Virtual Verbose
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Following a short summer break after successful forays into the online live lit world in May, June and July, Manchester regular Verbose is back on the internet for a fourth time, touting “a trio of exciting young poets” taking on headline duties, plus the usual packed bill of open micers.
First on the featured performer line-up is Amy King, a queer, northern spoken word poet currently based in Manchester. She is a co-founder of the Sheffield open mic night All Mic Long, a Great Northern and Say Owt slam winner, and she has supported poets such as Jackie Hagan and World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker. Amy has featured on BBC Sounds and her poetry explores topics such as sexuality, feminism and her undying love for Kate Nash.
Verbose is back on the internet for a fourth time, touting “a trio of exciting young poets” taking on headline duties, plus the usual packed bill of open micers.
Also adding to the Manchester madding crowd, Reece Ayres, aka The Fragile Poet, has been enjoying the local poetry scene since moving up from Cambridge. Having been putting pen to paper for many years, he is actually fairly new to performance (hence the moniker, we assume), and this event will see him share a mixture of emotional verse and political poetry.
Last of the three, Antony Szmierek has two novels – Albatross Point and The Hypocrite – under his belt, along with a collection of short stories and poetry, Ultimate Denim Concert USA. He has performed at Didsbury Arts Festival, Switchblade Poetry and the BBC Upload Festival Comedy Tent, after his work was featured on BBC Radio Manchester. Antony’s most recent project has been setting his poetry to music, and his debut EP Some Worries I Had At The Party is avilable on Spotify.
Sign up to attend Virtual Verbose #4 via Eventbrite for free and you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the online event page, where you will find a Zoom meeting link – follow this on the night to join the event. If you fancy sharing your own poetry or prose via the open mic, details for how to sign up for a three-minute slot are available on the Eventbrite page – click the “Find Out More” button to find out more.
