Press room

Read, listen-to or write poetry in a space that inspires poetry in practice

Take-part in lunch-time pop-up poetry sessions with Barbican Young Poets

Become a powerful creative voice – applications for the free Barbican Young Poets’ 24/25 programme are open

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/barbican-young-poets-poetry-in-practice

From today until 21 October, marking National Poetry Day, the Barbican will celebrate poetry in practice with inspirational work by Barbican Young Poets (BYP) alumni. The 15th anniversary events will include multi-media artistic and video installations featuring BYP performing their original poetry and spoken word, plus publication of two anthology editions including To Be Languaged Thusby the 2023 cohorts, dedicated to Barbican Young Poet Gboyega Odubanjo (1996-2023), edited by Artistic Director and Lead BYP Facilitator Jacob Sam-La Rose. 

Visitors to the Level G Hub Space can browse a library of books recommended by BYP alumni and take part by creating their own poetic exploration of what the Barbican means to them.

On October 3, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 21, during lunch break hours (12.30-2pm) visitors to the Barbican can also take part in pop-up poetry sessions given by BYP alumni Cameron Bray, Christy Ku, Annie Hayter, Phoebe Wagner, Sumia Jaama and Fathima Zahra, who will write a poem, personal to the visitor, to take home.

On 17 October, two Barbican Young Poet anthologies will be published by flipped eye: From The Ground to the Birdsong featuring the work of 2024 cohort, and To Be Languaged Thus featuring the work of the 2023 cohort. Both editions will be available to buy from the Barbican Bookshop. 

Aspiring poets who want to explore what’s possible for their poetry and creative expressioncan apply for the Barbican Young Poets’ 24/25 programme, applications now open until 28 October. The free, 6-month long programme, which has run since 2009, is led by Artistic Director and Lead Facilitator Jacob Sam-La Rose. The programme – which is part of a wider Young Creatives strand - has fostered a collective of poets to become the next generation of powerful creative voices, including Gabriel Akamo, Travis Alabanza, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Tice Cin, Amina Jama, Therese Lola, Gboyega Odubanjo (the Gboyega Odubanjo Foundation for low-income Black writers was established in 2023 to honour his legacy), Laurie Ogden, Eleanor Penny, Kieron Rennie, Warsan Shire, Yuan Yang. 

Details about how to apply for Barbican Young Poets 24/25 programme can be found here.