By complete chance my friend invited me to come to the second anniversary of Boxed In, a monthly live poetry night at Boxpark, the super-cool location made of shipping containers in Shoreditch. The night was hosted in a space between containers on the upper level, with picnic tables, patio heaters and a single microphone.

Poets took turns to do a two minute open mic session with a range of styles, topics and delivery. Almost all were enjoyable, and almost all were quite good. I felt quite white and quite middle class in the crowd – but I can deal with that. I was enthralled! There were probably almost 200 people there and an electric atmosphere. Exactly what you don’t expect from a poetry night!

Possibly the funniest moment was the older lady who we were sat next to who said: “For a really wild night of poetry go here – they’re bonkers” and pushed us this note:

 

They’re held every month, and I’m definitely going back. Maybe I’ll even do a poem?