Jasmine Gardosi is the former Birmingham Poet Laureate and an Honorary Doctor of Letters. They are a multiple slam champion, beatboxer, winner of the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry and winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Performer 2023. Their work exploring identity, LGBTQ issues and mental health has appeared on Button Poetry, at the Tate Modern, Glastonbury Festival, Symphony Hall and BBC. They were featured on Sky Arts’ BAFTA-winning show Life & Rhymes and their poem about the pandemic, filmed on a rollercoaster, was broadcast across America on PBS. They have taken their poetry across Europe, including at Romania’s Transylvania International Spoken Word Festival, and Estonia’s historical, first-ever queer poetry slam for Baltic Pride. Most recently, their work has taken them across the globe with performances and workshops in the Philippines and America.

They are a previous Writer in Residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Poet in Residence at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and BBC Arts Young Creative. Jasmine penned a new rock anthem for Birmingham, “Brummie Steel” which was performed by a mass collective of 300 musicians, commissioned by Misfits Music Foundation. Their poetry/beatbox/Celtic dubstep show ‘Dancing To Music You Hate’ explores gender identity and was commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre. After premiering to standing ovations, it won Best Spoken Word Show in the Saboteur Awards and its titular track was performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, broadcast on BBC Four. Following a sold-out show at Symphony Hall, the show toured the UK in the summer of 2023, and in 2025, toured to the Philippines with support from The British Council.

@jasminegardosi
jasminegardosi.com

Photography by: Thom Bartley, Lee Allen, and Olwen Hills

Angela Innes (she/they) is a Bristol based Queer poet. Growing up in Essex, she found comfort in performance poetry published online and uploaded her first poem to YouTube over a decade ago. Their work explores intimacy, queer identity, and the world through the eyes of someone who grew up too quickly.

Angela has lent her voice to national charity campaigns and fundraising events for movements including End Period Poverty, Breast Cancer Now, and Welsh Women’s Aid. They have performed political poetry for TEDx and while completing a Master’s in Sexuality and Gender studies become a two-time UniSlam finalist.

Her debut collection, good girl, published in 2021, has been described as “flying the flag of survival with compassion and courage.” Her parents in law are in the audience and they’re both writers, so please cheer extra loud.

Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)