MAKE POETRY WEIRD AGAIN

Nols Nathankski
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a poetry experiment by nols nathanski. poetry to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. an experimental queer poetry podcast where poems are made and performed automatically, pushing the boundaries of the form. each episode: a conversation with a poet, three timed automatic writing prompts done live - guest and nols both and then the open mic. no editing. no polish. just the poems that arrive. we close every show the same way: a shout out, the name of a collection a poet haven't written yet, and words of wisdom about fifty minutes is always planned - but neurodivergence does what is does. send us your poems innit

  1. 4 HR AGO

    HOW TO MAKE POEMS IN A CRYPT TO FEEL ALIVE AGAIN

    Nols sits down in the crypt in february with Hebah Aboud and Cassie with a special feature from Richie Bliss of Ava' Word. Hebah Aboud is a poet, writer and community organiser. She runs poetry events in Rome and London. Check out @ancharnia for her poetry events. Cassie is a writer, art consultant and creative director from London @ceceqt Rich Bliss is a poet and open mic host from London checkout @richblisswords and @avawordpoetry This episode is from the original residency @thecryptgallerylondon in february 2026 before the first Hold Space Festival in April. We are back at the crypt gallery for our next residency and festival 1-6th October 2026. Unlike other podcast episodes this is a long conversation about all areas of life, faith and pain. Poetry gets in through the cracks. Being a field recording the editing has been difficult and the atmospheric sounds of the crypt seeps in. See tickets below to our next festival HOLD SPACE POETRY FESTIVAL OPENING CEREMONY Tickets, Thursday 1 October • 7 PM - 9 PM | Eventbrite HOLD SPACE POETRY FESTIVAL DAY TICKET Tickets | Multiple Dates @ Crypt Gallery, London | Pay What You Can to £11 | OutSavvy We are fundraising for the festival with the below open mics HOLD SPACE: OPEN MIC Tickets | Multiple Dates @ HWK LONDON, London | Pay What You Can | OutSavvy

    1hr 27min

  2. 29 APR

    HOW TO MAKE POEMS HEART WISDOM KNOWS

    Nols sits down in HWK in Hackney Wick to speak to MIKE the beautiful soul that has allowed MPWA to take up residence in their venue over the summer for the HOLD SPACE POETRY FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER OPEN MICS (see link below for tickets) mike runs HWK, a venue in hackney wick and the home of hold space open mic nights through summer 2026. he talks to nols about what it takes to run a space that holds poetry the logistics, the losses, and the unexpected joys. they get into wedding poems: why people want them, and what it means to write something true for someone else’s most public moment. and they talk about the poetry of running a venue the rhythms, the silences, the crowd energy that doesn’t show up on a spreadsheet. HWK is a third space, cafe, bar, venue and courtyard and our summer residence. The pizza is great too. www.hwklondon.com hold space open mic starts on the 13th May 2026 6-9pm tickets below. bi-weekly at hwk, hackney wick, through summer 2026. free to attend. all welcome. find out more and grab your spot →HOLD SPACE: OPEN MIC Tickets | Multiple Dates @ HWK LONDON, London | Pay What You Can | OutSavvy

    32 min

  3. 22 APR

    HOW TO ACHE FOR TRANSCENDENCE IN A FAILSPACE

    Nols Nathankski gets spiritual with Chloe Smith a South Londoner who fell in love with reading and words 8 years old by reading the magical far away tree. Chloe then discovered poetry through substitute teachers at school. She was published as a young writer in primary school. As a teenager she navigated hormones and layers of identity through journaling, leaning towards song lyrics, leaving poetry alone. It was only hitting 30 when she revisited poetry and braved the open mic scene. Curating her own night in Croydon (@skibabble, which is on a hiatus) putting together day festivals and holding safe spaces for the community to express and progress. Chloe is a spiritual seed, who loves the art of good questions and longs to press through the veil of what is known to comprehend the great familial unknown. Chloe and Nols make poems with prompts from Adam RW of Storytime London. Get Chloe's book here; https://www.londonpoetrybooks.com/?s=Small+pockets+of+mischief

    1hr 1min

  4. 14 APR

    HOW TO SPIT POETRY IN FRONT OF 1500 PEOPLE

    Fresh from our Hold Space Poetry Festival in the Crypt Gallery @nolsnathankski was given tickets for @spitnights biggest ever show @theroundhouse in Camden by his friend the sensational poet Hebah Aboud. @hebah_a Nols decided to make some guerrilla radio by gauging audience reactions to a sell out night of spoken word & improv jazz in front of 1500 in a legendary venue. The response from the crowd was overwhelmingly positive, but the night was a bit too big and loud for Nol's tiny neurodivergent brain and this episode also celebrates the peace that comes from smaller and quieter spaces. The night was headlined by superstar poets @georgiejones @maureenonuwali @caitlinoryan and @harrybaker - who it turns out Nols weirdly went to school with, something he obviously couldn't stop telling bemused interviewees. This episode is a series of chaotic field recordings interviewing members of the audience and staff at the roundhouse who nols forgot to make notes of the insta handles of- please tag yourselves! Friend of the show @that1thea makes an appearance! Nols did get 3 poems from a SUPER SPECIAL GUEST POET at the end of the night - live outside the Roundhouse! Listen until the end to find out who it was... Prompt: Write a poem to perform in front of 1500 people. To support Hold Space Poetry Festival's return in October and keep it Free entry please come to one of our pay-what-you-can fundraiser open mic nights at HWK throughout summer! HOLD SPACE: OPEN MIC Tickets | Multiple Dates @ HWK LONDON, London | Pay What You Can | OutSavvy @makepoetryweirdagain www.makepoetryweirdagain.com

    44 min

  5. 9 APR

    HOW TO BRING THE SPIRIT OF THE TÁIN BÓ CÚAILNGE TO THE OPEN MIC

    Nols Nathankski flys through the sky with Jo Morrigan Black (They/Them/It) Jo is a Paris-born writer, visual artist and performance poet. They have worked with indigenous leaders in Colombia, left stray feathers in Berlin and stalked the streets of Dublin as a vampire. Their stage performances combine Spoken Word, physical theatre and surrealist costuming to celebrate the queer and the unknowable in us all. Jo’s writing dwells in journals such as Poetry Ireland Review, Abridged and The Storms, where it was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Their work has been commissioned by the Runoviikko Festival in Finland, presented by the Irish Writers Centre and archived at The Linen Hall, Belfast. Showcased by Culture Ireland at Edinburgh Fringe 2025, their self-produced drag poetry show CARPET MUNCHER was shortlisted for the Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s Award and chosen as a Snack Mag Storytelling Top Pick. Jo was awarded a place in Island Of Many Voices 2026. Bio — Jo Morrigan Black @mothpoet - instagram Jo made this Paris open mic documentary: https://youtu.be/Mg5vTTrPDFk?is=dlneTUaUJokRdif6 The song referenced All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands: ​https://youtu.be/JHul8vzXsV8?is=qfjTCMjhf3Ua_4bQ Jo is currently Reading: Marlon James, Moon Witch, Spider King Jo and Nols make poems with prompts from Stevie Grant @steviepoems Keep this podcast flying www.Ko-fi.com/makepoetryweirdagain www.patreon.com/makepoetryweirdagain

    1 hr

  6. 1 APR

    HOW TO KEEP RUNNIN' AT THE OPEN MIC

    Nols sits down on a rainy February day with Jake Nathan a poet and artist, from East London. They talk about mental health, masculinity, social justice and being working class in England. The show explores how Jake went from hip hop to open mic and the challenges of open mic burn out. Jake is a multiple-time poetry slam winner and grand poetry slam champion. Based in Essex, he performs his poetry and teaches workshops across the country. Jake has featured at the Faversham Literary Festival, Essex Writers’ House Festival, Margate Bookie Festival and the Medway River Lit Festival. His poems have been featured on BBC Radio and various podcasts. His page poetry has been published by Anti-Heroin Chic, Thanet Writers and elsewhere. A Life in the Day of Nathan Jake (Incomplete) is the debut pamphlet from Jake . Combining two of his passions, the pamphlet is composed of poems written to the titles of hip-hop songs. A Life in the Day of Nathan Jake (Incomplete) Nols and Jake make poems with prompts from Kestral Gaia. Keep this podcast runnin' on the patreon www.patreon.com/makepoetryweirdagain

    57 min

  7. 25 MAR

    HOW TO HOLD SPACE IN A CRYPT DURING HOLY WEEK

    Nols Nathankski provides all you need to know about the Hold Space Poetry Festival. A sober gift to the London Open Mic scene in collaboration with the Crypt Gallery running from the 1st - 7th April 2026. A festival dreamed up and produced in only 2 weeks to run during the most sacred days of the Christian calendar. Of course it begins on APRIL FOOLS DAY! After an open call fifteen poets will take up residence in The Crypt Gallery underneath St Pancras New Church for seven whole days during Holy Week 2026. Yes, its a crypt. Yes, there are 557 departed souls down there. Yes, it's going to be SEVEN days of back to back open mic. A week of free experimental poetry, workshops, open mics, and a zine built page by page across the week. Entry is free throughout. Workshops are mainly free with some paid and pay what you can with booking. 1–7 April 2026 · The Crypt Gallery, 165 Euston Road, London NW1 2BA What's on: Wed 1 Apr — Residency opens. Set-up, intentions. Opening Ceremony & Open mic from 6pm Thu 2 Apr — Podcast recordings. Scary Stories workshop with Stevie Grant. Open mic from 6pm Fri 3 Apr (Good Friday) — Live podcast recordings. Writing from the ashes workshop with the Trashfire poet. Zine Day. Good Friday Open Mic. Sat 4 Apr (Holy Saturday) — Penance tea ceremony and workshop. Podcast recordings. Open mic from 6pm Sun 5 Apr (Easter Sunday) — Sensual Small Poem workshop with Alexia Chrysostomou. Open mic from 6pm Mon 6 Apr — Saying the Unsayable workshop facilitated by Nols. Zine workshop. The River Returns Home immersive performance fundraising for Ukrainian charities + Open Mic. Tue 7 Apr (Easter Tuesday) — Zine assembly and distro. Closing performances + Open mic. The resident poets — give them a follow: Pia Fajelagutan / The Piss I Call Art — Abu Dhabi-bred word wrangler, debut collection Whiskey For The Uninitiated. Feral charm, unfiltered verse. Emma Keun — London-based, published in Kite String II–IV, four honourable mentions from Dark Poets Club. Luigi Coppola / The Only Emperor — featured at Glastonbury, Tate Modern, Southbank Centre. Slam champion. Debut from Broken Sleep Books. linktr.ee/PoetryPreacher Maria Cohut — Romanian writer in Brighton . Debut collection Multiple Exposures out 2026 on Flight of the Dragonfly. Maddy Kilsbury McMurray — non-binary poet, neurodiversity advocate, LGBTQIA+ community stalwart. Oscar Rodriguez — Salvadoran American poet. Diaspora, generational trauma, noise music, queer liberation. Does it all at once. Em Cosgrove / Girl Can't Sing Well — spoken word artist. The body, decay, rebirth, and campy humour. Hyper-visual. Bee Wylie — witchy wordsmith from the West Midlands. Debut book Dream Weaving coming through Hay House. Exploring spirituality, grief, love. Tadgh Haran — trans poet, London. Work in Anthropocene, Scab, Perverse, Tentacular. Writes out of anger and curiosity. Sobriety anchors everything. Jordan Minga — Afro British, first-gen Ugandan, from Peckham. Poet and visual artist. Self-identity, spirituality, intergenerational discourse. Refuses to ask permission. Tom Bland - Tom has published Camp Fear and The Death of a Clown, with Bad Betty Press. His work has been nominated for the Polari Prize and have been on Dennis Cooper's yearly Fav Books List. He writes on the relationship between language and sexuality, trauma and liberation Leatrice — originally NYC, now UK. Memory, obsession, mental illness. Co-hosts Oxford DIY Pride. Debut collection Yearbook Signing. H Phillips — started performing poetry in early 2025 and has not stopped. Surreal social satire, tranquilised emotions, characters. @haitch_speaks Byuka Makodru — trans, disabled, migrant writer. Mixing immersive performance, ritual, visual art. Writing with ash. Poetry as liberation. Get tickets for all events here: OutSavvy - Make Poetry Weird Again tickets and events. Book tickets instantly via the OutSavvy app or website for Make Poetry Weird Again Find us: Instagram: @makepoetryweirdagain nols@makepoetryweirdagain.com

    1hr 2min

  8. 18 MAR

    HOW TO MAKE POEMS WITH 7 POETS IN A CRYPT

    Nols Nathankski makes a very chaotic field recording of day 4 in the Crypt gallery London during the February residency. Expect all kinds of phantasmagorical goings on. Nols made poems with N00mi, Rosie Reed Gold, Jo Delvauney, Pid'Or, Choral Poetique and Tanyeli Taze. The episode is endurance art and some have said impossible to listen to! You be the Judge! Give the poets a follow; @n00m_i @rosiereedgoldartist @tanyeli.taze @choralepoetique @ptplays @sweetamanita @pollyannaknight_ @chi.laferla Keep nols doing this @makepoetryweirdagain

    2h 12m
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About

a poetry experiment by nols nathanski. poetry to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. an experimental queer poetry podcast where poems are made and performed automatically, pushing the boundaries of the form. each episode: a conversation with a poet, three timed automatic writing prompts done live - guest and nols both and then the open mic. no editing. no polish. just the poems that arrive. we close every show the same way: a shout out, the name of a collection a poet haven't written yet, and words of wisdom about fifty minutes is always planned - but neurodivergence does what is does. send us your poems innit

Information

  • Creator
    Nols Nathankski
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    71
  • Rating
    Explicit