The Common Press Poetry Night + Open Mic is quickly becoming a popular event for writers and poets to showcase their work and launch poetry collections. Join us on 22nd July from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM for an evening of poetry & OPEN MIC, hosted by Prince. The night will feature readings from Ariel Collier, Chloe Filani, Princess Peace and Eljae
If you’d like to read at the poetry night, arrive at 7:00 PM to sign up. There will also be opportunities to sign up on the night and hop on stage. Please note that while we will do our best to accommodate as many readers as possible, we cannot guarantee that everyone on the list will have the chance to perform.
Schedule
7:00 pm - Doors open
7:15 pm - Poetry readings
8:00 pm - Break
8:15 pm - 9:00 pm - Open mic slots
9:00 pm - 9:30 pm - Social and mingle
Featuring
Ariel Collier (she/they/we/our) is an accomplished international conceptual artist, writer, researcher and curator currently based in London.
Collier’s work challenges alienation and estrangement, using multiple mediums (such as tufting, poetry and photography) and socially engaged practices to shift global understandings of black queer culture towards our inner worlds, reflections and interconnections.
Collier is the founder of Home Studio, a nomadic space dedicated to the promotion, empowerment and development of queer and trans global majority artists by hosting workshops, CRITS, making sessions and exhibitions.
Chloe AyoDeji Filani is an artist of Poetry, Performance, Black Feminism, Public Speaker and workshop facilitator.
Her artistic practice/poetry works with her lived experience of being a black trans woman and the broader themes of identity of power structures and finding hope in the imagination and storytelling.
As well as an exploration of the metaphysical and oral histories of Oriki poems, She’s performed poetry at Prim Black and Burberry, Blackgirl picnic, Writerz Scribez, Home gallery, Touching Bass, 180 soho House and much more.
Princess Peace is a poet, storyteller, radical filmmaker and an organiser with ATINUDA (@atinuda.eco), a creative ecosystem whose work is rooted in anti-oppression frameworks, sees imagination as a radical tool - where our shared stories become experiments towards collective liberation.
She has been a spoken word poet for over 12 years, and has performed commissioned pieces at the Lyric Hammersmith, Black Cultural Archives, The Huntley Archives, The Roundhouse and more.
She is a published writer whose words have been featured in a number of anthologies including: Yomi Adegoke's Loud Black Girls anthology, published by 4th Estate Books; Rhodes Must Fall: The Struggle to Decolonise the Racist Heart of Empire, Thiiird Magazine, and Teen Vogue.
Eljae is a poet, cultural curator, and community organiser, in search of the perfect hot chocolate.
With an expansive creative practice, she has recently been the contributing poet for Senegal for Sudan's #DrawAlong. Eljae was also poetry cohort lead and co-curator for Moving Forward Sudan's 2024/5 fundraiser exhibition: Roots and Realities.
She is currently working on her first poetry pamphlet; meanwhile, her poems can be read on Sapelo Square, in adda magazine, and The Colour of Madness amongst others.