Hammer & Tongue Poetry Slam

An evening of exhilarating spoken word at Brighton's longest-running poetry slam. Featuring Naomi Wood, Amy Baker and last time's slam winner, Gray Taylor, and hosted by the hilarious Leanne Shorley in the glorious Tusk Club @ The Walrus.

Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm.

HOW TO SLAM: ‘Performer Tickets’ are now SOLD OUT for 2nd September. If you’d like to come along as an audience member and be on the slam reserve list, please let us know at the door on the night - often, a couple of slammers can’t make it, so it’s definitely worth a go! If you are performing in the slam, please prepare an original poem of 3 minutes or less (no music, no props). Any style, any theme, anything you want! It doesn’t have to be memorised and you’re more than welcome to read from paper/your phone.

NAOMI WOOD is a spoken word performer and theatre maker, celebrating rebellion and revelling in rage whilst maintaining a healthy preoccupation with the eroticism of bird feeders. Her solo spoken word show 'Gobbess' - which is touring the UK and internationally, has been to Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury Festival and Oslo. It has been described as 'Laugh-out-loud funny...pure magic...unmissable'. (Discover Brighton) and 'An act of creative mastery' (UCLAN). Naomi has been published by Backlash Press and Ink, Sweat and Tears and was recently shortlisted for The Bournemouth Writing Prize.

AMY BAKER is a Brighton-based poet, author and illustrator. She is the author of Miss Adventures - a travel memoir based in South America in which she tests out the kinds of unwanted advice women are bombarded with when they decide to travel solo. Amy's poetry has been featured on BBC radio, she was a semi-finalist in The Lovely Word Poetry Slam 2024 and has performed at poetry nights across the UK. This September, Amy is launching her debut illustrated poetry collection, Love Machine, in which she dives into the pursuit of true love, with others and with herself. Via disappointing dates, dated dynamics, shoddy situationships and important arguments about bread, Amy unpicks her Love Machine programming and explores everything she's been taught to expect in a world designed by, and for, men.

GRAY TAYLOR is a Brighton based poet originally from Derby, who has a musical background in hip hop, grime and RnB. He discovered poetry after attending an event at Brighton Dome called “Status Flo” hosted by AFLO.the poet. Gray describes his poetry style as “Conversational, punchline, storytelling” with focus on poems being thought provoking, relatable, fun and easy on the ear.

Please be aware the performance space is in a basement which is only accessible via a flight of stairs. There is space to store wheelchairs / a mobility scooter on the ground floor. Assistance dogs are welcome.