The Common Press Poetry Nights is quickly becoming a popular night for writers and poets to showcase their work but also to launch poetry collections. We are thrilled to feature State of Play: Poets of East & Southeast Asian Heritage in Conversation 24th January from 6:30pm -9:30 pm. Joining us for the event are some incredible poets from the collection, including Jinhao Xie, Tim Tim Cheng, Nina Mingya Powles and Theresa Muñoz.
We invite all our poetry lovers to attend to listen to talented and powerful queer voices. The evening will be hosted by Livia Kojo Alour - an award-winning poet and writer. As well as hearing from our old favourites we'd love to hear from some new faces too - if you would like to read at the poetry night, drop arrive at 6:30 pm to sign up. There will also be spaces on the night to sign up and hop on stage. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that everyone on the list will get the opportunity to read, but we would like to fit in as many people as possible.
🍷 Please note this invite is BYOB, you are welcome to bring your drinks to enjoy the night. There will be lots of soft drinks and hot drinks available to purchase from our bookshop.
Schedule
6:30 pm - Doors open
7:00 pm - State of Play discussion and readings
7:45 pm - Break
8:00 pm - 9:00 - Open mic slots
9:00 - 9:30 pm - Mingle and socialise until close
About State of Play
State of Play brings together conversations between an international line-up of poets, taking place over a year. Edited by Eddie Tay, a Singapore-born, Hong Kong-based poet and literature professor, and Jennifer Wong, a Hong Kong-born, British-based poet. This beautiful collection is published by Outspoken Press.
Speak Guest: Tim Tim Cheng
Tim Tim Cheng is a poet from Hong Kong, currently based between Edinburgh and London. She is the author of Tapping At Glass (VERVE, 2023) and The Tattoo Collector (Nine Arches Press, 2024). With Arts Council England's support, she is developing a poetry film. She also edits, translates, and writes lyrics. timtimcheng.com
Special Guest: Jinhao Xie
Jinhao is a lover. They are curious of the quiet and unheard; believe that poems can carry the non-weight of hearts. is a Barbican Young Poet and an alumnus of Southbank Centre New Poets Collective 2021-2022. They are currently making their first pamphlet. Their work appeared in POETRY, Poetry Review, Harana, Bath Magg, Gutter Magazine and fourteen poems and various anthologies. You can find them @xie.jin.hao on Instagram
Special Guest: Nina Mingya Powles
Nina Mingya Powles is a poet and writer from Aotearoa New Zealand, currently based in London. Her debut poetry collection, Magnolia 木蘭, was published in the UK, New Zealand and US. She is also the author of several poetry pamphlets and zines. She is a pamphlet selector for the Poetry Book Society, and is on the editorial committee of Starling magazine. She has taught poetry and zinemaking workshops for a range of community organisations, schools and literary festivals including the Poetry School, Writers Practice NZ and the Museum of the Home. Her essay collection Small Bodies of Water was published in 2021, and has also written a food memoir, Tiny Moons (2020).
Special Guest: Theresa Muñoz
Theresa Muñoz was born in Vancouver, Canada and lives in Edinburgh. She is Director of the Newcastle Poetry Festival and Research Associate in Contemporary Poetry at Newcastle University. She has also managed several literary initiatives through the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts, including the James Berry Poetry Prize, the first prize in the UK to offer mentoring and debut publication to emerging writers of colour. In 2022 she was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Sky Arts Prize for her creative non-fiction and in 2023 she was commended in the Kavya Prize. She has published one collection of poetry, Settle, which was shortlisted for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared on BBC Radio Scotland and in several international journals including Arc magazine, Canadian Literature, Poetry Review, Southward, The Scores and elsewhere. She has won the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, Muriel Spark Centenary Award and a Creative Scotland Award. Her second collection will be published in 2025.
Special Guest: Khairani Barokka
Khairani Barokka is a poet, writer, translator, editor, and artist from Jakarta. In 2023, Okka was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. Okka’s work has been presented widely internationally, and centres disability justice as anticolonial praxis, and access as translation. Among her honours, she has been a UNFPA Indonesian Young Leader Driving Social Change, a Delfina Foundation Associate Artist, an Artforum Must-See, and Associate Artist at the UK’s National Centre for Writing. Okka’s books include Indigenous Species (Tilted Axis), Rope (Nine Arches), and Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back (as co-editor; Nine Arches). Her latest books are Ultimatum Orangutan (Nine Arches), shortlisted for the 2022 Barbellion Prize, and 2024's amuk (Nine Arches).
Image description: Black and white photo of an Indonesian woman with black hair tied back and lipstick, wearing a black and white daster. She is smiling to the camera against a white background.
Host: Livia Kojo Alour
Livia Kojo Alour is an award-winning Nigerian–German–born poet, musician, and theatremaker based in London. Her solo show Black Sheep rose to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022. The show was awarded the Birds of Paradise Award for Exceptional Theatre. Livia is the author of Rising of the Black Sheep, a daring memoir-style poetry collection published by Polari Press London. She also has a 10-year touring career as a sword swallower under her belt. During this time she won several awards with different companies and performed a residency in Las Vegas. Her minimalist art piece the Female Sword Swallower’s Moon Calendar has been touring museums in Europe since 2019. In 2017 Livia held an inspirational TEDx talk about her life-threatening sword accident and overcoming fear. As a musician, she combines vocals and spoken word in a unique way to address cultural issues and speak about personal experiences. Livia’s show Black Sheep is scheduled for a second U.K. tour in autumn 2023 followed by a concert Europe tour as the supporting artist to Anne Clark.
Please note that the bar area is fully accessible, and includes disabled toilets.