The Common Press Poetry Night w/ Zain Rishi & Friends
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 · 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Artists
Calling all poets! Join us for our next Common Press Poetry Night on Tuesday 28th April from 7-9.30pm for a beautiful evening of performance from established poets and an open mic, hosted by Zain Rishi.
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Our poets:
Zain Rishi is a writer from Birmingham, UK. He won the 27th annual Ware Poets Competition, placed third in the 2024 Oxford Poetry Prize and was highly commended in the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25. His poetry has featured in Magma, Wildness, Fourteen Poems, Gutter, Propel and various anthologies. He is currently based in Edinburgh. Noon is his debut poetry pamphlet.
Francis-Xavier Mukiibi is a poet and performer of Ugandan heritage from North London. He was the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award for his debut pamphlet, Mutabani & [ ]ther Poems (Little Betty, 2025), and won Silver in the Creative Future Writers’ Award for 2024.
Sara Mostafa is an Egyptian poet & writer based in London & Glasgow. In 2024, she was highly commended for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award.
Sylvie Jane Lewis has appeared in The London Magazine, Acumen, and fourteen poems. Her poetry placed third in the 2025 Bridport Poetry Prize, making her winner of the 2025 Bridport Young Writer Award. She is pursuing an AHRC-funded Literature and Film PhD at the University of Brighton, focused on the fairy in literary modernism and early film and photography.
🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
If you’d like to read at the poetry night, arrive at 7pm to sign up. There will also be opportunities to sign up on the night and hop on stage. Please note that while we will do our best to accommodate as many readers as possible, we cannot guarantee that everyone on the list will have the chance to perform.
Schedule
7:00 pm - Doors open
7:15 pm - Sara performing
7:30 pm - Open Mic slots
7:45 pm - Francis-Xavier performing
8:00 pm - Open Mic slots
8:15 pm - Break
8:30 pm - Sylvie performing
8:45 pm - Open mic slots
9:00 pm - Zain performing
9:30 pm - Closing
🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
Our poets:
Zain Rishi is a writer from Birmingham, UK. He won the 27th annual Ware Poets Competition, placed third in the 2024 Oxford Poetry Prize and was highly commended in the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25. His poetry has featured in Magma, Wildness, Fourteen Poems, Gutter, Propel and various anthologies. He is currently based in Edinburgh. Noon is his debut poetry pamphlet.
Francis-Xavier Mukiibi is a poet and performer of Ugandan heritage from North London. He was the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award for his debut pamphlet, Mutabani & [ ]ther Poems (Little Betty, 2025), and won Silver in the Creative Future Writers’ Award for 2024.
Sara Mostafa is an Egyptian poet & writer based in London & Glasgow. In 2024, she was highly commended for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award.
Sylvie Jane Lewis has appeared in The London Magazine, Acumen, and fourteen poems. Her poetry placed third in the 2025 Bridport Poetry Prize, making her winner of the 2025 Bridport Young Writer Award. She is pursuing an AHRC-funded Literature and Film PhD at the University of Brighton, focused on the fairy in literary modernism and early film and photography.
🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
If you’d like to read at the poetry night, arrive at 7pm to sign up. There will also be opportunities to sign up on the night and hop on stage. Please note that while we will do our best to accommodate as many readers as possible, we cannot guarantee that everyone on the list will have the chance to perform.
Schedule
7:00 pm - Doors open
7:15 pm - Sara performing
7:30 pm - Open Mic slots
7:45 pm - Francis-Xavier performing
8:00 pm - Open Mic slots
8:15 pm - Break
8:30 pm - Sylvie performing
8:45 pm - Open mic slots
9:00 pm - Zain performing
9:30 pm - Closing