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View all events for category: Literature & poetry

A Celebration of British-Somali Poetry

A line-up of poets shares their poetry and explores what it can teach us about the ongoing negotiation of ‘diaspora’, and what it means to be Somali in the UK.

More details for St Paul’s Roof Pavilion, Level 6, Blue Side, Royal Festival Hall
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Poetry has long played an indispensable role in Somali social and political life. But what happens to poetry when people are uprooted by war and communities are displaced – temporally, geographically and linguistically – from their homelands?

Featuring a line-up of award-winning poets – including Elmi Ali, Samatar Elmi, Yusra Warsama and Warda Yassin, with chair Erica Hesketh – this event explores how Somali-British poets who compose in English are re-shaping an ancient poetic tradition to give voice to the concerns of diasporic Somalis.

Through conversation and performance, hear how poetry that grapples with themes of trauma, migration, racism, love and belonging continues to provoke, inspire and inform Somali and English-speaking audiences alike.

Elmi Ali is a Manchester-based poet and multidisciplinary storyteller whose work spans performance, translation, and education. His practice explores the intersection of language and creative resistance, often within global postcolonial narratives.

Samatar Elmi is an award-winning writer, musician and educator. His debut pamphlet, Portrait of Colossus (flipped eye, 2021) was a PBS Choice, and his collection The Epic of Cader Idris (Bloomsbury, 2024) includes the Geoffrey Dearmer Prize-winning poem ‘The Snails’.

Erica Hesketh is a poet and editor, originally from Japan and Denmark, now based in London. From 2016 to 2024 she was Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. She is the editor of Living in Language: International Reflections for the Practising Poet. Her debut collection, In the Lily Room, is published by Nine Arches Press.

Yusra Warsama is a poet, actor, writer and theatre practitioner with extensive curation and facilitation experience. She is currently acting in several projects and working on the second outing of her triptych 1 – Of All the Beautiful Things in the World (2023) which opened to sold-out audiences. She is the founder of BIG SOUL PRODUCTIONS.

Warda Yassin is a British-born Somali poet and secondary school teacher based in Sheffield. She is a former Sheffield Poet Laureate and winner of the Women’s Poetry Prize. Her debut pamphlet, Tea with Cardamom (Poetry Business, 2019), won the New Poets Prize.

This event is co-organised by the Southbank Centre and Kayd Somali Arts & Culture as part of the London Literature Festival and Somali Week Festival.

Need to know

Age guidance
For ages 16+

Image gallery

Poet Yusra Warsama talking at a panel event wearing a black head scarf and beige suit
Ali Naji
View larger image 1 of 4. Poet Yusra Warsama talking at a panel event wearing a black head scarf and beige suit
Portrait of poet Elmi Ali wearing a hat and looking off to the side
Pablo Melchor
View larger image 2 of 4. Portrait of poet Elmi Ali wearing a hat and looking off to the side
Poet Warda Yassin looking straight at the camera and smiling wearing a blue head wrap and patterned top
Marc Baker
View larger image 3 of 4. Poet Warda Yassin looking straight at the camera and smiling wearing a blue head wrap and patterned top
An image of poet Erica Hesketh, wearing glases and a tshirt with a print of a plant on it, smiling at the camera.
Christy Ku
View larger image 4 of 4. An image of poet Erica Hesketh, wearing glases and a tshirt with a print of a plant on it, smiling at the camera.

For your visit

This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre

The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.

Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.

A concrete building with flags on the roof, with the London Eye and Big Ben in the background View larger image
A lively crowd cheers with raised hands, while a performer in a white hat and suit plays guitar, against red lighting. View larger image
A guitarist performing on a dark stage at the Royal Festival Hall, lit up by multiple spotlights. View larger image
Pianis Víkingur Ólafsson is seated at a grand piano while playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the stage of Royal Festival Hall View larger image
Organist Carol Williams plays the Royal Festival Hall organ whiich is illumiated with bold colours View larger image

Plan your visit

The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.

Getting here

Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.

The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues.  More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.

We’re cash-free

Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.

Access

We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.

All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access. 

All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.

Food & drink

On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.

From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.

Other places to eat and drink whilst you’re here