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BBC Contains Strong Language 2021
September 23, 2021 – September 26, 2021
BBC Arts’ annual poetry and spoken word festival is in Coventry this September, as it celebrates being UK City of Culture 2021. Mercury-nominated musician Loyle Carner joins Poet Laureate Simon Armitage as part of the four-day showcase taking place all around the city and on the BBC.
Contains Strong Language is a partnership between the BBC, Coventry City of Culture Trust, Writing West Midlands, and Nine Arches Press.
Highlights from BBC Contains Strong Language 2021 include:
- Loyle Carner performs his poetry alongside poets Grace Nichols and John Agard live on Radio 3’s The Verb on Friday 24 September.
- Poet Laureate Simon Armitage reads his poetry and performs with Land Yacht Regatta, who set Armitage’s spoken word to intense, atmospheric musical arrangements by Richard Walters and Patrick Pearson.
- This Little Relic by Karla Marie Sweet is a metaplay about producing Ira Aldridge’s The Black Doctor, directed by the Belgrade’s Co-Artistic Director for 2021 Justine Themen. This Little Relic takes place on Friday 24 September as part of the festival, and audiences at home can hear the performance at a later date on BBC Radio 3.
- For budding writers, BBC Writersroom hosts a panel event explaining how they scout for fresh talent.
- BBC Radio Club partners with Creative Lives to share poems written by Coventry schoolchildren in workshops facilitated by Words First 2020 finalist John Bernard.