Poetry Events in Southsea Portsmouth
Pompey will set the stage for a creative Battle Royale as 12 hopeful wordsmiths compete for a coveted place at the prestigious Cheltenham Poetry Festival. ‘Slam at The Emporium,’ hosted by 2023 Slam champion Jonathan Aylett, promises to be a high-voltage evening and a must-see event for lovers of poetry.
On 20th February, The Emporium Bar Southsea serves as an arena for a passionate war of words, rhythm and rhyme. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Poetry Slam is a highly competitive art form in which spoken word poets perform in front of a live audience and panel of judges. Based on how they score in each round, competitors are gradually whittled down until a champion is crowned. Slam events involve bucketloads of audience participation and are often boisterous, lively affairs. As MC, it will be Jonathan Aylett’s job to big up the poets and whip the audience into a frenzy. He says, “I‘m really looking forward to hearing what the various contestants have to say, their unique styles and performances. Sharing poetry is a deeply intimate thing which can allow a person to truly blossom, and I love seeing that happen.”
Over the last 14 years, the Cheltenham Poetry Festival has gained a reputation as the launch pad for upcoming poets. Featuring performances from some of our greatest living spoken word artists, musicians, actors, dancers, writers and filmmakers, a place at the festival is considered a once in a lifetime opportunity. Founded by poet Anna Saunders, Cheltenham Poetry Festival offers an annual ten-day programme of exciting live literature events each spring and year-round online poetry workshops and lounges.
Jonathan understands better than anyone how competing at such an event can be a potentially life-changing experience. In 2023, he was declared champion of The Cheltenham Poetry Festival Slam in front of a packed theatre. Jonathan explains, “Cheltenham poetry festival is a major, long-running event in the literary calendar. It attracts top poets from the UK and abroad (Don Paterson read there last year, in 2023 the headliner was John Hegley), but is also very inclusive. The Slam is next level. It sells out every year, and rightly so – the standard is extremely high, and there is stiff competition to get a place. Competing in this Slam in 2023 was the highlight of my poetry career so far. I felt so lucky just to get a spot and went along purely for the experience. It was the first time I had performed my work in front of a packed-out theatre, and no one was more surprised than me when I ended up winning it.”
Jonathan has been writing all his life but always saw it as a private pursuit. This suddenly changed in 2020 when on a whim he entered an international poetry competition and was utterly amazed when his poem was selected as the overall winner.
Since then, Jonathan has gone from strength to strength, winning or receiving commendations in countless high-profile poetry competitions. He has seen his work published in literary journals and newspapers in Europe, North America and Asia and regularly performs to sell-out spoken word events up and down the country. Jonathan’s debut poetry collection, “Goldfish” was published by Stairwell Books in 2024 and he is currently working on his next anthology.
“When I first started sharing my work, I struggled with the idea that I could call myself a poet since I am an ordinary working-class guy who went to a state comprehensive school. I have always been a writer, but it was a private thing, since for most of my life I thought that poetry was solely the preserve of the elite. There is also this belief held by many people that you have to be making a living from writing to call yourself a writer, but these ideas couldn’t be further from the truth. I know tons of poets, some of them highly successful, and they all have a day job – this may be working in teaching creative writing or the publishing industry for example, but they certainly aren’t making their living from writing poetry!’
Jonathan is a passionate campaigner for grassroots poetry and understands the many challenges facing emerging poets in 2025. “With the internet and social media, it has never been easier to find a network of like-minded creators, publishing opportunities, or places to perform, but the downside of this is that there is so much out there that it can be hard to make yourself stand out. My advice would be to just keep writing, develop your own style and voice, and don’t let yourself be drawn into chasing approval on social media platforms. Personally, I find someone approaching me after a gig to tell me they enjoyed my work (and hopefully buy a book) is far more life-affirming than hundreds of Instagram likes.”
A Poetry Slam may seem like an intimidating experience, but it can be a great way to improve skills, develop storytelling and build community. Jonathan is always quick to reassure any nervous poets and performers. “For me, poetry is a vocation. I enjoy sharing my work and love it when people tell me that they have enjoyed reading or hearing it, but it wouldn’t make any difference if this was not the case. I honestly don’t write for any purpose other than my own self-fulfilment. The act of creating art is fundamental to the human experience and is essential for supporting good mental health.”
‘Slam at The Emporium’ takes place 7.30pm on Thursday the 20th of February at The Emporium Bar Southsea. Free entry.
By Caroline Brennan
