Fire & Dust is a monthly poetry open mic event. It's usually at The Big Comfy Bookshop in Coventry city, but we've gone virtual during the UK lockdown.

All welcome - poets, performance poets, slammers, MCs and anyone happy to listen to some poetry. Bring poems, bring partners/housemates/pets, or just bring yourself along to listen and enjoy.

Thursday 7th January. "Doors open" 7:15PM - come in and get settled. Gig starts at 7:30PM (GMT).

OPEN MIC

There are available open mic slots for poets throughout the night (3-5 minutes, depending on numbers). Everyone has an equal chance - performers will be selected by lucky-dip draw before the gig/during the interval. If you'd like to enter your name for open mic selection, please email the organiser ahead of the event.

ZOOM

Eventbrite will email the Zoom link to you ahead of the gig.

The gig will take place via Zoom (a web-based video calling platform). In order to access this gig, you will need an internet connection and a computer or device with a built-in microphone/speaker, and ideally a built-in camera or webcam.

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HEADLINE POET: ROMALYN ANTE

Romalyn Ante (b. 1989) is a West Midlands-based poet (AND a full-time specialist nurse practitioner) who grew up in the Philippines, migrating to the UK when she was 16 years old. She is co-founding editor of harana poetry and also a poetry editor at Ambit magazine. Her pamphlet 'Rice & Rain' (V Press) received the 2018 Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet, and her debut collection is Antiemetic for Homesickness (Chatto & Windus, 2019).

Romalyn is a Poetry Ambassadors 2021 mentor. She was appointed Poet-in-Residence at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust / Hosking Houses Trust in 2019. She is the first East-Asian to win the Poetry London Prize (2018, judged by Kwame Dawes)and also the first East-Asian to win the Manchester Poetry Prize (2017).

She has been featured in and commissioned by several organisations such as Southbank Center, Book Week Scotland, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue UK, Birmingham Literature Festival, and Verve Poetry Festival, and ran a number of poetry workshops including those for The Poetry School, Royal College of Nursing, UniSlam, and Writing West Midlands.

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The event is FREE. Our 'Buy Me a Coffee' link, to pay towards the headliner's fee, is here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FireNDustPoetry

Donations are completely optional, but will be much appreciated from those who can afford it. It helps us keep the event going month after month!