Queer Botanical Poetry Evening

Queer Botanical Poetry Evening at Chelsea Physic Garden

As a part of A Dash of Lavender: LGBTQ+ history month, join us for an evening of fun and queer poetry at Chelsea Physic Garden.

There will be 3 poets hosted by Bella Cox (she/her), an open mic, and time to mingle. You can participate in the Open mic by completing the sign up sheet provided at the event. Open mic participants will be called by order of sign up and can read 1 piece of 2 minutes or under.

The Physic Garden Café will be open for drinks and light bites.

Doors open from 6:30pm, event starts at 7pm.

Ticket Information:
Tickets are £15 per person
Please note that there are no discounts for Friends and Members of the Garden

Accessibility:

This event will take place in our first floor ‘Gallery’, unfortunately this space is not wheelchair accessible. Please email enquiries@chesleaphysicgarden.co.uk if you would like to discuss accessibility.

Host Bio:

Bella Cox (she/her)
An internationally acclaimed artist, Bella Cox is a poet, performer, workshop facilitator, event host, and producer who has worked in Kenya, South Africa, and around the UK. She is a threetime Barbican Young Poets alumna, a twice-nominated young people’s laureate for London, and was a member of multiple poetry collectives throughout 2018 while being a founding member of two regular London open mic nights. 

She has performed her work at events such as TEDx Pretoria, Sköll World Forum, Brighton Literature Festival, Bi Pride UK, and the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, and has been commissioned to write for institutions such as the Barbican Centre, HSBC, Time Out London, Bach Remedies and Nationwide Building Society.  Her proudly queer and feminist work seeks to embrace differences, empower young people, and explore her own identity. She currently fits writing time around her Marketing Manager role and is working on her debut poetry collection set to be released with Flipped Eye in 2023. 

Poet Bios:

Jasmine Isa Qureshi (they/she)
Jasmine Isa Qureshi (they/she), is a journalist, writer and marine / queer  biologist and ecologist, working as a researcher previously for the Mindfulness Initiative on Climate Youth Resilience, and currently working for grassroots organisation WildCard on increasing engagement and support for rewilding campaigns in the UK. 

As a trans, Pakistani, non-binary, and muslim woman, she has often found that her need to intertwine her identity in her work is required for authenticity and creativity to thrive. As such, she is also a Poet, an Ambassador for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, an advisor on the committee of RSPB England, and a presenter, speaker and wildlife TV Researcher. 

She is currently working on her first book at DHH Literary Agency.

Coral Wylie (they/them)
Coral is a writer, performer and theatre maker from West London. Their work finds its voice in the natural world (most often bugs..), playing in the overlaps of science and art. A founding member of the Bush Theatre's Young Company, Coral's work has been performed on the theatre's main stage within their 2022 show ANTHEM. As a part of Soho Theatre Writers' Lab, they wrote their first full length script, ENTOMOLOGY, which was longlisted for the Tony Craze Award 2022. Most recently, Coral was invited to join the Bush Theatre's Emerging Writers' Group, where they developed their current script 'Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew.', which was then shortlisted for The Alfred Fagon Award 2023.