Special Edition: Little Betty Live

Mandisa Apena is a south London-based poet who writes their dreams down, meditates badly and once climbed a mountain. Their poetry has been commissioned by the Barbican Centre, Arcadia Missa and published in The BitterSweet Review and bath magg. The World’s Darling is forthcoming in 2026.

Hasti is a poet and writer from south-east London. They are a Southbank Centre New Poets Collective alum and won the White Review Poets prize and the Queen Wasifiri New Writing prize. Their short film Digging was produced by Film4 and they co-host the poetry night Fresh Lip. Young, Dumb and Full of Poems won the 2026 Michael Marks award.

Rowan Lyster is a poet and physiotherapist from Bristol, living with Long Covid. Her poems appear in Magma, Poetry Wales, The London Magazine, The Rialto and elsewhere. She is an alumna of the Southbank Centre New Poets’ Collective. We Will Be Fine was published in 2025.

Colin McGuire is a poet and performer from Glasgow. He won the Shore Poets Quiet Slam in 2014, the Luminate Slam 2015, and the Out:spoken awards for ‘film poetry’ and best poetry overall in 2018. He is a facilitator with Open Book Charity, running sessions in communities and prisons around Scotland. Ultraviolet was published in July 2026.

Francis-Xavier Mukiibi is a poet of Ugandan heritage from north London. He is an alumnus of Barbican Young Poets, Roundhouse Poetry Collective and the Obsidian Foundation and was the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award for his debut pamphlet, Mutabani & [ ]ther Poems (2024).

Kareem Parkins-Brown is a writer, visual artist and A Roundhouse Slam winner. The Margate-based poet is obsessed with surrealism, grief and Londonisms. Oi You Lot was published in 2024.

Jackson Phoenix Nash (he/him) is a poet and lecturer from Essex whose work explores life as a trans man, mental health and the body. He has been published widely, featured on BBC radio, won the Ware Poets Competition and the Rattle Ekphrastic Competition. Some People are Trains was published in 2024.

William Wyld is a poet and visual artist from London. They were highly commended in the Bridport and Forward prizes, are a member of Wild Thing eco-poetry collective, a Southbank New Poets Collective alum and a Poetry Archive Now winner. The Butterfly Bush was published in June 2026.

Zakariye is a poet, playwright and film-maker from Birmingham whose work explores masculinity, faith and identity. His short film Cages was broadcast on the BBC and he is a Roundhouse Resident Artist and member of Hippodrome Origins. Pulling Faces was published in 2025.