Sussex Poetry Festival 2016

Leading lights in the world’s radical poetry scene are set to gather on 24 and 25 June in Brighton for the Sussex Poetry Festival.

The avant-garde festival, which is organised by literary scholars and poets from the University of Sussex, attracts underground poets from around the UK and overseas to perform, celebrate, and debate their work.

Keston Sutherland, a celebrated poet from the scene and professor at the University of Sussex said:

“Sussex Poetry Festival sees the most boisterous, ungoverned energies of the radical underground scene gather for a weekend of poetry at its most unruly, its most uncompromising.”

Brighton is seen as a hub for underground poetry, with multiple radical scenes established across the city.  The Sussex Poetry Festival is described by some as the antithesis to traditional, larger poetry festivals such as StAnza. It takes place in Brighton each summer in a packed-out pub to a small but clamorous crowd of rowdy radical poetry fans.

Keston continued:

“If you’re an underground poet, Brighton is one of the most exciting places to be.  The University of Sussex has a strong record of turning out brilliant experimental poets. It’s a tradition that goes back to Andrew Crozier, who was here for around 30 years. Today we see some of the world’s most brilliant poets coming through the University. The line-up of this year’s festival will include not just the international lights of the radical poetry world but also some of the University’s brightest poetry students.“

The festival is organised by Natalia Cecire, Joe Luna, Samuel Solomon and Keston Sutherland from the University of Sussex.

The seventh annual festival takes place at the Hope and Ruin, 11-12 Queens Rd, Brighton BN1 3WA.

The line-up so far comprises: 

Mia You

Cathy Weedon

Lawrence Uziell

Jèssica Pujol Duran

Ben Hickman

Randolph Healy

Amy Evans

Theodoros Chiotis

Rosy Carrick

Anne Boyer

Tom Bamford

Follow the festival on Twitter @SussexPoFest and online at https://sussexpofest.wordpress.com.  

The festival is funded by the School of English at the University of Sussex.