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Doors 6.30pm | Show starts at 7:00pm16+ accompanied. Wheelchair accessible. (For further access enquiries please contact [email protected])
Raise the Bar is the South West's leading live poetry night, running blockbuster spoken word events in Bristol and beyond since 2014.
After a huge open mic to start the year, we're back in March for another one. This time headlined by poet ARJI MANUELPILLAI. Arji will be performing work from Improvised Explosive Device - a startlingly innovative exploration of extremism, hate crime and violence.
The open mic is now FULL. Please email [email protected] to be added to the reserve list.
Our open mics are an opportunity to try out new material in a safe, warm environment hosted by Raise the Bar's compere extraordinaire Saili Katebe. Welcome to poets, rappers, storytellers, lyricists, songwriters, and wordsmiths of all styles and levels of experience, whether it's your first time or your 100th. If you'd just like to sit back and enjoy our local talent and a fantastic headliner, this is also the evening for you.
‘From top to bottom, one of my all time favourite shows’ – Shane Koyczan
'One of the best poetry nights in the country' – Rafeef Ziadah
'Out-loud reactions are encouraged…shaking off traditional theatre etiquette' – Bristol 24/7
ABOUT ARJI MANUELPILLAI
Arji Manuelpillai is a poet, performer and creative facilitator based in London. Recently, he was the Jerwood Arvon Mentee mentored by Hannah Lowe. His poetry has been published in magazines including Cannon’s Mouth, Strix, The Rialto and Bath Magg. He has also been shortlisted for The Robert Graves Prize, The Oxford Prize, The Live Canon Prize, The National Poetry Prize and The Winchester Prize. Arji’s debut pamphlet ‘Mutton Rolls' was published with Out-Spoken Press in 2020 and his new book ‘Improvised Explosive Device’ is out with Penned in the Margins.
IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Improvised Explosive Device is a startlingly innovative exploration of extremism, hate crime and violence by poet Arji Manuelpillai. In this powerful and unsettling first collection, Manuelpillai presents an uncompromising focus on violence. The poems in Improvised Explosive Device emerged through research and interviews with academics, sociologists, and former members of extremist groups and their families – from the English Defence League and the National Front to ISIS and the Tamil Tigers. These complex, unnerving texts ask a series of important questions. What drives a person to commit a radical act of violence? How is that violence mediated through screens and social media? And how does the British government police marginalised groups? Improvised Explosive Device is a brave, surprising and risk-taking book; it will change the way you look at the world.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Station Bristol, Silver Street,Bristol, United Kingdom
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