Poetry at the PPL

11/09/2024

Hi folks! We're a week away from the next Poetry at the PPL (time flies huh), so I thought it would be a good time to give you a proper introduction to our headliner!

RACHEL LONG is the author of My Darling from the Lions (Picador 2020 / Tin House 2021). The book, her debut collection, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, The Costa Book Award, The Rathbones Folio Prize, and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. The US edition of My Darling from the Lions was featured in the New York Times Book Review, and named one of the 100 must-read books of 2021 by TIME.

We've been trying to get Rachel down to Plymouth for ages, and we are so excited that it's finally happening. Grab your tickets from Eventbrite ASAP to avoid disappointment.

📸 Amaal Said

25/07/2024

POETRY AT THE PPL - RACHEL LONG & ED TAPPER - THURSDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER

Here we go again! So damn excited to have the stunning Rachael Long joining us all the way from London town, and to have PPL regular on the support, brandishing copies of his new book 'Spoke Reflector'. All that plus our regular open mic (slots on the door), hosting from , and the warm embrace of . What more could you want? Thursday 19th September, 19:00.

Praise for Rachel Long's 'My Darling From The Lions':

'Rachel Long is an enchanting and heartwarming new voice in poetry.' Bernardine Evaristo

'I loved reading these poems. They are immediate, accessible and necessary, but also joyful, witty and elegant. They tell stories we so much need to hear.' Kate Clanchy

22/07/2024

Rebrand alert! Check out this new logo from . We're mega chuffed.

Keep your eyes peeled for PPL news! And maybe keep the 19th September free.

📚🎤

08/06/2024

Apologies for the delay folks (we like to keep you in anticipation); here are the photos of our lovely headliners from our show at back in April at . Just a reminder: we had a supporting slot from the local fave , and a headline set from the stunning . Her new book, 'Goodlord' has just been released by Rough Trade Books, if you fancy treating yourself.

Huge thanks again to everyone who turned out for this, it was such a cracking evening. Keep your eyes peeled for news about more events!

Wonderful photos by .

06/05/2024

Massive thanks to everyone who joined us a couple of weeks back for our POETRY@thePPL special ! It was a stunning evening of even stunning-er poems, and you wonderful humans sold us out, which was truly the icing on the cake.

Anyway, here are some of those humans reading poems, in what headliner Ella Frears described as one of the best open mic sections she had ever seen. We couldn't agree more.

Photos by .

25/04/2024

Only three tickets left for tonight folks! Go get 'em.

Reminder that there will not be tickets on the door for this event; if you come without a ticket, you will not be able to come in.

See you all later! 🎤📚

03/04/2024

!!!!!

It's here! Check out the timetable for Plymouth Poetry Festival. We have workshops, performance nights, a small exhibition, and a poetry shop! Most events can be found on our event calendar here on Facebook.

Some need tickets to attend which you can find on our Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/plymouth-poetry-festival-81158076433
They are all donations based tickets so please pay whatever you are able to - even if that is £0.

Please share this post far and wide - we would love to introduce new people to the phenomenal poetry scene in Plymouth and need your help getting word out there! The posters will be printed and distributed to venues across town but if you would like to help putting posters up, send us a message!

We still need poems for our exhibition - details to come later today - so get your pens at the ready for that.
If you are a published poet (whether a chapbook, self published, or by a press) then contact RAAY to arrange dropping off some copies of your book for the poetry shop. This is a great opportunity to get your book read by new people!

And finally, a huge thank you to Plymouth Octopus Project for funding this Festival. Thanks to them, all scheduled performers are being paid, and all organisers are too. This is so rare within the Plymouth poetry scene and we really appreciate them trusting us with this project!

23/03/2024

POETRY@thePPL Ft. Ella.Frears & Kate Kreke - Thursday 25th April - 7:30pm

Super excited to be bringing back POETRY@thePPL for a special event in partnership with ! And our headliner is none other than the stunning , plus we have support from wonderful PPL regular .

Check out the link in our bio for tickets; heads up that we are trialling a pricing model that better reflects the cost of putting on these events.

Hope to see loads and loads of you there. 📚🎤

06/11/2023

Young poets of Plymouth, take note. This is an excellent opportunity to perform in front of a decent audience, and get paid for it too! Get those applications in.

Are you a spoken-word artist, writer, rapper, performer or poet living in Devon, aged 16-25? Are you looking to develop your career and creative practice? Want to talk about funding, or how to get gigs? Want tips on your performance style, or your writing? Plus a paid performance opportunity!

At Spork! we want to nurture home-grown talent, encourage young & emerging artists, and help put Devon on the poetry map. That's why we're looking for 2 young artists to receive developmental support and a paid gig at Exeter Unesco City of Literature's Slamovision Watch Party on Tue 5th December.

2 artists will be selected to receive:

​💸£50 Fee
🎤A 5-10 min performance slot at the Slamovision Showcase at Exeter Library on 05 DEC
📖A 45-min Zoom or in-person mentoring session with either Spork! Lead Producer Chris White, or local slam-winning poet & facilitator Harula Ladd

To apply, send us:

- a sample of your work (a couple of mins of video or audio, a short piece of writing or a poem)
- your age
- where you're based
- up to 50 words about you

email this to Chris at [email protected] by 5PM on Sunday 26th November. For more info go to sporkpoetry.com/apply

10/10/2023

Really exciting event at Plymouth Central Library next week with wonderful poet Sarah Howe! So great to see this happening in Plymouth. Huge thanks to Literature Works and the library for making this happen. See you there?

📚🎤

29/09/2023

The next POETRY@thePPL will take place on Thursday 26th of October, and will feature a supporting slot from the wonderful Hannah Temme, plus a headline set celebrating the publication of 'Mothersong' the debut collection from Amy Acre. Doors at 7PM for a 7:30 start, , open mic slots OTD, pay what you can. Tickets available via the link in our bio. See you there?

23/08/2023

Hey pals! Quick reminder that our very good friends at Spork are current fundraising to continue programming very exciting wonderful poetry events in Exeter. Remember Exeter? It's just over there.

Spork, and Chris in particular, has given an unbelievable amount of time and energy to helping me (Jonah) to develop POETRY@thePPL, and to write the funding bid which will, hopefully, take this organisation to the next level. Without his support and expertise, I wouldn't have had a chance of getting my application submitted, let alone accepted. I mean, it still might not be accepted. But it might, and that is largely down to him.

I have also been inspired, excited and generally bowled over by innumerable Spork events over the past several years, and my enthusiasm for producing in the South West has been kept aflame by the amazing things that they have been able to achieve just a few short miles away. They also let me do some audience research for them last year, which was nice.

In short, if you enjoy live poetry, you'd be barmy not to donate to this. Unless you can't afford it. But if you can, it would be very lovely if you did. The link to do so is here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/spork-poetry?fbclid=IwAR1kuIIBUInaUkxnQqTlQ0dcFQ9Pv5YT0ridrdPzhUn_uBjWJ3fCNNnpWOY

16/08/2023

More photos from the PPL! Huge thanks to and for their wonderful feature sets at last month's event, and to for capturing these excellent photos.

The next POETRY@thePPL is tomorrow! Super excited to see everyone there, and especially excited for our headliner Shagufta K Iqbal, our wonderful local support David Rutherford, and of course all of our open micers. Which could be you! Just turn up tomorrow, put your name in the bowl and see if it gets drawn.

Tomorrow, 7:30PM (doors 7), . Grab your tickets in the link in our bio.

14/08/2023

In the run-up to the next POETRY@thePPL event this Thursday, I'll be sharing photos by the wonderful of last month's event. First up, here are some photos of our ever-fabulous open micers! Huge thanks to each of them for coming and entertaining us with their words. There is also one imposter, if you can spot them.

Our next evening, featuring headliner Shagufta Iqbal and local support from David Rutherford (the latter pictured here mid-teaser performance). Kick-off at 7:30PM (doors 7), open mic slots on the door, pay what you can entry (recommended donation £5). Tix in bio. See you there!