Curated and hosted by poet Kim Moore, our online contemporary poetry series is part poetry reading, part open mic – and the guest poet and open mic theme change every time! We will be listening to what poets have to say about our turbulent times, and how poetry can cross borders to challenge, delight and inspire us.

Our next event will feature writer, performer, broadcaster and poet Ian McMillan reading from his latest book Red River Valley (Carcanet, 2026). What happens when a poet looks you straight in the eye? Centuries before Ian McMillan began directly nudging his readers on the page, William Wordsworth was busy dismantling the ivory tower of poetry, arguing that a poet is simply a “man speaking to men”. This evening at ‘Go to the Poets’ we bridge the gap between the Romantic revolution and modern Barnsley brilliance.

Our open mic theme is to bring a poem that addresses the reader directly, or breaks the ‘fourth wall’.

Open mic slots are limited and must be booked in advance.  Each open mic poem should be no longer than two minutes. Email Kim Moore at wordsworthreadingseries@outlook.com for a slot. Slots do book up quickly, so don’t leave it to the last minute!

How to book and attend

When attendees book a ticket they will receive a confirmation email which includes the Zoom registration link for this event: please use this link to sign up.

This event is a Zoom webinar and the audience will not appear on screen. If you have bought a ticket and signed up to the open mic your audio and video will be enabled during the open mic.

Five free places are available for those experiencing financial hardship that would otherwise not be able to attend. You can select this option during online checkout. If you have booked a free place and find that you can’t attend, please let us know so that we can make this available to someone else.

Automatic live captions will be provided.