Soho Poly Poetry: Caroline Bird, Will Harris, Joelle Taylor

Join us at the Soho Poly for an electrifying night of poetry. In the third event of the 25/26 series, we're excited to welcome Caroline Bird, Will Harris and Joelle Taylor.

Caroline Bird is an English poet and playwright, born in 1986 and raised in Leeds. She has had eight volumes of poetry published by Carcanet: Looking Through Letterboxes (2002); Trouble Came to the Turnip (2006); Watering Can (2009); The Hat-Stand Union (2013); In These Days of Prohibition (2017), which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Ted Hughes Award, The Air Year (2020), which won the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2020 and was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the Polari Prize, her Selected Poems ‘Rookie,’ (2022,) and ‘Ambush at Still Lake’ (2024.) She won a Cholmondeley Award in 2023, for sustained excellence across a body of work. She was named one of the five official poets at the London Olympics 2012. Caroline was the youngest ever member of the Royal Court Young Writer's Programme, tutored by Simon Stephens. Her plays include: The Last Stand of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse (Nottingham Playhouse, 2025); Red Ellen (Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse & Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, 2022); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Northern Stage, 2015); Chamber Piece (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, as part of the Secret Theatre season, 2013); and The Trojan Women (Gate Theatre, 2012).

Will Harris is the author of RENDANG (2020) and Brother Poem (2023), both published by Granta in the UK and Wesleyan in the US. He has won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Siblings (a conversation with Jay Bernard, Mary Jean Chan, and Nisha Rammaya) was published by Monitor Books in 2024. He is currently writing about the care sector.

Joelle Taylor is the author of 4 collections of poetry and one novel. Her last collection C+NTO & Othered Poems won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize for LGBT authors. C+NTO is currently being adapted both for theatre, and into a television screenplay, and was featured on Radio Three documentary Butch. She is a co- curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre and tours her work nationally and internationally in a diverse range of venues, from Australia to Brazil. She is a Poetry Fellow of the University of East Anglia and the curator of the Koestler Awards 2023 and has judged several poetry and literary prizes including the Jerwood Fellowship, the Forward Prize, and the Ondaatje Prize. Her novel The Night Alphabet was published in Spring of 2024 and was named both a Spectator and Guardian Book of the Year. Her most recent radio programme A Young Girl’s Guide to Horror was broadcast at the end of last year on BBC Radio Four. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and the 2022 Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year. She was recently honoured with a DIVA Award for Excellence and named as number 15 in the Independent’s 2024 Pride Power list. Her latest collection Maryville, published by Bloomsbury, has just been published.

Books and pamphlets will be available to purchase on the night.

Drinks and refreshments will also be available.

Please note that free student and lower income tickets are available and we aim to make each night affordable and accessible to all. Please contact Hannah Copley on social media or on [email protected] to join the guestlist.

About the series

Soho Poly Poetry is a monthly event series held in the heart of London. Now in its second year, and drawing on the Soho Poly's history of radical and disruptive theatre and music, the events bring together poets and performers for collaborative, innovative and genre-bending work, as well as celebrating new and up-and-coming voices alongside more established writers. Curated and hosted by Hannah Copley.

About the Soho Poly

Recently restored after lying vacant for over 30 years, the Soho Poly is an inclusive community hub for creativity, culture and wellbeing. It offers community engagement and diverse programming and provides a contemporary performance and education venue for the London arts community. Creative directors: Matt Morrison and Guy Osborn.

Soho Poly Poetry is supported and made possible by Peter Bonfield, Vice Chancellor of the University of Westminster.

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