Join The Poetry Society for an international Stanza bonanza, in which members of Lisbon Stanza, Germany Stanza and the Global Online Stanza will join forces online for an exciting night of readings.

Then, why not try your hand at delivering a poem of your own by signing up for one of our open mic spots? Slots are 3 minutes long. Email bmanning@poetrysociety.org.uk with your ticket confirmation number (and your Stanza group if you are a member of one) to book your open mic slot. ***Open mic list now full, email for a spot on the waiting list***

Tickets are free for all Poetry Society members and Stanza group members (whether they are a member of the Society or not), but all are welcome to come along. The event will take place on Zoom, the Zoom link will be sent to you 24 hours in advance.

Stanzas are groups run voluntarily by Poetry Society members, and take a variety of forms. Some Stanzas meet to give feedback on each other’s poems in progress, some are poetry reading groups, some run impromptu open mic sessions. Joining an existing Stanza or setting up a new one are great ways to meet like-minded poetry lovers and to develop your own poetry communities.

Readers:

 Jill Barker lives in England and France, with occasional forays back to her home country of Australia. Movement between these three ‘homes’ inspires an attention to nature in her work, as well as a focus on deracination and loss. An academic specialist in English Literature, she loves wordplay, words and the scenes they create. Her selected poems, ‘Light as Leaves’, will be forthcoming in 2025.

Poet, translator and creative-writing tutor Gwyneth Box is at home in Spain and in the UK. She loves the multi-layered aspects of language and thought revealed through translation and poetry. Inspired by the natural world and by daily life, her writing explores the blurred borders between writer & narrator; between translation & creation; between memoir & invention; and between poetry & prayer. Find out more about her projects on her website: gwynethbox.com

Julie Sheridan is a Scottish poet based in Barcelona. Her work has been published in journals including Poetry Ireland Review, Mslexia, The Dark Horse, Dream Catcher, Ink Sweat & Tears, The Ekphrastic Review, The Madrid Review and Anthropocene. Poems have also featured in the anthologies Coal and Unbridled. She won the inaugural Plaza Audio Poetry Prize in 2023 and the Plaza Poetry Prize (40 lines) in 2024, and was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in both years. Most recently, she was longlisted for the 2024 National Poetry Competition. Her debut collection is due from Drunk Muse Press in summer 2025.

Olivia Dawson, originally from London, has lived in Portugal for many years, but returns to the UK whenever poetry calls. She has two pamphlets, Unfolded (2020) and Unbottled (2022) both published by Maytree Press. Her poems have been published in journals including Magma, Under the Radar, 14 Magazine, Eye Flash Poetry, Dreich and Alchemy Spoon and have also been published in various anthologies. She loves writing found poems and mixing languages in her poems. www.oliviadawsonpoet.com

Jean Page has been based in Portugal for nearly 30 years though travels back each year to her native Australia (Tasmania). Her poetry, published in Australia and locally,  is most often inspired by nature and travel.  She’s also a researcher in Lisbon where she helps edit an online creative journal (ROAM), and has published academic articles on Australian poetry and literature including the question of ‘home.’

Lesia Daria grew up in a Ukrainian family in the US, moving to Europe in her 20s. Recently, after two decades in the UK, she part-decamped to Portugal, her new poetry home, still also spending time in France. Her poetry addresses displacement, love/loss, injustice and politics, but often with humour, and draws on her diverse experiences and languages. Her poems have been published in the Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics and Art. www.lesiadaria.com

Lucy Heuschen, the Stanza Rep for Germany, moved to the Rheinland from London in 2018. Lucy’s poetry has appeared in numerous journals including Dream Catcher, Skylight 47, The Storms, New Contexts and Lighthouse, and in several anthologies. After publishing two chapbooks, 2025 saw the publication of Lucy’s first full collection, Daughter of Fire (Yaffle Press), reconsidering the life and legacy of Margaret of Anjou, Shakespeare’s “She-Wolf of France”. A nominee for the Pushcart Prize and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, Lucy was commended in the Poetry Society’s Stanza Competition 2024.

Karin Molde, a member of the Germany Stanza since its inception, feels at home in Germany and Ireland. She loves rugged coastlines and rocky landscapes, and exploring – also in her poetry – the unexpected. Her mother tongue is German, her poetic voice is English. She lives in both languages. Karin has published in numerous magazines, both print and online, like Skylight 47, Honest Ulsterman, The Wild Word, Live Encounters, Drawn to the Light Press, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Dreich, and in anthologies. Her chapbook “Self-Portrait with Sheep Skull” came out with Moonstone Press, 2023.

Sara Stegen is a Dutch poet and non-fiction author and member of the Germany Stanza. She has been published in Spelt, Ranchlands Review, IWWG, The Broken Spine, and The Brussels Review. Home is a boulder-clay ridge in the northern Netherlands where her bike shed contains eight bicycles. Sara works for Research Centre Art&Society at Hanze in the Netherlands.

This event will take place on Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed to you 24 hours in advance of the event.