Poetry & Words Tent

Poetry & Words, up in the heart of the Green Fields (at Green Futures), welcomes performance poets from all over the UK. From 10am to 6pm every day you will find the marquee buzzing with spoken word.

There is a wonderful array of poets this year and are honoured to welcome Shadow Poet Laureate Adrian Mitchell as our special guest! (Sunday) who tops the bill of five groups of poets: Duwara are Dreadlock Alien with his killer reggae/hiphop slam style along with Ebele, shortMAN, Serenah Cole and Phaze; The Three Minute Stanzas are Bristol’s Pete Hunter, Annie McGann, Bonnie Brooks, Nathan Filer and Helen Gregory. The Comeback Allstars feature Pat VT West and Dennis Gould - the original Riff Raff poets - a return visit from raunchy Rachel Pantechnicon, 2003 Slam winner Joel Stickley, Brendan the Pop Poet and Rob Gee.

Canadian Heather Taylor returns, bringing a group of Word Spinning Wonders and the Hotch Potch Poets are a bunch of Glasto virgins including footie poet Ian Horn, comic urban angst duo Thick Richard and Oxford slam queens Claire Faussett and Sophia Blackwell.

Check the programme at the tent for the schedule and note Women’s Time on Saturday & Poems for Our Planet on Sunday morning. When you’re out and about in Babylon and beyond, watch out for Will ‘Wishy Washy’ Hames and Sue the Queue ‘Starch, Spray and Sprinkle’ Hamblen, who will be pegging their poetry out on the line.

That should remind you to come on up the hill, chill and listen, or get your courage up and read out your own poem to the crowd during any Open Mic session. Or come to the Glastonbury Grand Slam on Sunday and help decide the winner by hooting and heckling in true slam tradition! So come and muse under a Poetree – Poetry&Words – it’s a place to be!

THICK RICHARD
They’re up for it and they’re thick— aka Manchester’s Matthew Duffy and Bob Moyler. Urban angst uplifted by snappy humour.
HEATHER TAYLOR
From Canada, Heather Taylor’s poetry is witty, gentle and generous with a sleek sensual edge that hides a wicked tongue. She brings with her a group of Word Spinning Wonder Women: T.L. Cowan: bitterly funny, brave, real, and sexy (Canada) Michelle Green: dishing up her social soul rants and rhymes (England/ Canada) Sarah Kobrinsky: possesses the fire of passion and the will to express affirmations of the human condition (Canada) Sheena Salmon: recalling hazy tales of festivals and haphazard activism (England)
EBELE
Come, worship with her at the temple of word – “... my religion, my salvation, my life...”
shortMAN
shortMAN, merges rhythms and rhymes in an eloquent examination of black history, justice and equality.
plus:
SERENAH COLE and PHAZE
ANNIE MCGANN
Her scathing wit and charm both delights and terrifies her audiences. “Academic poetry anorak...” – Her Husband.
The perfect poet for peanut crunchers everywhere, Annie is a working poet of both page and stage.
SUE HAMBLIN and WILL HAMES
It’s Wishy-Washy Will and Sue the Queue! Watch out, they’re coming at you!! It won’t be boring while you wait if you’re in earshot of their muse.

Latest Updates