Mic Nightlife: POW - Play on Words, The Roebuck, Borough

POW! pops you in the face with a bejeweled, gloved hand of kindness - a friendly punk punch to the jaw. An encouraging wake up slap that says - “go on, you’ve got this, we’ve got you, get up there and be whatever you dream to be.”

POW! A punch drunk love
letter, to leave you better
Whoever you are!

Lee, you have a manifesto! That’s a first for us, let’s kick off with the intro to that!

POW! PLAY ON WORDS MANIFESTO 2026
WE ARE NOT SORRY!
NO! to Quiet, reverential poetry readings
NO! to Academic gatekeeping
NO! to Passive consumption
Make the spectator work!
FOOTBALL FOUCAULT RHYMES AND ROUSSEAU
ARCHIVAL SONICS IN THE FRACTURED CITY
PLAY ON PEDAGOGY
PERTINENT INTERRUPTIONS
VOCALISATIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTED MOUTH
DISEMBODIED POETICS
THE RIVER HAS NO COLOUR
We are POW!
Don’t lock yourself!
Unblock yourself!
Unlock yourself!
and shock yourself!
Speak, be outspoken!
We are POW!
This manifesto is a score. Interrupt it. Heckle it. Break it.
We are POW Poets-cum-Situationists, rooted in historical traditions of inversion
We un-work passivity
We activate agency and subjectivity, ethics and desire by provocation
State your desire!
POW!
We fuse spoken word, film, and multimedia performance
We reimagine what a poetry event can be
We replace the quiet intimacy of traditional readings with a charged, visually and aurally immersive experience
We transform traditional readings into visceral acts of thought and expression.
We don’t just speak but perform
We blur the line between text, art, and theatre. The atmosphere is electric. This is not just performance; it’s reclamation.

Our energy spreads outward, connecting poets, artists, and audiences through a web of radical creativity, a window into a living movement within London’s contemporary poetry scene: a space where words are not only spoken but wielded, playfully, critically, and defiantly
Our funny rhymes and word play puns
Are our screwdrivers, glue guns
to deconstruct and build carnivalesque
upside down inverted counter-worlds with comedy
Laughter, the legacy of the medieval Feast of Fools
The World Turned Upside Down
At Saint-Omer, the clergy turned their clothes inside-out
And the Franciscan monks at Antibes
held their books upside down
Long live the Feast of Fools!
Vive la Fête des Fous!

Watch a short film and the full manifesto here! (After reading the article of course!)

Love it! Now… getting back to our regular programming, why did you start the poetry night?

Lee Campbell: POW! began in 2021 at The Bridge House Theatre in Penge. I was fresh to the London poetry scene and wanted my own night to put my own stamp on things. I had curated for 20 years before then, but mainly within the canon of live performance art and experimental film. By bringing live art into the poetry scene, I hoped to shake things up a bit.

We’ve had a range of performers from all over the world. In 2024, we moved to a venue in Croydon and then in 2025 began our current bi-monthly residency at The Roebuck in Borough, where we’ve welcomed a wonderful mix of open micers and headliners including Redeeming Features, Kid Anansi, Haroon Khan, PT Plays, Lizzie Rose, Rich Bliss and Jake Nathan. Later in 2026 and into 2027 we’ll also feature acts including Julie Cheung, The Repeat Beat Poet, and Kristal Sisodia.

POW! poets are space architects
Imagineers
Creating spaces that destroy our fears
We survive in spaces where we thrive
and our beauty comes alive

Colin B Osborn: I didn’t actually start the night, Lee set it up initially at a venue in Penge. When he restarted it at Aurelia Studio in Croydon he invited me to join him as a co-curator.

We had both been hitting the open mic scene heavily and got to know each other pretty well as you do when you see somebody multiple times a week. I was becoming more involved in the event organising side of things on the poetry scene and after I suggested Lee should host Redeeming Features’ debut book launch it made sense to join forces.

For me the purpose of running a night is to see who turns up on the open mic and surprises you with how great they are. Also it provides an opportunity to get amazing poets to come and do feature sets; what’s not to like?

How would you describe the vibe of your nights?
CO: The aim for POW! is to provide a platform that allows for some experimentation and variation in approach. We’re also interested in the potential for collaboration across different mediums. We’ve run events in archives and joined forces with film and animation festivals to explore the interplay between poetry and film and also live dance.

We aim to be an inclusive and supportive platform where everybody feels comfortable to share their work.

We welcome heartfelt and sincere work as much as smutty and comedic and everything in between. Ultimately the aim is that the night is fun and hopefully the poetry is engaging.

LC: Vibrant, punky, and boundary-pushing.

POW! Play on Words reimagines what a poetry event can be, replacing the quiet intimacy of traditional readings with a charged, visually and aurally immersive experience. It’s a performance-punk poetry platform that transforms readings into visceral acts of thought and expression.

Each edition showcases a diverse lineup of established voices and emerging talents, celebrating innovation, inclusion, and the raw energy of live performance. Expect poetry that doesn’t just speak but performs, often accompanied by projected film, soundscapes, or interactive elements that blur the line between text, art, and theatre.

The atmosphere is electric and welcoming: audiences are encouraged to engage, respond, and even participate through open mic opportunities. POW! has become a hub for poets, artists, and audiences eager to explore the intersection of word, movement, and image.

Each event becomes an evolving experiment, infusing the personal, emotional, and visceral into the philosophical whilst remaining critically engaged. This is not just performance; it’s also reclamation — reclaiming the “I” as both critical protagonist and concurrent witness.

POW! is rhizomatic in spirit: dispersing outward with punk energy that connects poets, artists, and audiences through a web of radical creativity. It offers a window into a living movement within London’s contemporary poetry scene — a space where words are not only spoken but wielded playfully, critically, and defiantly.

You may see us as impoliteness
unfortunate aberrations
Scum on the margins
Relegate us to the realm of vulgar and uncouth
Inscribe us as antisocial
But we are outspoken and courageous
Not nuisance makers, we are speakers for others
Stick out both our necks and tongues

We are Hecklers!
Super Hecklers!
Flash mobbing
Streaking
Protest Marching
We are Slapstickers!
We get knocked down but we survive!

What do you love most about the poetry scene?
LC: What I love most about the poetry scene is its openness to experimentation and connection. Poetry spaces can bring together people from completely different backgrounds, generations, and artistic disciplines, yet everyone arrives with a willingness to listen and share. I’m especially drawn to the performers and organisers who are pushing at the edges of what poetry can be, blending it with sound art, film, theatre, movement, and live performance. I think POW! is very much part of that evolving conversation and I’m excited about where it can go in the future.

I also love the immediacy of it. Unlike many art forms, poetry can respond very quickly to the political, emotional, and social atmosphere of the moment. There’s a rawness and urgency to live poetry that feels vital right now. At its best, the scene creates spaces where vulnerability, critique, humour, and experimentation can coexist.

London’s poetry scene in particular feels incredibly diverse and alive. There are so many DIY platforms and independent nights run with real passion and care. That grassroots energy is what keeps it exciting for me: people creating spaces not for prestige, but for expression, risk-taking, and community.

CO: For me the poetry scene has been a fantastic and welcoming group of people.
At its best it provides a platform for a wealth of different voices and perspectives. I’ve met a huge range of incredibly talented people and made some great friends.

The diversity of voices is a really positive aspect of the scene. You see well drilled pieces from experienced performers alongside ones penned on the journey in. Poetry should be one of the most egalitarian mediums. All you need is a pen or whatever you write on or with, and something to say. I like the DIY ethos of people just giving things a go.

In the three years that I’ve been immersing myself fully in it, it's opened up so many doors; I’ve performed at festivals, published a book and will be going abroad to perform in Hamburg later this year. All of this stemmed from deciding to go to an open mic. It’s provided me with an opportunity to truly pursue my creative ambitions.

Well, thank you both so much for welcoming me to the night and for sharing your story, Lee anything else to add?

Yes! POW! is more than an open mic night. We collaborate with external partners including film festivals, museums, and archives to present live performance poetry in unexpected spaces. Emphasising community and critical practice beyond academia, POW! explores ideas and philosophies through performance, prioritising creative practice over qualification.

Recent projects include ARCHIVAL SONICS IN THE FRACTURED CITY, which explores sound and musical frequencies within archival material, asking how archives can be heard as well as read. Launched at London Archives in July 2025, the project featured live performances by Sharon Young, Roshni Bhagotra, Benjamin Goode, Colin B Osborn, and Lee Campbell. The project examines fragmented urban soundscapes and gaps in social and historical memory through spoken word, readings, and sonic interventions.

THE RIVER HAS NO COLOUR (@theriverhasnocolour) explores riverine themes through poetry and film. Named after a pamphlet by Jessica Taggart Rose, the project considers rivers as both metaphor and physical presence, examining their ecological, historical, and social significance. Its first iteration took place at Hypermedia, Gravesend, in August 2025, where the Thames meets the North Sea. Featured artists included Jessica Taggart Rose, Fiona Spirals, Anthony Hart, Colin B Osborn, Benjamin Goode, Lee Campbell, Kristijan Radakovic, and Sarah Tremlett. You can read an article about the project here.

Another ongoing collaboration is with Brighton International Animation Film Festival and Fisheye Film Festival. POW! poets create new work in response to films selected by the festivals, performing between screenings to create a dialogue between animation, poetry film, and spoken word. Recent contributors include Lee Campbell, Pip McDonald, Redeeming Features, Benjamin Goode, and Colin B. Osborn.

And, don't miss our next POW! event at The Roebuck for more of what you've seen here!

Amazing, keep up the good work and thank you for collaborating with us here at TheNeverPress. Colin, would you like to close us out with a poem?

Speech Therapy

See I used to be tongue tied
A small slip of superfluous tissue
Connecting tongue to mouth
Caused a locution issue
Whereby over certain words I'd stumble
A jumble of pronunciations duly fumbled

It was the lingual frenulum
To use the correct description
Was Held by excess flesh
That interfered with my diction

By this addition unneeded
Vocalising was impeded
And if my verbals were heeded
Improper wordage proceeded

My v's were b's
While t's and d's were teased
Into conceits that cleaved
Far from the Queens received
Indeed, were my speech perceived
It'd read like a mediaeval screed
Conceived pre-consonantal conventions having been decreed

But a minor procedure my tongue's movement freed
They cut back that flap
causing the curb
on my discursive intentions
And to perturb further disturbance
Of the words that I'd mention
It was decided I be guided
By therapeutic attention
Any mangled syntax that remained intact
Would be put back
Would be put back on track
And I'd soon redact
All of the traces of my former
Ankyloglossia
If I studiously pursued
The route supplied in the dossier

Through language exercises
And correct declarations
I'd divest myself completely
Of suspect formulations
When engaging in the process
Of polite conversation
Still make faux pas's sure,
But not through enunciation

And I took to heart the injunction
That linguistic function
Required proper application
To avoid the compunction
Awoken when conversants
Deemed my words to be minced
Formed an aversion to the thought
My meaning wasn't distinct

Similarly piqued an interest
In the way that words sync
With the nebulous array
Of random things that we think
Still puzzling that one
Both in my head and in ink

But I digress, my ideas weren't yet that progressive can I really attest to
Having pensively tested the cybernetics of phonetics
Well I was only 5
So my pondering of articulable concepts
Would had to have been most precocious in its onset

But lexicographically speaking
An interest was creeping
In the manner by which words
Could be the salve I was seeking

How cognisant I was of morphological cogs
I couldn't say but knew the concept of my competence was
Contained within the context of how chat came across
Not to say I only counted up in profit and loss
But fixation on oration gave a comforting gloss
To things over which at that age I could never be boss

And growing older I'd behold how old conjectural plots
Could be resold as we were told the leopard now had new spots
how connections concocted by honey tongued convocants
Could be conned and contorted just to realise their wants

Or conversely how conversationalists of nobler intent
Could corral a camaraderie through words wisely spent
With winning intimations and positive takes
Soothing troubled folk to move on from mistakes
Consideration of the spoken would continue to grow
Contemplation been awoken by that course long ago
Of words potential power it had left me convinced
The value of the speech act thoroughly evinced
And I've been wordily talking bollocks ever since.

- Colin Osborn

Big shout out and thank you to all the poets not featured here from the night, please take it as a compliment that I was too into your poetry to get a decent shot!

Mic Nightlife is a photography, poetry and storytelling series celebrating the places people share words. Please invite us to your night!

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