We Review Nottingham Poetry Festival 2025

This June saw the return of the Nottingham Poetry Festival (NPF). Running from the 13th to the 23rd, it’s a chance for the city to engage with the poetry and writing it inspires. Ten years after being named a UNESCO City of Literature, we might ask: does Nottingham still live up to the title? Through open mics, workshops, and performances, the festival captures authentic expression of the city - its culture, its streets, and its people.

The festival begins on a Friday night for the launch party at the Fox and Grapes. Between the tables, the stage and the bar, a city’s worth of poets, writers, organisers - and the odd local - amasses. Beyond midnight and beyond this rustic bar, the poetic talent and appreciation of Nottingham will disperse. But for now we start with an open mic.

People sign up on the night to read aloud - some works are political, some personal, some are neither. A few are published poets, while others are sharing their work for the very first time, often reading from their phones. This is the festival’s baptism: for many it’s the beginning of public poetry, a party mixing the experienced and inexperienced, organisers and attendants, writers and readers. As they face the lone mic, the power of Nottingham's literary scene is made palpable.

This is a festival defined by its mixture of attendees: they’re of local, national and international status. Notable contributors include artists like R.J Hunter with their “Stupid Sexy Poem Show” and Cappo presenting their “CAPstone” installation at the Bonington Gallery. The weight of talent is always mirrored behind the scenes - the organisational team includes writer and performer Ben Macpherson, award-winning writer and activist Cara Thompson and Carolina Rodrigues, filmmaker and performer. The team flourishes as a unit. The NPF is not a festival with a strict agenda - it comes to life through the combination of its events.

Every day, poetry appears across Nottingham, shaped by its settings. A mindfulness and poetry workshop at Saint Mary’s Rest Garden, a tense Notts vs Derby Poetry Slam, and a Central Library workshop for queer writers who are just starting out - all reflect the festival’s broad reach. The festival also begins to blend poetry with other artistic influences - Poetry and Vinyl explores the art of lyric writing; Ink and Insights expresses poetry through meditation, Buddhist practices and journaling. Poets Off The Endz combines poetry and music about living and surviving. Rap artist Cappo breaks down the fundamental structure of a Hip-Hop album in real time. As the festival goes on it disperses, mirroring an art scene that’s constantly evolving and remaking itself.

The festival shouldn’t only be considered as a chance to write alongside others once a year. Nothing is wasted in the coming together of the city’s literary scene and its supporters - we take account of what we have become, what is being written and why. And who we have gained and who we have lost, as well; in 2025 the NPF marked the passing of Jai Verma.e Jai, a 75 year old writer, was the founder of Kavya Rang (Colours of Poetry) supporting multilingual poetry acting as the bridge between South Asia and the UK and Nottingham. Jai was a steadfast supporter of local poetry and helped Nottingham secure its City of Literature status. Her mark upon the city can still be felt as we remember her.

As the week winds down, the events begin to thin, and we wait for Sunday night. Much like its opening, the festival closes with a party-like open mic. This is when we can feel the arc of the week - hearing the poems that stayed with people, comparing the poetry of the last night with that of the first. The closing night reveals fresh work, new concerns, and new methods of expression.

Is there a way to summarise this festival? Is there a single way in which we will look back on NPF 2025 in the future? Of course the answer is no. Though it bristled with creativity, thoughtful organisation and a truthful celebration of the city's voice, its biggest achievement might not be felt for a while. This NPF will be remembered as the place where so many began to write. About love, oppression, nature, death and life, politics, meaning -, the mundane and the inescapable. When we remember the festival with fondness, we will remember it as the place that helped us begin expressing it all. 

(Jai Verma’s obituary can still be found on the Guardian Website)

You can find out more about the festival on the NPF website.