on the night.

✨ Evashni Linda Reddy (Evashni) — Bristol-based freestyle poet, spoken word artist, movement practitioner and facilitator, currently developing her own one-woman poetic performance.

📅 Tuesday 18 August 2026 📍 The Orchard Coffee & Co, Bristol ⏰ Doors 7pm | Show 7:30pm
 🎟 PWYC £6 / £8 / £10 (£5 concessions) — tickets via link in bio

🎤 Open mic sign-ups are open too — 10 advance spots + 4 drawn on the night.

✨ HJ Smith (Hannah-Jayne | Wellbeing consultant & advocate) — writer and mental health consultant whose work explores vulnerability, emotional intelligence and the power of finding your voice, from global companies to communities around the world.

Plus open mic performers, community, drinks and one last night of live poetry at The Orchard before we move to a new regular venue. 💛

📅 Tuesday 18 August 2026 📍 The Orchard Coffee & Co, Bristol ⏰ Doors 7pm | Show 7:30pm
 🎟 PWYC £6 / £8 / £10 (£5 concessions) — tickets via link in bio

🎤 Open mic sign-ups are open too — 10 advance spots + 4 drawn on the night.

04/08/2026

Full-Day Writing Retreat with Toby Campion & Vanessa Kisuule

We’re incredibly excited to open applications for a new full-day writing retreat at Chew Valley Community Farm — a day of poetry, creative development, conversation and community with two of the UK’s most exciting spoken word artists.

✨ Toby Campion () — award-winning poet, playwright, presenter and educator, former UK Poetry Slam Champion and World Poetry Slam finalist. Winner of the 2024 Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and the Aurora Prize for Poetry, Toby is also Director of UniSlam and founder of the National Youth Poetry Showcase.

✨ Vanessa Kisuule — writer, performer, facilitator and former Bristol City Poet, with an acclaimed career spanning poetry, performance, education and publishing.

Designed for emerging and post-emerging poets, this retreat is for writers looking to generate new work, deepen their craft and take their creative practice or career to the next level.

Expect:
 ✍️ Advanced writing and creative workshops 🌱 Career and professional development conversations 🎤 Q&A sessions with both facilitators 🥗 Full vegan lunch + snacks included 🌳 Time to write, reflect and connect in a beautiful countryside setting
Raise the Bar retreats are known for their warm, welcoming and supportive atmosphere — a space to experiment, challenge yourself creatively and build genuine community with other writers.

📅 Saturday 24 October 2026 📍 Chew Valley Community Farm, Bristol ⏰ 10am–4pm 🎟 £60 💛 2 bursary spaces + 1 travel bursary available
 📝 Applications close Sunday 16 August at 9pm
Places are limited.
 Apply via link in bio.

Address

Bristol

Website

http://www.rtbspokenword.com/

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