ON OUR RADAR
Halloween spoken-word special featuring Jo Eades and Samuel L. Cohen with a £100 cash prize poetry slam.
Leigh Curtis
Jo Eades is the winner of poetry slams at the Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival, Ledbury Poetry Festival and the Hip Yak Poetry Shack.
Her debut poetry pamphlet Flanked will be published by Burning Eye Books later this month.
Jo Eades
Samuel L. Cohen is a theatre-maker and poet. He has won several poetry slams and performed at festivals including WOMAD and Shambala.
He recently founded RIOT ACT, a regular Bristol open mic club night featuring poetry and comedy.
Samuel L. Cohen
The Spork! Halloween special poetry slam will also see six famous poets rise from the dead for one night, brought to life by contemporary artists.
They will battle it out for a chance to win everlasting life, plus a £100 cash prize.
Potential slam entrants are invited to apply by email to sporkpoetry@gmail.com.
Spork! Dead Poets Slam will be hosted by Chris White, a multiple slam-winning poet and theatre-maker. He performs regularly at poetry nights and festivals including Tongue Fu and WOMAD.
A former “Bard of Exeter” and “Riddler in Residence” at Exeter Cathedral, he founded Spork!, a community-led organisation that produces spoken word events and workshops, in 2018.
Spork! Dead Poets Slam is at 7pm on Friday 31 October 2025 at Exeter Phoenix.
Tickets cost between £5 and £14 and are available from the Exeter Phoenix website.
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