Jackson Davies: Portsmouth's new punk Poet Laureate

Portsmouth has a new poetic voice for the next couple of years. Jackson Davies has been appointed as the city's Poet Laureate, a role he'll hold from 2026 to 2028, and he's not exactly the traditional type you might picture in the job. A spoken word and performance poet from Portsmouth, Davies has been described as a 'punk poet' and has been working the spoken word circuit for more than a decade. His style is energetic and relatable, moving from humorous, honest observations about marriage to raps about the state of the nation, which is a far cry from the stuffy image some people associate with a city poet.

Over his two-year term, the role is a busy one. Davies will be writing poems to mark special events, performing at libraries, schools, festivals and other community gatherings, running poetry workshops and sitting on the judging panel that chooses the Young Portsmouth Poet Laureate. He'll also be putting Portsmouth's centenary into verse as part of the Portsmouth100 celebrations, with the broader aim of capturing the city's character and community through poetry. He's already got a few pieces under his belt: 'Brutalism and Borrowed Books' marked the Central Library's 50th birthday, 'Forty-Five Lions and a Unicorn' celebrated the Pride of Portsmouth Lion Trail, and 'Read to the beat' was written for the Summer Reading Challenge.

If you want to catch him in person, there's plenty coming up. He's set to appear twice at the Victorious Festival in August, first with The Front Room on Saturday 29 August and then with Pompey Poetry Party on Sunday 30 August, before landing at the Theatre Royal on Monday 9 November for 'A Tale of Two Authors'. The Theatre Royal, on the corner of High Street and St Thomas Street in the city centre, is a Grade II listed building from 1888 with room for 600 people, run by the Royal National Theatre in partnership with the city.

For anyone who wants to get involved themselves, the local scene is active. Pompey Poetry Party puts on free monthly spoken word nights at Six Highland Road in Southsea, from 7.30pm to 10pm, and poetry gets a bi-monthly slot at The Havelock Centre from 3pm to 6pm, a project set up by local writers Cecily Holland and Caroline Brennan. It's a good reminder that while the Poet Laureate is the official voice, there's a whole community of poets working around the city.

And if you're out and about this summer, the Pride of Portsmouth Lion Trail is worth a look. It's part of the Portsmouth 100 celebrations, marking a century since Portsmouth was granted city status on 21 April 1926, and it trails 45 lion sculptures and one unicorn from Paulsgrove down to Southsea. It runs for nine weeks, from 13 July to 13 September, it's free to enter, and the route is accessible for eight of those weeks, so it's an easy thing to fold into a walk around the city while the new Poet Laureate is finding his feet.