BBC Contains Strong Language 2021 is a partnership between the BBC, Coventry City of Culture Trust, Writing West Midlands and Nine Arches Press, and is supported by Arts Council England, the British Council, Creative Lives and Jerwood Arts.
With local Writers, Poets and Theatre makers
The BBC’s poetry and spoken word festival Contains Strong Language will be coming to Coventry in September 2021 for the biggest celebration of poetry ever seen in the region.
The four-day festival will be taking place in venues across the city, celebrating spoken word in all its poetic forms and revealing the best existing and emerging talent from Coventry and the Midlands.
Among the many performances and events on offer, BBC Radio Club will be giving primary and secondary pupils from Coventry the chance to write and take over the airwaves, while there will also be poetry workshops held in schools across the city.
In Radio 3’s celebration of the spoken word, The Verb, poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan will be waxing lyrical on the verse that has made the Midlands and the new talent emerging from its streets right now. Meanwhile, BBC Radio 4’s Front Row will showcase Coventry’s vibrant poetry and spoken word scene, putting the city’s writers in the spotlight on the international stage.
Seeking out the best new spoken word talent in the UK will see BBC 1Xtra, BBC Asian Network and Contains Strong Language working together again in 2021.
BBC Arts and BBC Audio are partnering with the regional literature development agency Writing West Midlands, poetry publisher Nine Arches Press and Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 with Jerwood Arts supporting a programme of commissions and career development support for emerging and early career poets from the West Midlands.
The festival will take place in venues around the city from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 September 2021.
Tickets for Contains Strong Language are on sale now.
Please note: the BBC are working under tight regulations, and so they have to carry out additional checks at all BBC events. When showing your ticket for entry to the auditorium, they will also need you to provide one of the following:
A double COVID-19 vaccination received at least 2 weeks prior to attending the Events. Please provided evidence either through the NHS app (NHS covid pass) or vaccination card; OR
A negative COVID-19 Lateral flow test result (taken in the 48 hours prior to attending the Event) with certification shown via email or text; OR
proof of natural immunity based upon a positive PCR test taken 180 days prior to the event.
Lateral flow tests can be order from https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests or collected from your local pharmacy or test centre. They are free and you will be given a pack containing 7 tests. Once you have taken your test, please report the negative result on the NHS website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result. You will receive either a text or e-mail confirmation of your negative result which you will need to show when entering the event.
Join poet and audio producer Adrian Earle from Overhear and Charlotte Ridpath from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s Sherbourne Valley Project, to discover the River Sherbourne at the historic Charterhouse park. Please bring either a mobile phone with voice recording capabilities, or a portable recorder of your own, plus your own pen and notebook.
Join a host of Coventry BBC Contains Strong Language poets - including Siana Bangura, John Bernard, Raef Boylan, Olga Dermott-Bond, Sujana Crawford, Aysar Ghassan and Andrea Mbarushimana, as they help us launch the festival programme and share a taster of what’s to come at the main festival weekend in September.
Join Green City poet-in-residence Liz Berry on a walking writing workshop at London Road Cemetery: Paxton’s Arboretum, one of the earliest garden cemeteries in the country, designed by Joseph Paxton and now a Grade I listed park and garden. Liz will provide prompts for your poetry as you explore this inspiring historic location. Please bring your own writing materials.
Nine Arches Press’ live poetry series and open mic returns to The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry with a very special line up of guest poets: acclaimed, bold and vital new voices in poetry, Romalyn Ante, Lewis Buxton and Cynthia Miller - all three previous selected poets on the Nine Arches Primers mentoring scheme. Limited open mic slots also available, please sign up on the door.
Come and be in the audience for a live recording of a BBC Radio 4 radio programme. Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise. Full line up released nearer the time.
Join poet and audio producer Adrian Earle from Overhear and Charlotte Ridpath from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s Sherbourne Valley Project, to discover the River Sherbourne at the historic Charterhouse park. Please bring either a mobile phone with voice recording capabilities, or a portable recorder of your own, plus your own pen and notebook.
Broadcasting live from the Contains Strong Language festival - engaging news, sport and conversation. Including breaking news, big name interviews and experts on a variety of issues.
Front Row broadcasting live from the Contains Strong Language festival covering the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.
Join us for a momentous evening as we celebrate Coventry’s new Poet Laureate and Young Poet Laureate, in the company of former and present laureates: Roy McFarlane, former Birmingham Poet Laureate, Theresa Lola, former London Young People’s Laureate for London, and one other very special guest.
Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme from the Contains Strong Language festival.
Join us for a guided walk along Coventry's 'hidden' River Sherbourne as part of our new digital poetry trail, from FarGo Village to Pool Meadow, with Charlotte Ridpath from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and poet John Bernard. This specially commissioned project traces the route of the River Sherbourne in Coventry. Learn about the ecology and natural history of the river, and listen to the poems on the trail as you go. Please bring your own pen and notebook for writing activities.
Re:Versing the Sherbourne is a BBC Contains Strong Language project that traces the route of the ‘hidden’ River Sherbourne as it flows across Coventry, under pavements and through the heart of the city. Working with the Overhear geolocational audio poetry app and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s Sherbourne Valley Project, poets have created a digital trail of poems tracing the river’s route and rediscovering it afresh. Hear selected readings from the poets involved at this special event.
Be guided on a twilight poetry walk through London Road Cemetery by poets Liz Berry and Emilie Lauren Jones as they share their own poems inspired by these historic surroundings. London Road Cemetery: Paxton’s Arboretum is one of the earliest garden cemeteries in the country, designed by Joseph Paxton and now a Grade I listed park and garden.
In a community centre in Coventry, a rebellion is rising. With Mr. Sims determined to produce the perfect version of Ira Aldridge’s play The Black Doctor, music loving teenagers Alex and Ajay are preparing for an opening night upset.
A story of love, friendship and regeneration.
An exceptional evening of poetry performance with some of the UK's brightest young poets, who share a Guyanese heritage which has influenced their writing. Join Mercury Prize-nominated musician and poet Loyle Carner with two of Britain's best known and loved voices, Grace Nichols and John Agard.
Radio 3's cabaret of the word, featuring the best poetry, new writing and performance broadcasting live at the Contains Strong Language festival.
Join us as we invite the new Coventry Poet Laureate to share some favourite poems to start our day. With a library full of poetry books to choose from, this will be a chance to meet old favourites and discover new poems.
BBC Writersroom is always on the look-out for fresh talented writers across the UK and Republic of Ireland with an original voice, unique characters and great stories to tell.
Join Simon Nelson from BBC Writersroom who will provide you with information on how to submit your scripts, our variety of schemes as well as some top scriptwriting tips.
Visit the pop-up Poetry Pharmacy where Deborah Alma, the Poetry Pharmacist, invites you for a poetry consultation; to talk, be listened to, put your feet up on the chaise longue and have a hand-picked poem prescribed. It’s a wonderful, winning combination.
How does distance, isolation and the body manifest in both words and movement? This unique project, brings together poetry and contemporary dance in an innovative collaboration between Ascension Dance, lead by choreographer and director Ashley Jordan, and poet Ian Humphreys, in exploring these themes. Watch the film, then hear Ashley and Ian discuss their work together and how both poem and performance took shape.
The stories that matter, the people that matter, the music that matters at the Contains Strong Language festival.
Join us for BBC Radio Club, in partnership with Creative Lives, and hear poems written and performed by young Coventry Poets. Poet John Bernard has been working with schools across Coventry to produce poetry for BBC Local Radio. This is a chance to hear fresh talent share their work.
Join BBC Contains Strong Language poets live in the Poetry Lounge and enjoy a session of lively, inspiring and powerful spoken word performances from local, regional and national names.
To celebrate its 500th edition, BBC Radio 4’s Beyond Belief will be recording a special programme that explores the poetic language of religion and the power of poetry to transform the way we see the world.
One of presenter Ernie Rea’s guests is Canon Mark Oakley, author of The Splash of Words: Believing in Poetry. Mark says that poetry is “like throwing a pebble into water, a poem causes a ‘splash of words’ whose ripples can transform the way we see the world, ourselves and God.”
This edition of Beyond Belief will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Monday, 4th October 2021 at 16.30.
Since 2002, Beyond Belief has been exploring the place and nature of faith in today’s world.
When Ira Aldridge, an African-American actor, came to Coventry in 1828 to manage The Coventry Theatre, he left a legacy for the people of Coventry. Join a discussion with poets Roy McFarlane, Siana Bangura and young Coventry writers exploring Aldridge's impact on the city. Chaired by Chrissie Okorie, Maokwo.
Join Poets Roy MacFarlane and Siana Bangura for a workshop looking at how research, archives and history can influence and inspire your writing. Drawing on their experiences as part of the In the Footsteps of Ira Aldridge project, the poets will explore how personal stories, as well as public histories, can inform poetry and provide a way to explore the past. Please bring your own notebooks and pens.
BBC Contains Strong Language, BBC 1Xtra and BBC Asian Network present the Words First Talent Showcase celebrating the most talented poets and spoken word artists aged 18-30 from across the UK.
Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, brings our Saturday to a glorious finish with a reading of his poetry followed directly by a performance by Land Yacht Regatta (LYR), featuring Simon Armitage.
Radio 3's cabaret of the word, featuring the best poetry, new writing and performance live at the Contains Strong Language festival.
Through the summer of 2021, ten Coventry poets have been sending poetry postcards, specially-designed by local artists, to their poetry counterparts in some of Coventry's 27 twin cities across the world.
On World Rivers Day, join us for a guided morning walk along Coventry's 'hidden' River Sherbourne as part of our new digital poetry trail, from the Belgrade Theatre to Spon End, with Charlotte Ridpath from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and poet Sujana Crawford. This specially commissioned project traces the route of the River Sherbourne in Coventry. Learn about the ecology and natural history of the river, and listen to the poems on the trail as you go.
Discover how young writers, poets and spoken word artists from Coventry, Beirut, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe have been using their creative practice to explore their lives and the lives of their cities. Supported by Rusted Radishes in Beirut and B.A.C.E in Coventry, young creatives have come together through regular dialogue and creative labs to create a performance piece, Coventry x Beirut: Transnational Lag Express. At the same time, the British Council has supported DigiPoems - uniting Coventry poets with poets and digital /film artists in Southern Africa, forging connections, cross-continental creative conversations and a series of poetry films. Watch a short extract from their films, poems and performances, and join us for an in-conversation with the writers involved.
Twelve writers and artists from Coventry and Beirut explore personal and collective journeys in an amalgamation of poetry, dance, spoken word, live performance and video, as twelve strangers embark on a fictional train ride from Coventry to Beirut and back again.
A journey of discovery, weaving together a range of music with poetry and prose read by leading actors at the Contains Strong Language festival.
Broadcasting live from the BBC's Contains Strong Language festival in Coventry to celebrate the City of Culture 2021.
An evening of poetry readings from our Green City Poets; Liz Berry, George Ttoouli and Sujana Crawford, performing poems written during residencies at three green spaces in and around Coventry: London Road Cemetery, Sherbourne Valley Allotments and Brandon Marsh. During summer days at each site, the poets have been watching the seasons change and observing the wildlife, landscapes and visitors - and writing poems that respond to their experiences.
A special Contains Strong Language edition of the regular Fire & Dust open mic with guest poet Olga Dermott Bond. Fire & Dust is a monthly live poetry gig for Coventry writers and audiences. Twice shortlisted for Best Spoken Word Night at the Saboteur Awards, the event showcases guest headliners and open mic performances. All genres, levels of experience and people are welcome.
Adventures in underground and experimental music live from the Contains Strong Language festival.
The Poetry Toolkit brings together regional and national poets, performers, publishers and book industry professionals, literature agencies and writer development organisations. This is an opportunity to discuss, debate and celebrate poetry and publishing culture regionally and nationally, putting the Midlands firmly on the poetry map.
