Placeholder Poetry

Placeholder Poetry returns to The Bookshop Alehouse on Thursday 23 July, its eighth edition since it first launched. It's a poetry night run by Placeholder and Wire Wool Events, and it's back in Southampton this summer.

The format is straightforward: three poets, each with a twenty-minute reading. This time around, the line-up is Amy Granvoinet, Abbi Mitchell and Emma Tanner. With an hour of poetry in total, it's a full evening rather than a quick stop, and the three poets take turns holding the room for their own sets.

Placeholder describes the night as avant-garde, queer and radical poetry, and that's the kind of work they've been bringing together. It's not a traditional open mic or a reading of the classics; it's a space for poetry that pushes a bit against the edges, and the queer and radical labels give you a good sense of the ground they're working from. If you've followed the previous seven editions, you'll know that's the kind of thing they tend to lean into.

The venue is the basement of The Bookshop Alehouse, the craft beer pub in Portswood, so it's a proper underground spot. It's a paid event, five pounds, and tickets are limited, sold in advance at wirewoolevents.com. If you're into the local poetry scene, it's a simple one to slot into a Thursday night.