The Open Mic of the Air is a project from Poetry Spoken Here that began just over two years ago. When in-person poetry events were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Open Mic of the Air was created as a way for poets from around the world to connect and have a creative outlet. Now, over 100 poets have been featured and we look forward to many, many more!

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Lytisha Tunbridge performs her original poem And Yet at the DIY Poets February '22 Showcase. This poem was originally published by #visualverse at: https://visualverse.org/submissions/a... Thank you to City Arts (Nottingham) for hosting, recording & permission to use this clip.

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So it seems the time is now to share something I’ve been working through. For the past 6 months, I’ve been living with PTSD as a result of #domesticviolence.

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Genesis is a poem about beginnings and discovery, of acceptance and grounding. But most of all, it's a poem about dying to the past and rising to new possibilities.

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Sit back and don't relax. A multi slam winner and runner up in the 2020 UK Slam! Jemima Hughes is a performance poet who will drag you through the “mindfield” of the unorthodox. Her work emphasises mental health awareness and covers taboo subjects such as sexual violence, mental illness and suicide.

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Vron McIntyre is a Nottingham-based queer disabled poet, an "adventurer without a plan" who has in former lives been an activist, a peace camper, a diy editor and publisher, and even had a proper job for a while.

Random Trail is a collection of poems touching on diverse themes including family, magic, science, nature, humour and randomness where you will encounter turnips, netball hoops, deep time, caves, architecture, hills and mohair.

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Henry Normal reckons Spike Milligan changed his life, in particular with his 1973 poetry collection, Small Dreams of a Scorpion. Spike's other work - The Goons, the books about the war (Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall and Rommel? Gunner Who?) these were important, but it was the poetry that really made Henry Normal think again.

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Fairy tales like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood are some of the first stories many children are told: full of magical goings-on, wicked stepmothers, love stories and the triumph of good over evil, they have captivated imaginations for centuries.

But the original versions of these popular fairy tales were much darker in nature. Originating in European folk stories, often designed to be parables with a moral twist, they featured painful punishments, sadistic parents and children being devoured by wild beasts – hardly the stuff of bedtime stories.

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A New Year's Resolution Poem, recorded in May 2018 at Draper's Poetry Night in Peterborough. Thanks to Akor O.S. Opaluwah for filming and editing, and to Ron Graves for hosting the event.

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David Watts, poet, commentator, and professor of medicine, shares his poetry and describes how his writing process has changed over time. He began writing linear poems, then experimented with writing while half-awake to add what he calls "wildness" to his work. He and host Charlie Rossiter also discuss James Pennebaker's research into the health benefits of a reflective writing practice.

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See Peak District winters through the ages and hear the voices and stories of those who lived through them. Headphones recommended! If you enjoy the slideshow and wish to see and hear more Voices From The Peak, please hit 'subscribe'.

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Pie goes to Climate Conference COP 26 to get annoyed about Climate Change.

With Ed Miliband, George Monbiot & Caroline Lucas.

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The mass drowning in the Channel on Wednesday has served as a reminder that the migrants trying to make the perilous journey to the UK are people with hopes and dreams, desperate to find a place they can call home.

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Over the airport the sky yawns wide, grey-brown with rainclouds gently weeping. As we land from Mumbai, this wide prospect dismays me. Has Calcutta grown up too?

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The Language Exchange is a place where poets and scientists meet to share language & ideas and create new work. This week Daljit Nagra meets Erica McAlister.

One of Daljit Nagra's earliest poetic memories was reading 'The Fly' by William Blake. Here he goes to the Natural History Museum to meet Senior Curator and fly expert Erica McAlister to find out more about the life cycle of the fly, and ask why we have so many negative thoughts and feelings towards this amazingly various and useful small creature.

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The Continental Literary Magazine is a quarterly English-language literary magazine launched by the Petőfi Cultural Agency. The magazine focuses on the literature of Central Europe with the aim of creating a platform for contemporary Hungarian and Central European fiction writers to stake out their place in the English-reading world and, in particular, the North American literary market.

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June 17, 2020 | Abby O'Neill -- On a brisk February morning, Alicia Keys, full of effervescence, entered NPR through the loading dock wearing a canary yellow faux fur coat. During our ride to the fourth floor, she joked about how she hadn't been invited to play at the Tiny Desk. That, of course, wasn't exactly true. We worked on and off for years to make this moment happen, and I can say wholeheartedly that it was worth the wait.

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Welcome to the spoken word version of Eurovision, hosted by the Cities of Literature — where each City slams their way to the grand title Slamovision Champion!

In 2021, Slam-O-Vision is back in its third year. This year’s winner will be revealed in November in collaboration with in collaboraton with Québec City of Literature. This year there is also a public vote… start clicking!

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Clad in a denim jacket, Joy Oladokun shines a light on the subjects of grief, politics and life in America via the lens of someone who looks and loves differently. Standing firmly in her vulnerability, the first-generation Nigerian American opens her studio performance with "if you got a problem," a sweet ballad that pledges unconditional friendship through the lonely and the messy times.

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Last Friday we had Rachel McCrum - Poet as featured reader for Poetry Lit! and it was a blast! In case you missed it (or wanna rewatch), here's the video. Enjoy!

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First World War Poets, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen meet for the first time in this dramatised account.

"This war is not about heroes... It's really about boys of 19 being shot in the throat and dying before they've had time to live - and to learn why. The people who throw away those lives for their own glory - or profit - or both. I think it's about the annihilation, the wanton destruction of everything we love."

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Sophie Duker on why it's OK to say the word "black".

Duker was born in London to first-generation immigrants from West Africa. Her mother is from Cameroon and her father is from Ghana.[3] She studied French and English at Wadham College, Oxford.[4] She joined the Oxford Imps in her first year at university.

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Gail Webb performing Ferment from her debut pamphlet: The Thrill of Jumping In. Art by Nigel Available from: “The Thrill of Jumping In “ available to buy through the publisher https://www.bigwhiteshed.co.uk/shop Profits go to Maggie's cancer treatment centre, Nottingham.

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Each week, we pick a short fiction piece from our Fairlight Shorts archives to feature as our story of the week. This week, we’ve chosen a story about biology by Guy Jones.

‘For the Love of George’ explores the difficult choices that we must make.

Enjoy!

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