Andrew McMillan + Rose Condo + Open Mic @NineLivesPoetry

Nine Lives is here to bring Poetry & Spoken Word to the people! We’re @John Street Kitchen, Harland Works BOOK your ticket on event brite here

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About Nine Lives Poetry

We have two goals at Nine Lives Poetry: to bring some of the UK's most exciting performance poets to a Sheffield audience & to create opportunities for budding local poets to take the next step in their poetry career. Our performance nights feature an established guest poet from outside Sheffield, supported by an up-&-coming local poet. There is always an open mic segment for up to 7 emerging poets. We want to support emerging local poets to hone their skills in a friendly & encouraging space. We are a registered Charity run by volunteers. Any money we make goes into paying performers, meeting venue costs & buying new bow ties for Nine Lives, our stylish cat mascot.

Andrew McMillan’s debut collection physical was the only ever poetry collection to win The Guardian First Book Award. The collection also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, a Somerset Maugham Award (2016), an Eric Gregory Award (2016) and a Northern Writers’ award (2014).In 2019 it was voted as one of the top 25 poetry books of the past 25 years by the Booksellers Association. His second collection, playtime, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2018; it was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2018, a Poetry Book of the Month in both The Observer and The Telegraph, a Poetry Book of the Year in The Sunday Times and won the inaugural Polari Prize. His third collection, pandemonium, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2021, and 100 Queer Poems, the acclaimed anthology he edited with Mary Jean Chan, was published by Vintage in 2022. Physical has been translated into French, Galician and Norwegian editions, with double-editions of physical & playtime published in Slovak and German in 2022.

He is Professor of Contemporary Writing at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Rose Condo is an award-winning Canadian poet and educator based in the UK. A multiple slam champion, she has performed throughout the UK and internationally.

Rose has written and toured three solo shows: The Geography of Me (Spoken Word Award, 2021 Buxton Fringe), The Empathy Experiment (Best Spoken Word Show, 2019 Greater Manchester Fringe), and How to Starve an Artist (Runner Up Best Spoken Word Show, 2017 Saboteur Awards).

She runs workshops for people of all ages, exploring wellbeing through creative writing. Rose’s second collection, How to Find Where You Belong is available through Flapjack Press this autumn.

Tickets, Open Mic Slots & Accessibility

Tickets are £7 for standard entry & £5 concessions.

We start at 7pm & the cafe opens at 6:30pm. Please arrive as early as possible so that our lovely friends at John St Kitchen have enough time to furnish you with all the delicious cake you need.

We have up to seven open mic slots per night. We always offer to refund the entry fee for open mic performers. Please buy your ticket first & then fill in the Open Mic form on our website If you bag an open mic slot, we will refund your ticket price (including booking fee) if you wish. Open mic slots are 5 minutes long. We aim to let you know if you have a slot at least 1 week in advance of the performance date.

Nine Lives Poetry strives to be an inclusive & accessible space for everyone. John St. Kitchen is wheelchair accessible. However, there is a small step on the front doorway. The venue has a ramp if needed. Toilets are also accessible. There's a lovely outdoor space where you can nip out if you need a bit of quiet. If you need any more info, please contact us at ninelivespoetry@gmail.com.

A wide variety of hot & cold alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks & cakes will be available on the night from John St. Kitchen.

Nine Lives Poetry-Registered Charity Number: 1199352