Left-field poetry performances return to Southampton courtesy of Placeholder and Wire Wool Events.
Wire Wool Events and Placeholder Poetry return after a short sabbatical for the eighth instalment of their hugely popular poetry evening held at The Bookshop Alehouse, Southampton.
On Thursday 23rd July three unique poetic voices will be sharing a wry glance at current affairs alongside internal observations in the welcoming events space of Portswood’s finest craft beer pub.
Placeholder is home for poetry readings of the avant-garde, queer and radical. Following success in Brighton, organiser, poet and host – Kat Sinclair – brought Placeholder Poetry to Southampton in 2024, in collaboration with Wire Wool Events. Together they aim to bring new voices to the flourishing poetry scene already in the city.
Featured poets at this event are Amy Granvoinet, Abbi Mitchell and Emma Tanner.
Amy Juliet Brown (Wire Wool Events) says: ‘As a promoter, every single one of these events is an enriching experience – being gifted something new by talented writers never fails to make me stop and think. Having the opportunity to share the evening with three emerging poets who view the world through their own unique lens – and in the company of an enthusiastic audience of creatives! – continues to be a highlight in my calendar.’
Amy Grandvoinet is a writer and artist living in Aberystwyth working on a PhD about literature and psychogeography via AHRC funds. She has critiqued the poems of Zoë Skoulding in the International Journal of Welsh Writing in English, and of fred spoliar in SPAM zine; her own have appeared in LUMPEN, Fruit, and four volumes of Poems from the House of Virtue. She co-edits think.material Press.
Abigail Mitchell (she/they) is a queer poet and cultural historian from London who recently completed her PhD at Southampton, working on the 17th century Essex witch trials. Abigail’s first poetry collection, The Year of the Butterfly, was published by Write Bloody in 2023. They also work as a writer and editor for popular history titles, most recently DK’s A History of Horror, Fear, and the Uncanny.
Emma Tanner is an experimental, queer and proudly pretentious poet who has finally settled after many years of meandering. She’s been published in Motherlore and Pen-To-Print magazines, along with frequent performances up and down the country (most recently with the Salisbury-based poetry collective Close Poetry). Her work grapples with climate grief, trauma, mental health, queerness, and the burden of history.
This event will take place in the intimate basement venue of The Bookshop Alehouse, Southampton – limited tickets are available and can be purchased in advance.
- 3 x 20 min poetry readings. Price: £5 from wirewoolevents.com. Limited tickets available. This event is a toiletries donation point for Basics Bank. A raffle will be drawn, with all proceeds going to Yellow Door.
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