Diversion is brought to you by hosts Emma C and Adrian Mealing as part of Ledbury Poetry. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.15pm start. Join us for a night of spoken word and open mic’ers. Sign up on the door for open mic – newbies welcome.
Headliner: Emma Purshouse
Emma Purshouse is a poetry slam champion and performs regularly at spoken word nights and festivals far and wide, sometimes using her native Black Country dialect. She was the first Poet Laureate for the City of Wolverhampton. Her appearances include, The Cheltenham Literature Festival, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Much Wenlock Poetry Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, Latitude, Womad and Shambala. Emma’s new poetry collection Unsung was launched in September 2025 and is now available from offaspress.co.uk
She is one third of the poetry collective ‘Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists’ who run spoken word events, workshops, and poetry projects across the English Midlands.
“A whirlwind of wit and humour” – Write Out Loud.”
Feature acts: Ash Bainbridge and Jo Eades
Ash Bainbridge (they/he) is a queer writer and midwife with a breaking voice and broken uterus who blazes for our bodies to be our own. Recent publications include ‘gender-inclusive language in midwifery’ that’s now international journal Birth’s most downloaded article, textbook chapter on queer reproductive loss Routledge’s upcoming ‘Pride in Birth’, and their poetry chapbook about living with endometriosis as a trans person – ’Trans-crip-T’ – that’s out now with Written Off Publishing. Ash’s featured artist credits include London’s Vagina Museum, City Lit’s Mental Wealth Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, and the New York Poetry Festival. Instagram: @ash_bainbridgeBlueSky: @ash-bainbridge.bsky.social
Jo Eades performs regularly on the Bristol spoken word scene. In 2023, she performed on the Milk Poetry stage at Valleyfest and was selected as one of eight emerging poets from the South West to be part of Apple and Snakes’ Future Voices project. She has won the Lyra Bristol Poetry Slam, the Poetry Shack Slam at WOMAD Festival and the Ledbury Poetry Festival Slam in 2025. She has been featured four times on BBC Radio Bristol’s Upload, being one of their ‘best of’ poets for 2024. Her debut pamphlet “Flanked” was published by Burning Eye Books in October 2025.
Open mic slots available, sign up on the door.
Tickets £8.
There is a fully licenced bar, and coffee and snacks will also be available to purchase.
Sign up for Open Mic on the door, or email: clowsley@hotmail.com
PLEASE NOTE: This event may contain adult language and subject matter.
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