One of Manchester’s longest running spoken word and new writing events is back at The King’s Arms, Salford on Monday 18th November !

Verbose brings a vibrant mix of spoken word and live literature from a talented bill of open mic acts and two wonderful headliners every month. Expect poetry, prose and everything in between on a night with a real community vibe that gladly welcomes all newcomers.

If you are interested in being part of the open mic, with a four minute slot to read or perform any type of writing, email verbosemanchester@gmail.com between 1st & 7th November.

Introducing our headliners!

Martin Figura´s collection and show Whistle were shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and won the 2013 Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show. Shed (Gatehouse Press) and Dr Zeeman´s Catastrophe Machine (Cinnamon Press) were both published in 2016. In 2021, he was Salisbury NHS Writer in Residence; the resulting pamphlet My Name is Mercy (Fair Acre Press) won a national NHS award. A second pamphlet from Fair Acre Press Sixteen Sonnets for Care came out in October 2022. His latest collection, The Remaining Men has just been published by Cinnamon Press.

Helen Ivory is a poet and visual artist who makes shadowboxes and collage. She was awarded a Cholmondeley Award by the Society of Authors in 2024. She edits the webzine Ink Sweat and Tears and teaches for the National Centre for Writing Academy. Her surrealist chapbook Maps of the Abandoned City was published by SurVision in 2019 and the poem The Square of the Clockmaker is riding the rails as one of the Poems on the Underground. She has work translated into Polish, Ukrainian, Croatian, Spanish and Greek as part of the Versopolis European poetry platform. Her Wunderkammer: New and Selected Poems appeared from MadHat in the US last year. Constructing a Witch (October 2024) , her sixth collection with Bloodaxe Books, is a PBS Winter Recommendation.

Photo credit – Dave Gutteridge