As Bristol’s second City Poet, Vanessa Kisuule has written and performed poems for a wide range of organisations and occasions including: the 100th anniversary of the Addison oak tree in Sea Mills; two State of the City addresses; St Paul’s Carnival; Every Child Needs Christmas; and the University of Bristol. She has run workshops in libraries, worked with children in care and distributed handwritten extracts of her poems around the city for residents to discover. She is increasingly a household name, with appearances on BBC Woman’s Hour and The New York Times, and with her poem Hollow, written in response to the toppling of the Colston statue, having gone viral around the world, receiving plaudits from writers including Malorie Blackman and Philip Pullman.

This event marks the end of Vanessa’s term and the appointment of Caleb Parkin as the new Bristol City Poet. During a conversation with Professor Madhu Krishnan, Vanessa will perform and talk about some of her favourite commissions before Caleb reads his first official poem in this role.

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Festival of Ideas: In conversation with Bristol City Poets