Slowly, slowly, the tongue unrolls: an evening of poetry and sound

Performance poetry and sound curated by UCL Special Collections and Monitor Books

UCL Special Collections and Monitor Books present Slowly, slowly, the tongue unrolls: an evening of poetry and sound bringing together some of the most interesting experimental poets and artists at work today. Inspired by UCL’s internationally renowned Small Press Collections of independently produced literary little magazines, experimental art and poetry, this event will feature performance poetry, sound art and screenings to celebrate 60 years of small press collecting at UCL. It also concludes two projects rooted in these collections: Monitor Books’ tenure as the inaugural UCL 2025 Small Press in Residence, and the 2025 Liberating the Collections Visiting Fellowship held by Andrew Whiteman (AroarA, Apostle of Hustle, Broken Social Scene), for which he focused on rare sound poetry recordings.

Join us for performances by veteran poet Allen Fisher, renowned contemporary artist Tris Vonna-Michell, NTS Radio favourites DJ duo Time Is Away, Andrew Whiteman's new sonic poetry project Poets Workout Sound System, experimental choir Vocal Constructivists, UCL’s own artist-poet Christine Kirubi, artist-writer Samra Mayanja and performer-director Rowland Hill.

Performers:

Rowland Hill

Allen Fisher

Vocal Constructivists

Samra Mayanja

Tris Vonna-Michell

dove / Christine Kirubi

Time Is Away

Andrew Whiteman / Poets Workout Sound System