Derby Poetry Festival X Bad Betty Live
About this Event
DPF X BAD BETTY LIVE – National Poetry Day Special
Derby Poetry Festival returns to The Old Bell Hotel for our third National Poetry Day Special in collaboration with the mighty Bad Betty Press.
Featuring performances from Hannah Silva, Keith Jarrett, Perla Kantarjian, Maria Ferguson and you on the open mic (places are limited booking is suggested).
VENUE
The Old Bell Hotel, 51 Sadler Gate, Derby DE1 3NQ
Doors 7pm, Start, 7.30pm
£5 / £8 / £10
ABOUT THE ACTS
Hannah Silva is a writer and performer working in sound poetry, radio and experimental non-fiction. Their eighth BBC radio play, An Artificially Intelligent Guide to Love was the starting point for My Child, the Algorithm – a memoir exploring love and queer single parenting, woven into surreal and funny contributions by an early, open-source large language model, and a toddler.
Silva won the Tinniswood Award for radio drama and has been shortlisted for the Ted Hughes award and the Orwell Prize for reporting Homelessness.
Silva’s first collection, Forms of Protest (Penned in the margins) was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes. Talk in a bit, Silva’s record of sound poetry in collaboration with award-winning musicians is available on Spotify or on vinyl through bandcamp. Crow, Pirate, Fly (Bad Betty Press) is their second poetry collection.
Photo credit – Romany Francesca
Perla Kantarjian is a Lebanese-Armenian writer with recent work in Mizna, Electric Literature, Wasafiri, The Rumpus, and Black Warrior Review. Longlisted for the National Poetry Competition and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, Kantarjian is Pushcart Prize nominated and has garnered recognition from the Southbank Centre, The Poetry Society, Palette Poetry, and more. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she was selected as Sonny Mehta Scholar. You Must Become Field is her debut poetry collection.
Keith Jarrett is an international slam champion and was selected for the International Literary Showcase as an outstanding LGBT writer. His poem, ‘From the Logbook’ was projected onto St Paul’s Cathedral. His play, Safest Spot in Town, was performed at the Old Vic and aired on BBC Four.
His work has been widely anthologised across poetry, fiction and essay forms. He has appeared in Benjamin Zephaniah’s BAFTA-winning show Life and Rhymes and in documentaries on Black and queer history.
Keith is a Lambda Literary and an Obsidian Fellow, and holds a PhD from Birkbeck University, where he was awarded the Bloomsbury Studentship. He currently teaches at NYULondon. His collection, Hide Me Under the Blood and I Shall Be Satisfied is a PBS Spring recommendation.
Photo credit – Adrian Pope
Maria Ferguson is a writer and performer. Her poetry has been widely anthologised and published in literary magazines such as Magma, The Rialto, The North and The Poetry Review. She was a finalist of the Montreal International Poetry Prize 2024 and her debut collection, Alright, Girl? (Burning Eye, 2020), was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes. On the stage, her one-woman show Fat Girls Don’t Dance (Oberon, 2017) won the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show; Essex Girl (Oberon, 2019) was shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award and won Show of the Week at VAULT Festival. She has been commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts, Stylist magazine, The Bronte Parsonage and BBC Radio. Her work has been featured in The Guardian and on Radio 4’s The Verb and Woman’s Hour. She is the Associate Producer of LIVEwire Poetry and teaches creative writing in a variety of settings. Her second poetry collection, Swell was published in 2025 by Penguin Random House.
Ticket Options:
At Derby Poetry Festival, we aim to make our events and workshops as accessible as possible, so everyone can take part. Which is why we have 3 ticket options available.
'Event Ticket - Supported' is a discounted rate ticket for those on a lower income to still be able to access the event. Our standard ticket is the normal rate of the event, and goes towards paying our artists, accessibility coordinators and associated fees with holding the festival.
Our Pay It Forward ticket option is for those who wish to contribute towards the supported tickets, as well as attending the event. This helps us provide more supported tickets and host bigger and better events that everyone can access. Each ticket option allows you the same access to the event.
About Derby Poetry Festival
Often referred to as DPF, Derby Poetry Festival is a four-day poetry and literature festival held in the centre of Derby in the autumn. We are dedicated to developing new writing talent in Derby and bringing excellent work to the city.
Previous headliners include Terrance Hayes, Raymond Antrobus, Rachel Long, Linton Quasi Johnson, recent T S Elliott winner Joelle Taylor and Shivanee Ramlochan.
We host a range of performances, workshops, slams and panel discussions for all ages in partnership with many venues in the city including Quad, Derby Museums, Derby Theatre and Derby Libraries.
Bad Betty Press
Bad Betty is an award-winning independent publisher of new poetry, and curator of live literature events taking place across the UK.
London-born, Nottingham-based, Bad Betty Press was set up in 2017 by Amy Acre and Jake Wild Hall with the aim of showcasing exciting and risk-taking poetry, supporting poets’ artistic development and celebrating stories less often told.
We believe strongly in art’s capacity to challenge its own definition, to curve away from the norm, making space for more and varied voices. When an author joins our list, we engage creatively, ambitiously and supportively with their work: including close collaboration on editing and design, and a commitment to helping books find their readers through live and online performance.
Bad Betty won the Michael Marks Publisher’s Award in 2022, and was a regional finalist for the British Book Awards Small Press of the Year in 2023 and 2024. Our books include a Michael Marks Pamphlet Award winner, a Telegraph Poetry Book of the Month, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and five Pamphlet Choice selections, Laurel and Polari First Book Prize longlistees, and a BAMB Readers’ Award shortlistee. We’re grateful for the support of Arts Council England.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 6.13 to GBP 11.55
