The first ever Newham Poetry Festival took place over the weekend of 24 and 25 September. Organised by the Newham Poetry group at its Poetry House in Stratford Park, the event played host to around 19 performers, offering the audience a mixture of music, song, poetry, and spoken word.

The line-up featured notable names such as slam poet David Lee Morgan and prize-winning poet Jenny Mitchell, alongside regular attendees of the poetry group’s sessions.

Tickets to the festival sold out in advance – evidence of the appetite among locals to come out and experience poetry performed live.

The debut edition set out to “amplify marginalised voices”, by “offering the majority of the slots to young locals, LGBTQ+ individuals, migrants and people from the global majority.”

For Calu Lema, one of the event’s organisers and facilitators, it was crucial for the festival to be an “intercultural and intergenerational” space, as this “reflects the ethos and values of Newham Poetry group – this is our audience.”

The organisers intend to make the festival an annual event, and hope its success will boost efforts in the future to secure support and funding, which up until now has often proved difficult. For Sonia Quintero, the group’s founder, the goal is also to show people another side of Newham.

“This borough is very creative, people are very talented,” she said. “We want to make space for these voices to be louder.”

She hopes next year’s event will be even more successful and reflective of Newham’s talent and diversity – bringing in more voices from young people, disabled communities, and the more than 200 languages that are spoken in the borough.

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