JAWDANCE X Brighton Book Festival

For the first time ever, London's legendary performance poetry night, JAWDANCE, will come to Brighton for a special night of as part of Brighton Book Festival. JAWDANCE fuses the freshest voices with stellar talent for a night that showcases global voices, creating memorable "you had to be there" magic. Headlined by Keith Jarrett, hosted by AFLO. the poet and featuring Kareem Parkins Brown along with eleven local emerging poets who have been working with AFLO. the poet as part of Apples and Snakes ‘Poets in your City’, programme. Expect live DJ and more. AFLO. the poet (she/they) is a Brighton-based spoken word artist, activist and academic who embraces creative expression as a vehicle to disrupt the status quo and inspire social change. With a bold voice rooted in lived experience, AFLO. uses poetry as a tool for resistance, healing, and radical honesty. AFLO. is the host of Brighton Dome’s STATUS FLO, lead on the Brighton branch of Apples & Snakes' 'Poet in Your City' Programme, and was awarded the Brighton Girl Creative of the Year Award in 2025. She has shared her voice at a range of venues, from protests and grassroots community spaces to national stages, including the magical fields of Glastonbury and the famous 'red dot' for her very own Tedx Talk. Keith Jarrett’s poetry, fiction and essays have been widely anthologised. A multiple slam champion, he teaches at NYU London and holds a PhD from Birkbeck. His collection Hide Me Under the Blood and I Shall Be Satisfied was published by Bad Betty in March and was a PBS spring recommendation. Kareem Parkins-Brown is a writer and visual artist. He is a proud northwest Londoner and Barbican Young Poet alumnus. He won the Roundhouse Poetry Slam in 2019 and is happiest when watching Mean Girls or Carlito’s Way. He was shortlisted for Young People’s Laureate for London and the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship in 2019. His work concerns nostalgia, grief, surrealism and hood life circa 2005 – present day. His first pamphlet Oi You Lot was published by Bad Betty Press.