Stages of Belonging: How Spoken Word Shapes Birmingham’s Cultural Landscape

Birmingham has produced some of the United Kingdom's most influential performance poets, and its spoken word scene remains vibrant and evolving. The city's tradition of spoken word is shaped by socio-cultural dynamics, working-class resilience, multicultural migration, and political resistance, and is sustained today by a constellation of literary events and institutional support from Birmingham City Council, Arts Council England. The significance of this tradition is underscored by the city's appointment of poet laureates, who articulate Birmingham's poetic voice to broader audiences.

Over the past decade, I have watched the spoken word scene in Birmingham evolve and flourish, nurturing some of the UK's most remarkable poets, past and present. I began my own journey as a curious nineteen- to twenty-year-old poet, sharing work online and gradually stepping onto stages at local spoken word nights. One of the first open mics I attended was a Beatfreeks poetry jam, an event that continues to foster emerging voices, especially by bringing local talent into the spotlight. My path also took me to university poetry events in London and Birmingham, as well as spaces run by Hey Girl Dreamer, who would later offer me my first paid performance. Looking back, these experiences were not merely opportunities to perform, they were moments of connection, discovery, and cultural growth, revealing how grassroots spaces shape artists and their communities. A key individual in growing the Birmingham spoken word scene was Leon Priestnall (1987-2021), who ran the spoken word night Howl at the Moon at The Station in Kings Heath. I also remember performing at Stitchley Speaks quite some years ago, which was run by Jess Davies at the P Café in Stirchley. Nafeesa Hamid used to also run Twisted Tongues, another spoken word night.

Over time, my friendships with local poets have deepened, and together we've built our own communities. I've watched friends like Nafeesa Hamid, whose debut collection Besharam (2018, Verve Poetry Press) was highly commended for the Forward Prizes in 2019, and Kamil Mahmood flourish as both page and performance poets, each crafting their words with precision and care. Together, we formed Gully Collective, hosting spoken word events to foster community and support South Asian writers and artists. I've also been returning to a project I began in 2019, Azaad Arts, which aims to merge South Asian oral traditions with contemporary spoken word styles in a mehfil-inspired environment, continuing the work of creating spaces that celebrate cultural exchange and collective creativity. Mehfil is a gathering, more informal and personal, where the audience answers back in real time- there's no specific set order. There's no fixed point when the poem stops belonging to the poet and starts to belong to the room. In this spirit this year I've been building Body as Home, with Birmingham based DJ and curator Raveena — part of this has been running spoken word events specifically for women which has again shown the power of words, and the joy comes from bringing communities together.

Finding my way back to spoken word and witnessing the scene's growth feels like returning to a garden in full bloom. Performance has become beautifully experimental, shifting in tone, stretching its voice, playing with language, music and pace until each poem feels alive in a new way. There are now countless events each month that did not exist ten years ago. For me, spoken word remains a sacred space, a place where you swallow your words whole, step into the moment, and surrender to the pulse of the room. The audience breathes with you, and together you travel somewhere neither of you could reach alone.

One cannot understand Birmingham's spoken word scene without acknowledging the influence of Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023), arguably the city's most iconic poet. Zephaniah's roots in Handsworth feed directly into his work: his upbringing in Brum, his Jamaican heritage, and his powerful political voice are inseparable from one another. As Zephaniah himself once reflected, "for me it's still the centre of the universe . . . I found poetry there — or poetry found me."¹ His poetry, inflected with reggae, dub, and social critique, pioneered a style that was accessible, rhythmic, and unapologetically political. He did not shy away from critiquing racial inequality, class divides, or institutional neglect. In one interview, he stated: "People are trying to separate us by nationality . . . . If you look at Britain, almost everyone here came from somewhere else. We should be proud . . . and help them feel British."² Zephaniah's commitment to using poetry as a platform for social justice inspired generations of Birmingham poets. His lesson, taken up by those of us who have learned from him: spoken word is not a peripheral art but a legitimate, powerful form of expression.

Birmingham's tradition of appointing a Poet Laureate helps formalize the city's commitment to poetry as both civic and cultural practice. According to Birmingham City Council, the laureate is selected from poets who live or work in Birmingham and are willing and able to perform their own work across key city events.³ Over the past couple of years, there has been a shift towards appointing spoken word poets as Laureates, thus redefining what a poet means in the city: Casey Bailey (2020-2022) brought together rap, education, and activism in his role, connecting spoken word with young people in Birmingham. His tenure underscored how performance poetry can be both socially engaged and personally revealing. Jasmine Gardosi (2022-2024) has openly acknowledged the influence of Zephaniah, saying, "I truly hope to emulate Zephaniah's gentle bravery." Gardosi defends spoken word as more than entertainment: they argue for its legitimacy as "a vehicle of celebrating difference" and challenging binaries of gender, identity, and power.⁴ Ayan Aden (2024-2026), the current Poet Laureate, brings a fresh voice, honed through her attention to diasporic aesthetics. She describes poetry as both "archive and agent preserving what must endure while imagining what is yet to come."⁵ Through these laureates, Birmingham both honors its spoken word past and cultivates new directions.

Birmingham's spoken word scene continues to flourish through a constellation of recurring events and community-driven spaces that provide access, visibility, and continuity for emerging and established poets alike. Poetry Jam at B:Music, a monthly open mic night held on the first Thursday of each month, exemplifies this inclusivity by welcoming performers of all levels and fostering a supportive environment for experimentation, audience engagement, and artistic growth. Grassroots spaces also play a crucial role. Kohetry, a bi-monthly spoken word and live music event, celebrates community through its interdisciplinary format, reflecting Birmingham's multicultural and musical heritage. Poet's Palace merges poetry with live music to create vibrant cultural gatherings that attract diverse audiences. Culminating the city's spoken word offerings, the annual VERVE Poetry Festival brings together established and emerging poets for workshops, panels, lectures, and performances, celebrating the full spectrum of contemporary poetry and reinforcing Birmingham's reputation as a leading center for spoken word.

Many spoken word spaces are in community halls and cafés, rather than elite institutions. These spoken word events and spaces are not funded, and are generally organized by individuals who, in their devotion to the community, maintain the spirit of a grassroots scene. Kohetry, founded in 2021 by artist Kohinoor, emerged from combining both the sound of her name and the metaphor of kohe-trey, a tree, thus suggesting that poets offer the seeds that can be planted in the world. In the way that it is organized, Kohetry is a tree, and its participants are leafy branches soaking in energy; these branches, together forming our shared humanity, feed back into Mother Earth, reflecting Kohinoor's commitment to community interconnectedness. Having participated in Kohetry events both as a guest and as a speaker, I have witnessed how such grassroots spaces foster solidarity, amplify diverse voices, and create meaningful forms of belonging beyond institutional frameworks.

Spoken word in Birmingham functions as a safe space for expression. These spaces foreground affirmation, empathy, and solidarity, nurturing communities that fall outside usual social boundaries and fostering lasting friendships. Here, poetry is not merely used for abstraction but for confrontation: to name injustice, to reflect on social structures, and to imagine a different future, sustained by events such as Poetry Jam, Big Gay Poetry Night, Kohetry, Tell It to the Music, Poet's Palace, Run your Mouth, and the VERVE Poetry Festival. Recently, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery opened its doors to poetry by hosting Piece of Work, a poetry night led by Bradley Taylor, illustrating how institutional spaces can support contemporary spoken word practice. Through these concentrated efforts, spoken word has become a central way for Brummies to connect, resist, and celebrate.

At its heart, Birmingham's spoken word culture showcases a deep sense of belonging and resistance. It offers a locus for voices often marginalized by institutional structures. The city's multiculturalism is central: poets frequently address themes of migration, identity, and heritage. In a city defined by work, movement, and reinvention, spoken word continues to prove that poetry belongs not only in books, but in neighborhoods, on stages, and in the hearts of its people.

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Rupinder Kaur Waraich (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist based in the West Midlands, whose work spans poetry, writing, and performance. Her practice often explores the linguistic intersections of body, history, sexuality, and spirituality through the feminine narrative and gaze. Rupinder's debut poetry collection, Rooh (2018), was published by Verve Poetry Press, and her second collection, Tigress with Wings, was published by Seren Books in 2026. Her poems and writings have appeared in various journals and magazines. Driven by curiosity and dedication, she continues to explore creative work at the intersections of writing, film, and theatre.

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References

1. "Benjamin Zephaniah - Poet, Novelist, Playwright and Activist," h2g2, last modified June 29, 2014. https://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A34354343. ↩︎
2. Joe Kriss, "Benjamin Zephaniah: Dub Poet Comes to Sheffield," Now Then Magazine 135, June 2019. https://nowthenmagazine.com/articles/benjamin-zephaniah-dub-poet-comes-to-sheffield. ↩︎
3. "Birmingham Poet Laureate," Birmingham City Council. https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50141/poetry/1418/birmingham_poet_laureate. ↩︎
4. Suchir Salhan, "'I truly hope to emulate Zephaniah's gentle bravery' and defend Spoken Word as a 'legitimate Art Form,' says Birmingham Poet Laureate, Jasmine Gardosi," Per Capita (February 17, 2024). https://per-capita.co.uk/notebook/5006/. ↩︎
5. Ayan Moaden, "About," Ayan Moaden. https://www.ayanmoaden.com/about. ↩︎