John Sebastian Lightship 8th October 2025
Doors open 7.00pm event starts 7.30pm
Ends 10pm
Jo Eades performs regularly on the Bristol spoken word scene. In 2023, she performed on the Milk Poetry stage at Valleyfest and was selected as one of eight emerging poets from the South West to be part of Apple and Snakes’ Future Voices project. In 2024 she was the Lyra Bristol Poetry Slam Champion and won the Hip Yak Poetry Shack Slam at WOMAD Festival. In 2025 she featured at Keynsham Music Festival, won the Ledbury Poetry Festival Slam and came fourth in the England SLAM! Championships.
Flanked:
From the horrors of toddler classes to the complexities of grief, Flanked is a smorgasbord of maternal experience and emotion. A scrutiny of motherhood across generations and an exploration of loss as both heart-wrenching and liberating.
Tinged with doubt, regret, guilt, acceptance, joy and love, Flanked captures the intricate dynamics of mother / daughter relationships — where roles morph and history repeats.
A reflection on letting go and looking forward.
Flanked will be published by Burning Eye Books in October 2025
JEMMA HATHAWAY
Jemma Hathaway likes to put words next to one another and see if they hit it off. She writes about big four-letter things: time, hope, love, loss – and the innumerable ways they touch our lives. She hopes to reach yours today.
ADAM ELMS
Adam Elms is a visually impaired creative whose work has been published in over twenty books, journals, and magazines. Adam won the Waltham Forest Poetry Award in 2023 with his poem, ‘The Last VHS Player in England’, and has been nominated for the 2025 Forward Prize.
ERYN MCDONALD
Eryn is an interdisciplinary artist working across poetry, dance, theatre and film. They were part of the 2024 Apples & Snakes South West Cohort along with Jo, during which they created a poetry film about queerness and leaving home in search of community.
BEN VINCE
Ben Vince is a Bristol based poet and performer, the winner of the 2025 Lyra Festival Slam, and a finalist for the Mind Over Matter national slam. He has been published in Horizon, The Mays and Dawntreader (forthcoming) and is currently completing a PhD in queer ecological literature at the University of Bristol.
ALEXIS BROOKS
Her poetic narratives explore the crevices and characters that we often bypass, shun or cross the road to avoid. Alexis peels back their layers until all that is left are the glimpses and reflections of ourselves. Alexis is a SLAM-winning poet who has been described as “one of the most exciting fresh forces in poetry in the South West.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)