Join some of the most exciting spoken word artists and poets as they battle it out for Imperial Lates Online fame and glory.
The power is in your hands as you choose which of their quick fire 3-minute sets is your favourite, all under the watchful eye of Dan Simpson, our ever-lively Poet in Residence.
Meet the Poets
We have lined up a wonderful mix of performance poets with lots of different perspectives and styles. All the poems will feature nature in one way or another – it’s up to the poets to decide how they talk about it.
Neelam Saredia-Brayley – Neelam is an award-winning poet, captivating audiences for 8 years. Warm and honest, Neelam works with illustrators, musicians and dancers to create unique performances. In 2020 she was awarded the Apples and Snakes: Jerwood Arts | Poetry in Performance Award, and is developing her Arts Council funded show, ‘Queer Brown Skin’. She has featured and headlined various events including Sofar Sounds, BBC Radio Kent, 451 City, Jawdance, bOing! International Family Festival, Marlowe Theatre, Turner Contemporary, Hammer & Tongue, and Gulbenkian. Neelam reaches out to daughters of immigrants; mothers who stay; girls who love girls; girls who sing hurricanes away.
Jamal Hassan – Jamal is a London based performance poet whose work blends humour with vivid storytelling. Instagram: @kidanansi
Elle Dillon-Reams – Elle is an Artist originally from Brighton. Her self written solo show ‘HoneyBEE‘ sold out it’s entire run and received all 5 and 4 star reviews at The Brighton Fringe 2019 after which she won the Three Week’s Editor’s award for my performance and Best Newcomer from The Scotsman in Edinburgh. This year would have seen the touring of ‘HoneyBEE‘ also debuting a new play in Edinburgh, as well as performing in the National Poetry Slam finals at the Royal Albert Hall, due to Covid19 this is all on hold. Throughout lockdown she’s been keeping sane with workshops from the marvellous minds of Cecilia Knapp, Desree, and Dan Simpson. Her favourite poem is “Wild Geese-” by Mary Oliver.
Tom Denbigh – Tom lives in Bristol with an obscene number of books. He is the first Bristol Pride Poet Laureate and a BBC 1Extra Emerging Artist Talent Search winner. He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall and festivals around the UK, and has brought poetry to Brighton and London Prides. He is a producer at Milk Poetry and has facilitated writing workshops for groups of students from the UK and abroad. Outside of poetry Tom has a PhD on plant roots and soil erosion. His first collection …and then she ate him is out now with Burning Eye Books. Twitter: @tom_denbigh
Pieta Poeta – Pieta is a poet, writer, biologist, musician and actor from Brazil. He was the Brazil national poetry slam champion 2019. @pietapoeta
Janet Philo – Janet worked in education for many years and is now taking time to write. She’s published online most recently @https://wordsforthewild.co.uk/?s=janet+philo as well is in printed anthologies for adults and also for children, such as, ‘I Bet I Can Make You Laugh’ by Joshua Siegal and Friends. (Bloomsbury Education 2018) and Midnight Feasts (an anthology of food poems, collected by A.F. Harrold’ (Bloomsbury Education 2019). Janet has two published pamphlets: Under-hedge Dapple, (Three Drops Press 2016) and ‘Cheap Fish for Kings’ (Black Light Engine Room Press March 2020).She’s a member of the Tees Women Poets (TWP) collective and also of Saltburn Writers. She loves to mix up poetry with live music backing – find her on Soundcloud as, Under-hedge Poet https://soundcloud.com/user-839667062
Debra Watson – Debra is a performance poet currently based in London. Her practice includes an interest in performing intimate 1-2-1 multi-sensory readings and experimental performances using poetry as text and lyric. She has performed in London, Berlin, Barcelona, Utrecht and Antwerp. Her themes include retelling fairy-tales, female empowerment and climate collapse. She is a founding member of Poets for the Planet, an open membership organisation for poets interested in using poetry to raise public awareness around issues of climate collapse.
Meet our Host for the evening
Dan Simpson is Imperial’s Poet in Residence and wears many hats as a writer, performer, producer, and educator. His work is entertaining, smart, and funny and covers science and technology; history and place; art and geek culture; people and poetry. His residency at Imperial aims to start conversations about science in ways you might not expect.
Imperial Lates Online
This event is part of Imperial Lates Online: Back to Nature. Tune in to explore cutting-edge science and engineering in our week-long digital celebration of science from 27 July to 2 August.
Imperial Lates Online are most suitable for over 18s.
