East Quay Poetry Slam
TIME & DATE: 7pm, Saturday 18th July
LOCATION: East Quay Courtyard
COST: FREE - just come along!

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About the Event

East Quay is excited to present its first-ever Poetry Slam, a lively competition to find the best spoken word artist in Watchet and across the South West!

Twelve poets will battle it out across three rounds of friendly but fierce competition. The event will feature special sets from our three acclaimed, award-winning guest judges: Anthony Joseph, Lucy English and Laurie Bolger.

The winner of the Slam will receive a £150 paid guest poet slot at our regular poetry night  plus free stay in one of East Quay's unique accommodation pods!

The event is open to everyone and is family-friendly.

The East Quay Kitchen will be open throughout the event, serving food and drink.

There is no need to book - the event is free and unticketed, so just come along!

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About the Host

The event will be hosted by spoken word poet and artist, Elaoise Benson.

Elaoise’s writing explores the complexity of belonging: within friendships, relationships, places, spaces and identities. Her writing navigates the experience of losing a parent in your 20s, with its deep pain and unexpected beauty. And in doing so, she looks for pockets of joy amongst the hardest moments in life. Her poetry often bleeds into her art practice, in the form of dance-poetry performances, installations, and films. Elaoise is the host of East Quay's Spoken Word night, and she performs in Hatch Somerset Fashion Shows, blending wearable art and poetry. Elaoise has performed across London, Bristol, Bath, and the South West, and is a member of The Quantocks Poetry Group. She is currently completing a Master's degree in History of Art at the University of Bristol. 

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The acclaimed, award-winning judging panel will score performances based on Writing Quality; Strength of Theme; Vocal Fluency & Emotion; Stage Presence. You can find out more about the judges below:

Anthony Joseph

⁠Dr. Anthony Joseph F.R.S.L. is an award-winning Trinidad-born poet, novelist, academic, and musician. His 2022 collection Sonnets for Albert won both the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2022 and the OCM BOCAS Prize for Caribbean Poetry.⁠

⁠He is the author of five other poetry collections and three novels. His 2018 novel Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award, and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Fiction. As a musician, he has released ten critically acclaimed albums. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Lecturer in Creative Writing at King's College, London. ⁠

Lucy English

Lucy English is a Professor of Creative Enterprise at Bath Spa University, as well as a spoken word poet and poetry filmmaker who shares her incredible work both nationally and internationally.

Short films from her poetry film project, The Book of Hours (2018), have been screened at over thirty international short film festivals. The entire project was shortlisted for the New Media Writing prize in 2019 and is now held on the British Library database of digital work. Her most recent project, Cancer Alley (2024), is a poetry film hologram installation which was shown at The Watershed, Bristol for four days during the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival. The original poetry film for this project has been screened at over 20 short film festivals.

On top of all that, Lucy has three novels published by Fourth Estate and two collections of poetry published by Burning Eye Books, with her third collection due to be published this Autumn. She is also the co-director of the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival.

Laurie Bolger

⁠Laurie Bolger is a London-based writer and the founder of The Creative Writing Breakfast Club & Poetry in Pyjamas. Laurie’s writing has been widely anthologised and has featured at Glastonbury, TATE, BBC Platforms, and Sky Arts. Her first publication, Box Rooms by Burning Eye Books, celebrated community and her W10 roots.⁠

⁠Laurie was the winner of The Moth Poetry Prize and she has been shortlisted for The Sylvia Plath, Bridport, and Forward Poetry Prizes. Her latest pamphlets include Makeover by The Emma Press and Spin by The Poetry Business, and her debut collection, Lady, was published by Nine Arches Press in Spring 2025, celebrating the resilience of working-class women, autonomy, and love. We are absolutely thrilled to complete our incredible judging panel with Laurie!⁠

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About the Slammers

Twelve talented slammers will battle it out across three rounds of competition: 
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Kalina Newman, Mark Hebditch, Peter of Exmoor, Jan Martin @janmartinillustration, Robin Richards, Aiyana Rosel, Deanna Payne, Mike Sherburn @mikesherburnpoet, Sam Stokes, Grace Turner @grakthesnak, Simon Stares, Debbi Sutton

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We wish them the best of luck!