On Monday 4th March, Brighton Dome will be hosting a poetry night at the new Studio Theatre, which will spotlight female voices for International Women’s Week.
Led by acclaimed award-winning spoken word performer and Brighton Dome In-House Artist AFLO. the poet, the March poetry night also features award-winning published poet, writer and spoken word artist Akila Richards, and queer performance poet, writer and theatre maker Jenny Foulds.
AFLO. the poet is an award-winning Brighton-based spoken word artist, activist and academic, and the current Brighton Dome in-house artist.
AFLO embraces creative expression to disrupt the status quo and inspire social change. They use poetry as a vehicle to address topics like racism and mental health, primarily speaking from lived experiences. AFLO. also hosts and curates their own gigs with an ever-evolving Brighton-based collective of Black maginalised-gendered artists, ‘AFLO. and the Poets’. We first came across this exciting new talent at The Dome when she appeared as part of Nu Civilisation Orchestra’s reimagining of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album. Read our review of that special night here.
Akila Richards is an award-winning published poet, writer and spoken word artist – and was Brighton Dome’s in-house artist of 2022. In addition to her solo work, Akila has collaborated with other creatives in genres including film, digital and visual art and theatre. Her most recent commissions were as writer-co-curator for Tenebrae: Lessons Learnt in Darkness and Witness Stand at Brighton Festival 2021 and 2022. In February 2024, Akila launched her first poetry pamphlet Ritual For A Mango at the Black International Speculative Writing Festival at Goldsmith University.
Jenny Foulds is a queer performance poet, writer and theatre-maker from Scotland. She was the 2021 Scottish Poetry Slam Champion and was a finalist in the World Slam Championships in 2021, as well as being host and curator of the Brighton-based spoken word night Rebel Soapbox.
She has had feature and headline gigs at poetry nights across the UK including Hammer & Tongue, Loud Poets, Tongue Fu and Stanza Poetry festival. Jenny took her debut solo show, Life Learnings Of A Nonsensical Human, to Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe and is planning a UK tour in 2024.
Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, Monday 4th March 2024. Doors 7:15, 8pm start.
Tickets are available at the box office or online here.
AFLO photo by Olly Hearsey for Draw Brighton.
