Out-Spoken: June
Hosted by acclaimed poet Joelle Taylor, our monthly poetry and music night brings together a diverse line-up of rising poets and world-renowned performers.
Out-Spoken is the Southbank Centre’s resident poetry and live music night, bringing the hottest UK and international poets to perform alongside world-class musicians every month.
Each monthly gig is hosted by TS Eliot- and Polari Prize-winning poet Taylor, with Sam ‘Junior’ Bromfield spinning the best in reggae, soul and R&B throughout the evening.
This month’s edition features poetry from Daisy Lafarge, Ange Mlinko and Pascale Petit, and music from Dr. Leosoul and POESY.
Daisy Lafarge is a writer and artist based in Glasgow. She is the author of the novel Paul (Granta 2021), which won a Betty Trask Award and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and the poetry collection Life Without Air (Granta 2020), which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and awarded Scottish Poetry Book of the Year. Lovebug, a book on the poetics of infection, was published by Peninsula Press in 2023.
Ange Mlinko has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Randall Jarrell Award for Criticism. She writes for the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. She lives and teaches in Florida.
Pascale Petit has published nine poetry collections, four of which were shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Her ninth, Beast, published by Bloodaxe Books in 2025, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Tiger Girl (Bloodaxe, 2020), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize, and for Wales Book of the Year. Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe, 2017), won the RSL Ondaatje Prize and Laurel Prize. Her debut novel, My Hummingbird Father, was published by Salt in 2024.
Born in north-west London, Dr. Leosoul is a pianist with a taste for neo-soul, jazz and lo-fi blues. He has performed at events and venues such as A Love Supreme, Ronnie Scott’s, The Great Escape and Secret Garden Party. He is soon to release his first EP.
POESY is a Canadian-born, London-based artist, whose lyric-led indie pop is steeped in vintage glamour and emotional depth. A sultry contralto, she turns heartbreak into high drama. Her debut EP, The Inbetween, arrived in early 2025, and she’s currently at work on her next project – a perfume-soaked, noir-tinged collection.
Presented in association with Out-Spoken.
Need to know
Access
This event is Speech-to-Text transcribed (STT).
You can join our free Access Scheme through your online Southbank Centre account or via email.
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For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.