ZAIN RISHI: NOON

Celebrate the emergence of a stunning new voice in contemporary poetry as Birmingham-born writer & poet ZAIN RISHI heads to Voce to launch of NOON—his luminous debut pamphlet of faith & family.

Zain will be joined at this event by four guest poets including YOUSEF ALAWI, DEVJANI BODEPUDI, LUKE KENNARD & VIGNESH VENKATARAMAIAH.

The event will be hosted by writer & director of The Emma Press, JAMES TREVELYAN.

‘Full of rich imagery and formal intuition, Noon is a bright balm of a book...’ SÉAN HEWITT, author of TONGUES OF FIRE

ZAIN RISHI is a writer from Birmingham, UK. He graduated with a masters in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh in 2023 & has since worked in independent bookselling. He won the 27th annual Ware Poets Competition, placed third in the 2024 Oxford Poetry Prize & was highly commended in the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25. His poetry has featured in Magma, Wildness, Fourteen Poems, New Writing Scotland, Gutter, Propel & various anthologies. He is currently based in Edinburgh. ‘Noon’ is his debut poetry pamphlet.

YOUSEF ALAWI is a Yemeni writer. A Top 15 Foyle Young Poet of 2024, he has performed his writing at venues like The British Library, on BBC radio, & headlined for the VERVE Poetry Festival. His work can be found in Propel, Basket, and elsewhere.

DEVJANI BODEPUDI is a British Indian poet whose work has appeared in Renard Press, Spelt Poetry Magazine, & Wasifiri, amongst others. Her debut poetry pamphlet won a Saboteur Award in 2023 & she has appeared as a headline poet across different venues across the UK. Devjani is currently pursuing a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University, examining transformation & grief in Bengali folk tales and Indic Mythic traditions.

LUKE KENNARD is an award-winning poet & novelist from the United Kingdom. His collection ‘Cain’ was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize in 2016 & ‘Notes on the Sonnets’ won the Forward Prize for Best Poetry Collection in 2021. ‘The Transition’, his first novel, was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime & longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. ‘The Book of Jonah’, his seventh poetry collection, was published by Picador in 2025. He lives in the West Midlands where he teaches creative writing at the University of Birmingham.

VIGNESH VENKATARAMAIAH, known as Vigspoetry, is a Birmingham-based 24-year-old slam-winning spoken word poet, host, model, & workshop facilitator. He has won the Run Your Mouth & London Genesis Poetry Slams, & is the regional producer and host of Poets Palace Birmingham. A viral performer on Voices In Power with over 50,000 views, Vig has featured at major festivals, art exhibitions, and on BBC, Brum Radio and New Style Radio. Notable performances include Gunnersbury Park Museum, SofarSounds and We Out Here Festival. His work is published in Punch Records’ ‘Enter West’ anthology and displayed in The Zephaniah Forest. Vig is a recipient of the ArtFlicks Film Commission, part of the Creative Futures Programme at the Birmingham Rep and Apples and Snakes ‘Words A Stage’ 2025. He was also a part of the ‘Reshaping Governance’ Programme at New Arts Exchange.

This is one of our VERSE events where you’ll hear from voices at the very forefront of the contemporary poetry scene, sharing new words & new work at the mic.

TICKETS: £4 standard entry / £7.99 book & entry

Please book your ticket here on our Eventbrite page*

*Please note we will be unable to offer refunds on tickets when requested within 7 days of an event date.

VOCE BOOKS is located at 54-57 Allison Street, Digbeth with step-free access via BRIG Café. For further enquiries about the event, or to discuss any other access requirements please email [email protected]

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