This Is Just To Say: spoken word open mic

Oxford Poetry Library presents a spoken word open mic night! Join us in the library on the first Tuesday of every month to enjoy all manner of word-weaving, story-sharing, and spell-casting.

We welcome poets, storytellers, and writers of all kinds to share their work (or the work of others) in a safe, supportive, and inclusive space. Slots are 2-3 minutes long, and performers sign up on the door – first come, first served and slots fill up quickly so we recommend arriving in good time for 7pm!

At OPL we want everyone to feel comfortable and has space to enjoy the night. That’s why we have a few basic guidelines that we ask everyone to follow:

• Please refrain from using discriminatory language or harmful content in your performance. If you are unsure about your performance, speak to the host when you arrive.
• You should aim to read something that’s around one page or two minutes – this ensures that everyone has enough time to read.

Every month we feature a performer with a slightly extended set and this month’s featured performer to grace our stage will be Jenny Lewis. Jenny is a poet and playwright who teaches poetry at Oxford University. She has had seven plays and poetry cycles performed at major theatres and published five collections including Gilgamesh Retold (Carcanet, 2018) which won the Warden’s Award for Innovation at Goldsmiths, was a New Statesman Book of the Year and Carcanet’s first audiobook. Her recent work includes From Base Materials (Carcanet, 2024), and a sequence of ecological poems for Mandala Theatre Company’s Seed Guardians (2024) written and directed by Yasmin Sidhwa, which won a Joseph Rowntree Foundation Award.

The theme for this month, chosen by Jenny, is BOUNCING BACK. We’re getting back in the saddle this month, thinking about everything from slow-and-steady recoveries to triumphant returns. Tell us what inspires you to get back up again, or what knocked you down in the first place – your poems of renewal, revival, and resurgence.

The session starts at 7.30pm (performers are advised to arrive from 7pm), at The Community Works (21 Park End St, OX1 1HU).

£5 entry (£2 concessions), performers free.

The building is accessible, but if you have any specific access needs, please drop us an email at oxfordpoetrylibrary@gmail.com beforehand!