April 15, 2023
Poetry and spoken word have always been core elements of the Hidden Door programme and experience, and this year showcases a diverse range of new and established performers from across Scotland.
Discover a mix of spoken word artists and page poets, both emerging and established, performing their variations on this year’s theme of Environments.
Our chosen artists responded to the call in unique ways. Some focused on interior environments (such as the body or domestic spaces), others on exterior environments (whether social, cultural, or in the natural world). Some focused on Scotland and the isles, others summoned landscapes beyond UK borders.
Each night will challenge, illuminate and expand on our ideas of habitats and climates – those inside us, in the worlds that we move through, and the landscapes we carry with us.
Here, we take a day-by-day look at the line-up, complete with some exclusive performances recorded at our 2023 venue before work begins to transform it for the festival.
On the first day of the festival, writer, poet and researcher Caitlin Stobie will share her writing, and Clare O’Brien will present her work inspired by the natural world and the creatures that wander through it.
Queer writer and spoken word poet Gray Crosbie makes their return to Hidden Door, as does Sean Wai Keung presenting his reflections on identity and migration. We also welcome Mexican-Scottish poet, editor and vocalist Patrick Romero McCafferty.
Jay Whittaker will perform her irreverent, unsentimental poems looking at mortality, illness and loss. Fiona Robertson will use her poetry to explore some somewhat chaotic interests.
Poet and performance maker Bibi June present post-apocalyptic stories on climate change, while actor and poet Rupert Smith takes inspiration from Shakespeare.
Irish poet Éadaoín Lynch will perform from their debut poetry pamphlet, and Genevieve Carver will present her work in response to dolphins, porpoises and seals. British-Sudanese lyricist and performance poet Zaki El-Salahi will take to the stage, and Sal will perform her work entangling trans and chronically ill experiences with organic processes of decay and birth.
Saturday sees queer Latinx writer Andrés N Ordorica share his writing on the diasporic experience, and Ross McCleary performs his piece advocating for refilling of the Nor Loch.
Annaliese Broughton features, fresh from being part of BBC Words First, and we welcome Edinburgh-based US poet Allie Kerper.
The last day of Hidden Door will have performances from Glasgow’s Oliver Robertson and Scottish-Canadian poet Patrick James Errington.
Janette Ayachi will share her musings on searching landscapes and human connection.
Also on the night, Elspeth Wilson will celebrate joy from a marginalised perspective and we welcome Edwin Morgan Poetry Awardee Alyson Kissner.
Alyson is one of Hidden Door’s poetry and spoken word curators. She told us:
“Whether our performers chose to explore interior environments like the body, react to climate change, comment on social conditions, or meditate on the natural world, we were struck by the way this year’s line-up has embraced their own artistry.
“Everyone here has something to say, in voices both bold and reflective. There is tenderness, longing, joy, silence and theatre – and something here for everyone to love and uncover.”
