The ARC - ARC Spaces

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£20

Performing the Lyric Self

Workshop with Rachel Long

Saturday 10th October 

10.30 - 12pm

Join Rachel Long for writing workshop exploring new ways of inhabiting and transforming the lyric voice.

The lyric ‘I’ is never simply a self on the page - it is a voice, a performance, an invention. This workshop examines how contemporary poets use persona, address, memory, and form to create speaking selves that blur the boundaries between lived experience and imaginative possibility.

Through readings of poets including Natalie Diaz, Ocean Vuong, Terrance Hayes, Victoria Chang, and Patricia Smith, alongside generative writing exercises, we’ll explore new ways of inhabiting and transforming the lyric voice.

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Rachel Long's debut collection, My Darling from the Lions (2020) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, The Costa Book Award, The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, The Rathbones Folio Prize, and the Jhalak Prize Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour. The US edition (2021) was a New York Times Book Review, and named one of the 100 must-read books of 2021 by TIME. Her second collection, Sparrow on the Rooftop, was published by Chatto & Windus, in June 2026.

Her individual poems have been published in The Guardian, Poetry, The Poetry Review, Poetry London, The London Magazine, and Granta. She has curated and co-produced multiple programmes for BBC Radio 4, as well as curating literary events for Tate.

Long is a guest lecturer at Goldsmiths University College, London, and tutors regularly for Faber Academy and The Poetry School. She has judged numerous literary prizes including The National Poetry Competition, The Rathbone Folio Prize, The Dylan Thomas Prize, the Poetry London Prize, and the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Award (2026).

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Suitable for: writers of all ages, and at all stages of their writing.

Duration: 1.5 hours

Format: in person workshop

Access: wheelchair accessible throughout

The ARC - Performance Hall

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FREE (by invitation)

Hampshire Young Poets' Celebration

Presented by Damian Kelly-Basher

Saturday 10th October

11 - 12pm​

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Join Hampshire Poet, Damian Kelly-Basher, as we celebrate those who entered the Hampshire Young Poets competition 2026, in this special prizegiving event.

Hampshire Young Poets is a partnership between Hampshire Cultural Trust and Winchester Poetry Festival. In this year’s competition, we asked entrants to write a poem on the theme of 'Food’.

Suitable for: children 4yrs+, families, all ages.

Duration: 1hr

Format: in person

Access: relaxed performance

The ARC - Welcome Desk

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FREE

Meet WPF Artistic Director

Informal conversation with Erica Hesketh

Saturday 10th October 

11:30am - 1pm

Come and chat with Winchester Poetry Festival's new artistic director Erica Hesketh at this informal meet-and-greet session. Erica will share her plans so far for 2027 and beyond, and she's also keen to hear from you about what you want from your biennial poetry festival! All are welcome, especially local poets and those connected to locally-based organisations.

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Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark. Her poetry has been commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall, Spread the Word, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Exeter University. Her debut collection In the Lily Room is published by Nine Arches Press. She is also the author of To an Unknown Receiver: Sonnets & Cascades (Guillemot Press), and co-author with Laura Sampson of Moon, Snow, Blossom: Wintry Folk Tales from Across Japan (Elliott & Thompson). She is artistic director of Winchester Poetry Festival.

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Suitable for: all, with local poets and organisations especially welcomed.

Duration: 1.5 hours

Format: informal conversation

Access: meet at the Welcome Desk, venue is wheelchair accessible throughout.

The ARC - Performance Hall

FREE (booking advised)

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Please note: your ticket does not guarantee a performance slot.

Poetry Open Mic

With guest Christina Moran

Saturday 10th October

1:15 - 2:15pm

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Poets, assemble! We’re delighted to be including an Open Mic as part of this year’s Winchester Poetry Day! This is your chance to share your work and join us for an hour of local voices.

Whether you’re a seasoned performer or a newcomer, everyone is welcome behind the mic. The event is open to poets from 16yrs+ and all levels of experience, and we can’t wait to hear what you’ve been creating! 

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Hosted by Southampton-based poet, artist and WPF Trustee Jo Fisher, the event will open with a special 10-minute performance from our 2025 Kathryn Bevis Prize winner, Christina Moran, before we launch into our open mic segment.​

 

If you’d like to perform:

Please sign up on the day at the Welcome Desk with Jo between 12:15–13:00. Slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. You must sign up in person for yourself; unfortunately, we won’t be able to reserve spaces on behalf of others.

Each poet will have up to 4 minutes to perform. This could be one substantial poem, or two or three shorter pieces. We’ll be strict with timings to ensure everyone gets a fair chance to take part, so please make sure you plan ahead!

If you'd like to attend:

And if performing isn’t your thing – or you don’t manage to get a slot – come along anyway! Bring your love of poetry, settle in and enjoy hearing some locally forged spoken word. We’d love to see a supportive audience to cheer on our performers.

A note about content:

There is no set theme for this open mic.

Winchester Poetry Festival is committed to being a safe, inclusive and welcoming space for everyone. We want to give poets and artists the freedom to share their work while also being respectful and mindful of our diverse audience.

As this is a free, daytime event in a family-friendly space, if you are reading - please choose your performance content with care. We recommend keeping adult themes, strong language, and potentially triggering content to a minimum. If your poem contains material that some audience members may find difficult, please consider giving a brief content warning before you begin, so that anyone who wishes to can step outside.

Most importantly, come ready to share, listen and enjoy an hour of poetry from our wonderful local community. We can’t wait to hear your poems!

Christina Moran lives in North Hampshire. She returned to writing in 2021 after years of being immersed in other things e.g. working in a variety of people-facing roles. She's had some poems in magazines/anthologies and was highly commended in 2023's Mslexia Pamphlet Competition and long-listed in Cinnamon Pamphlet 2025 competition. Christina won the Kathryn Bevis Prize in Winchester Poetry Prize 2025 with her poem 'Underwonderland' as chosen by Fiona Benson.

Jo Fisher is a poet, writer, editor and artist based in Southampton. 

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Suitable for: 16yrs+, all ages and experience.

Duration: 1 hour

Format: in person event, poetry open mic with guest reading.

Access: relaxed performance, venue is wheelchair accessible throughout.

The ARC - Performance Hall

and ONLINE

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FREE (booking required)

Winchester Poetry Prize Ceremony 2026

Presented by Julia Copus

Saturday 10th October

3 - 4:30pm

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Hosted by acclaimed poet and competition judge Julia Copus, this exciting live event is an opportunity to hear us count down through the Commended poems to the winners.

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Hear the poems being read live by the poets themselves in this special prizegiving ceremony, as we celebrate the winners and launch the 2026 printed anthology.

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First Prize: £1000 | Second Prize: £500 | Third Prize: £250

Includes the Kathryn Bevis Prize for the strongest poem written by a Hampshire-based poet.

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Competition is closed. Longlist announced mid-Sept. Details can be found at www.winchesterpoetryfestival.org/prize

Julia Copus is a poet, biographer and children’s writer. She has published five collections of poetry. Her most recent, Girlhood (Faber 2019), was winner of the inaugural Derek Walcott Prize for best collection by a non-US citizen.

Other awards include the Forward Prize for ‘Best Single Poem’, First Prize in the National Poetry Competition, and a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors.

Her biography of the poet Charlotte Mew, This Rare Spirit, was described by John Carey in The Sunday Times as ‘a triumph of precise scholarship and imaginative sympathy’ and was chosen by Andrew Motion as a book of the year in The Spectator.

Julia teaches poetry for the Faber Academy and was 2023-24 Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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With many thanks to our competition sponsors Paris Smith and The Writing School Online.
 

Suitable for: all

Duration: 1.5 hours

Format: in person and online

Access: the venue is fully wheelchair accessible. The event can be accessed in person, or online