Birmingham Hippodrome will host a season of poetry and spoken word events this February and March, with the return of three popular events to the city.

Now in its sixth year, Birmingham’s very own Verve Festival of Poetry and Spoken Word comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday 15 – Sunday 19 February.

Verve has become synonymous with a lively and celebratory approach to programming poetry of every different kind.  From raucous performance poetry events, quiet reading events, studious workshops, mind-blowing dramatic poetry, collaborative work or open mic poetry – the programme encourages audiences to see their favourite poets and to try something new – to join in, create, listen and learn.

Fast forward to March and Apples and Snakes are back with their notorious spoken word event Hit the Ode on Friday 10 March. Featuring a brilliant line-up including the multi-lingual host Bohdan Piasecki, Hit the Ode is a unique performance poetry night bringing world-class spoken word artists to the heart of Birmingham to perform alongside open mic-ers. Attendees can take the mic, or just simply take a seat and enjoy the performances.

Completing the line-up is poetry festival UniSlam 2023, which returns to the Hippodrome on Sunday 12 March. Based around the UK and Ireland National Inter-University Poetry Slam, audiences can watch the UK and Ireland’s most exciting spoken word poets compete live on stage during Preliminary Heats, Semi-Finals and Grand Finals; with the Finals seeing the country’s top 4 poetry slam teams go head to head for the champions trophy.

Tickets for Verve Festival, Hit the Ode and UniSlam 2023 can be booked at birminghamhippodrome.com