Out Spoken: March

Out-Spoken is the Southbank Centre’s resident poetry and live music night, bringing the hottest UK and international poets to perform alongside world-class musicians every month.
 
Each monthly gig is hosted by TS Eliot- and Polari Prize-winning poet Taylor, with Sam ‘Junior’ Bromfield spinning the best in reggae, soul and R&B throughout the evening.
 
This month’s edition features poetry from Desree, Jack Underwood and Karen McCarthy Woolf and music from Dizraeli and Gwenno Morgan.
 
Desree is an award-winning writer, spoken word artist, educator and producer from London and Slough. An alumna of Born::Free, Jerwood Arts and the Obsidian Foundation, she was Poet in Residence at Glastonbury 2022 and at EMPOWORD. Her work has featured on Sky Arts, BBC Radio Berkshire and in JOY//US: Poems of Queer Joy and Ink Sweat & Tears. Her debut poetry collection, Altar, is published by Bad Betty Press in spring 2025.
 
Rapper, producer, firestarter, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, raconteur … Dizraeli is a genre of his own, whose music contains a visionary mixture of hiphop, post-punk and jazz. A former resident of the legendary Total Refreshment Centre, Dizraeli’s new album Joy Machine was recorded there in a single day, bringing together some of the most exciting musicians on London’s jazz scene. The album has already made waves since its release last summer, including appearing on Bandcamp’s Album of the Day.
 
Gwenno Morgan is a pianist and composer from the enchanting realms of North Wales, now crafting her artistry in the bustling streets of London. With roots deeply entrenched in classical piano from the age of seven, she draws inspiration from folk melodies and cinematic atmospheres. Her compositions serve as emotional diaries, reflecting a spectrum of experiences from grief to wanderlust. Her debut album, gwyw, was co-produced by Arthur Brouns, and released in 2024.
Jack Underwood is a poet, writer and critic. He is the author of Happiness, Solo for Mascha Voice and A Year in the New Life. His debut work of non-fiction, NOT EVEN THIS, was published by Corsair in 2021. His work has been published internationally and in translation. He is co-presenter and curator of the Faber Poetry Podcast and is a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College.
 
Born in London to English and Jamaican parents, Karen McCarthy Woolf is a Fulbright Scholar, Complete Works Fellow and the winner of the Jerwood Prize for Poetry. Her experimental verse novel, Top Doll, was shortlisted for the 2024 TS Eliot Prize. Her poems have been translated into Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Croatian, selected for Poems on the Underground, made into poetry film, dance and music collaborations and dropped from a helicopter over the Houses of Parliament.
 
Presented in association with Out-Spoken