EUROPEAN POETRY FESTIVAL June 18th - July 6th www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/2025
Just over two weeks to go to 11 free events in London, Norwich, Kingston and Liverpool, the full program now available below. Please join us at one, or many, of the events, a chance to see some of Europe's finest poets presenting new collaborations.
Poet Peasant : July 11th - August 5th, a new exhibition at Bouda Gallery
https://www.stevenjfowler.com/poetpeasant
Poet Peasant : an exhibition by SJ Fowler
The Bouda Gallery – July 11th to August 5th 2025
An exhibition of poetry as curios, discovered text and found literary sculptures drawn from previously unseen works, selected asemic writing and the poetic props of performances across the globe. Drawing from fifteen years of rabid activity, this exhibition evidences the breadth of visual and conceptual poetry from one of the definitive experimentalists of the British 21st century literary scene. On the site of the former Notting Hill Books, a formative space for many, including Fowler, this exhibition emphasises the potential of the marginal, peculiar, detritus-as-poetry mode so removed from the medium’s stereotypical obsession with neatness, craft and clarity. From bear suits to homemade skeletons, handwritten novels to concrete poems, Poet Peasant represents some of the core aesthetic concerns of SJ Fowler - playful, eclectic and anti-singular, it is a deliberate mess of fun and weird visual literature that stretches the bounds of what poetry is. www.stevenjfowler.com/poetpeasant
A new novella, Barabus, coming this winter
Excited to share this news https://tenementpress.com/BARABUS
“PREORDER DIRECT FROM TENEMENT HERE Following the 2022 Tenement publication of Fowler’s MUEUM,
shortlisted for the 2022/23 Republic of Consciousness Prize
for Small Presses, a second novella in his percolating trilogy of
fictions on the lore and estrangements of work and violence.
I have seen the world.
Voltaire, Candide
What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job.
I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg.
Luke 16:3
A medic roams an English city, going from call to call. As our protagonist roves from station to station they encounter accident, amusement, injury and error—minor ailment and major catastrophe alike—as they mis/adventure in the functionary detachment of applied temporary medicine. Whilst one tragedy seeds, another never materialises; whilst fear germinates and unease blooms, the plod and pace of a more pedestrian iteration of life prevails.
In a thread of instances laced with blood and banality, gore and gratuity—horrors both benign and ballooning—the medic is Fowler’s working witness to the body’s frailties. In their encounters, they see the structures and strictures and hierarchies of lived experience. How life can be boiled down to the ‘job,’ how a crisis can be crystallised in a single conversation, how calamity can overwhelm the senses, how hope hides in small rooms.
In riverine prose cooked down to concrete, this is a book about long, hard and strange work. The weird of exhaustion, the colour of tarmac, and the breadline of spirit. About the people that attend to the possibility of our continuity. About moral honesty, and what it costs to live in service of the needs of others. BARABUS is a novella about pragmatism in practice and the principled contradiction compounded in the idea of assistance and help. In our witness, we’ve the inversion of a god complex. A take on the idea of salvation lampooned in the function of a worker ‘on call,’ and the prospect of salvation sitting just a phone call away.
If a body is our ‘soft machine,’ as William S. Burroughs would put it, BARABUS is a book keen to picture the hard-edged horizon line of morbidity. A midnight-dark comedy with the bite and temerity of Chris Morris, the acerbity of Peter Weiss, Fowler’s second novella is a paean to the disarming directness of such authors as Yoram Kaniuk and, with the crunch of Anthony Burgess, is a book about our unnamed maladies and all our efforts to overlook them, override them, and correct them.”
Final National Gallery commission of 2025 with Dan Abnett et al
https://www.stevenjfowler.com/nationalgallery/ Event IX - May 23rd 2025, With Dan Abnett, Danica Ignacio, Harper Stringer and Eleanor Wilders, the final event of 2025 and a superb walking tour poetry event led by art historian Fiona Alderton and curated by Joseph Kendra. I’ve admired Dan’s work for years so it was brilliant to see his fantastic readings. I’m a proper fan of his so it was grand to get to know him. I was very proud of three of my graduating students too, they did so well. Thanks so to all the kind folk who came along despite Trafalgar sq being thronged with Sunderland football fans.
Improvising with Benedict Taylor at ImproVox
Curated by Brian Webb and Stuart Wilding, ImproVox held it's 9th event at Bridewell Bar in the city of London on May 19th 2025. As part of a wider lineup, Benedict Taylor and I performed an entirely improvised duo. I was cold fogged so a bit much, but it did go well as it came out and the event was so welcoming and interesting and a venue in a part of London with huge significance for me. Benedict is a superb dance partner too
Shaldon Zoo residency : 2025 Reading
https://www.stevenjfowler.com/shaldonzoo Poetry at Shaldon Zoo 2025 : May Saturday 17th
A brilliant afternoon event, poets from across Devon and the UK presented brand new poems, each dedicated to an animal in Shaldon Wildlife Trust, reading to those animals and a human audience on a walking tour. This was such a lovely time. you can watch all the performances, in the order they were given, in this playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1nQSbgCtVU&list=PL-JiSo03F53oq_QZeK6jAIyaOPmnKac4v&pp=gAQB
European Poetry Festival 2025 : program announced
EUROPEAN POETRY FESTIVAL 2025
June 18th - July 6th
www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/2025
The EPF returns for it’s 8th year, with nearly a dozen events celebrating collaboration, literary liveness and cross-linguistic inventiveness. A continuation of one of the grandest celebrations of European poetry ever to take place in Britain, over 100 poets, many visiting from across Europe, will present new works at a series of ‘Camarade’ events. Celebrating the poetry of Latvia, Flanders, Lithuania, Cyprus, Austria, Estonia, Switzerland and more, these communal, playful, energetic events are free to attend. See below for the events confirmed so far, with more to be announced soon, and many more poets to be announced at the various lineups too.
June Weds 18th - Latvian Poetry celebration at National Poetry Library
June Thurs 19th - Flanders Poetry celebration at Flanders House
June Sat 21st - Lithuanian Poetry celebration at Open Ealing, London
June Weds 25th - Cypriot Poetry celebration at High Commission
June Thurs 26th - Austrian Poetry at Austrian Cultural Forum
June Mon 30th - Estonian Poetry celebration at Poetry Society Cafe
July Weds 2nd - Swiss Poetry celebration at National Poetry Library
July Sun 6th - Liverpool : European Camarade at Open Eye Gallery
A note on : May 23rd at the National Gallery with Dan Abnett
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/events/friday-lates-tour-and-poetry-readings-sj-fowler-and-guests-23-05-2025 So pleased to have the final event commission for the National Gallery in 2025 happen soon, alongside three of my graduating students - Danica Ignacio, Harper Stringer and Eleanor Wilders - as well as Dan Abnett as the guest writer. Dan is someone I really admire, having read his work for the Black Library pretty comprehensively for a decade plus, and we’re really fortunate to have him involved. It’s free, starting at 7pm in Room 8 and always worth attending, these events are special
A small tour of Japan 2025
Nearly three weeks in Japan across April, performing, collaborating, exploring, my third time there in three years and an extraordinary experience. https://www.stevenjfowler.com/japan25
At this link there is videos and photos of the various events in Tokyo and Kyoto, from Camarade collaborative poetry to improvisations with Japanese musicians, as well as a travelogue and more information on the wider project.
Royal College of Art : talking performance on books
Grateful to have a chance to give a keynote talk at the RCA for a symposium entitled the materiality of the book, and to be encouraged by Tom Sowden and co-curatorial partners, to turn that into a talking performance. It was really well attended, and everyone was very hospitable and curious. This was all about tone, getting the right level of play, satire and sincere opinion, as well as balancing the conceptual performative elements with improvisation. I was happy with the result afterward, though I felt messy during it, because of people’s feedback. A day of really considerable presentations and work too, that spawned a lot of great conversations and ideas and hopefully future collaborations. A brilliant day that was thanks to the vision of Tom, Jonathan Boyd and Richard Nash
A note on : a talking poem for Beats at the Boogaloo
An interesting night in North London, my first time performing at the Boogaloo, kindly invited by Nick Roth to read Lawrence Ferlinghetti and do an improv talking poem amidst a well curated evening celebrating Beat poetry. It was a very unique vibe, very communal, interactive and I got a lot of positive feedback for the improvised nature of the work I provided in this context. This article came out afterwards too https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/25059391.adrian-dunbar-leads-poetry-night-boogaloo-highgate/
National Gallery poetry event VIII with Stewart Lee and friends
These events have built a real following now, they have a unique way about them, a kind of music hall playful feel, as myself and colleagues go from painting to painting in the National Gallery on a Friday night. This time joined by my students Zara Auckbaraullee and Lily Ferret, and Stewart Lee, who was generous to do the event and throw himself into it. We had a big crowd, and everyone seemed to have fun. I read poems on Turner’s Ulysses deriding Polyphemus and Stubbs’ Whistlejacket, two well known works, and again felt very instinctually these events lead me to a specific kind of poetry - something more humorous, direct, satirical than most of my writing. I was grateful too to see so many friends old and new in the crowd, and the families of my students, making the evening feel personal and intimate amidst the crowds. A really memorable one, and documented brilliantly with Alexander Kell’s photographs and Alban Low’s art portraits below.
Japan gigs this April in Tokyo and Kyoto
Very special for me to be returning to Japan for the third year running. The friendships I’ve made there have been really inspiring, and Colin Herd and I (my co-curator on the initial Japanese UK Poetry Exchange project) have been treated so well, and with such enthusiasm, for our return. As such we’ve been lucky to get funding again to return for gigs in Tokyo and Kyoto, working with poets new to us, alongside co-curators like Fukuda Pero, Silje Ree, Corey Wakeling and Miya.
April Thursday 17th - The Tokyo Camarade
Aoyama Gakuin University: 6pm https://www.theenemiesproject.com/tokyo
14 poets in 7 pairs presenting new collaborations. I’m working with the brilliant Satomi Tanaka.
April Sunday 20th - The Kyoto Camarade
Uradera Gokurakuji Buddhist temple : 2pm https://www.theenemiesproject.com/kyoto
8 pairs, and in the temple once again! A return too to a collab with Fukuda Pero.
April Thursday 24th - Tokyo Poetry Journal reading
at Ryozan Park Lounge: 7pm https://dojo.ryozanpark.com/access/ryozan-park-lounge/
Partnering with the TOPOJO for solo readings and performances
April Saturday 26th - Improvisation, Music and Poetry
at Gekkasha Jinbocho: 7pm https://gekkasha.jugem.jp/?eid=957360
A unique collaborative improv event with multiple musicians.
A note on : Writers Kingston, a special end of term event
One of the most special Writers Kingston events. The last of this term. A palpable feeling that many years of teaching and mentoring and curating has led to a very special time at Kingston Uni for me over the past academic year, and this night was a high point. I’m proud of the work we’ve done with Writers Kingston - the sense of community. The picture below speaks to that. Lots of students I’ve worked with very intensively, in my final year module, and those I’ve only shared one or two seminars with. Everyone took risks and gave a lot, and a really big audience came out to support. All the performances are here https://www.writerskingston.com/showcase25/
The night was a student showcase, and some brilliant students from undergrad and postgrad presented new works of solo and collaboration performances, readings, audio pieces, sound poems. Some super intense work, playful and unflinching. My performance, which was mostly improvised, was an attempt at being literally communal.
A note on : Shaldon Zoo poetry walking tour on May 17th
My residency with the brilliant Shaldon Zoo continues with our now annual poetry walking tour event! If you’re in Devon, come along on May 17th! https://www.stevenjfowler.com/shaldonzoo
With new poems by Steven J Fowler, Colin Herd, Amy Cutler, Will Rene plus Danica Ignacio & Eleanor Wilders, Cameron Wade & Matt Sokulsky.
For a special afternoon event, poets from across Devon and the UK present brand new poems, each dedicated to an animal in Shaldon Wildlife Trust, read to those animals and a human audience on a walking tour. Following on from the great success of the 2024 event, this now annual tradition brings together some of the UK’s most interesting writers and performers to celebrate one of the UK’s most charming zoos. Led by Zoo director Zak Showell, who introduces each animal before their poem is read, this will be a unique way to experience wildlife in Devon.
Tickets for this event are simply the usual entry fee for the zoo and visitors can stay after the event. Tickets here https://shaldonwildlifetrust.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/55487?catID=54246&
A note on : Versopolis celebration
https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/versopolis25 Versopolis in London : a Camarade poetry event at The Poetry Society Cafe, London : March 12th 2025. A special standalone Camarade event, where Versopolis poets visiting from multiple nations presented new works made with UK-based poet pairs - a series of premiere performances of literary and experimental poetry, all at the brilliant Poetry Society Cafe in the heart of the Covent Garden. A privilege to represent the brilliant Versopolis in London for the fourth time, bringing poets from Austria, Italy, Croatia and beyond to collaborate. A packed house and everyone had a proper go. I got to work with the brilliant Krisjanis Zelgis, who came over from Latvia, for the 5th time. We built off our last collaboration last summer, trying a kind of poetry gymnastics. Kind of. It went down well in the small intimate environs of the poetry basement.
A note on : Launching Goblins in Chinatown
For the monthly Broken Sleep Books online launch reading, held on February 28th 2025, I joined the zoom meeting from Chinatown in London and walked the streets while reading. I find zoom readings to be strange, and had my fill during the pandemic, so always now try to innovate them as I do in person performances. This one involved me listening to the other readers in my favourite alley in Chinatown, while Aaron Kent hosted, and then getting to M&M land amongst other places. Weird audio AI seems to have cut out all background noise, giving it a eerie vibe, and in retrospect maybe I wouldnt have held the phone camera under my nose, but it is what it is. A strange short film
A note on : Launching Goblins at the Poetry Society
Really a lovely night at the Poetry Society, thanks to them for having us, and for all the brilliant readers from broken sleep’s list, and for the bustling, friendly crowd who came along to watch. Book launches can be difficult, I’ve found. But this was light. All readings, all good work, and I read, a rare occurrence, to emphasise a bit of the poems in the book I was flogging.
All the readings are up together here https://www.writerskingston.com/poetrycafe/
and my book is here awaiting you https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/sj-fowler-goblins
National Gallery - March 14th with Stewart Lee and co
Following a series of Friday Lates events last year, poet and performer SJ Fowler returns to the Gallery to read new ekphrastic poems written in response to paintings, offering alternative interpretations of their meaning, history and standing of 18th-century British art in our collection.
Fowler is joined by Gallery Educator Fiona Alderton and invited guests from Writers’ Kingston, including students from Kingston University and further afield, for a tour and poetry performances around the Gallery. Speakers include Zara Auckbaraullee, Lily Ferret and Stewart Lee.
A note on : Exhibition opening event - Visual Stories
https://www.writerskingston.com/exhibitionevent/
A really brilliant event to celebrate an exhibition I had a hand in curating at Kingston University. A weird snappy range of readings and performances, some people giving their first ever readings and others doing some high level stuff. Worth watching the videos at the link.
For my stuff, I was super tired after lecturing all day, so I did a meta talking performance and just went with it, somehow ending up slapping a wall.
