Description
Jawdance is taking a well-deserved holiday in August and it returns Wednesday 23 September. It’ll be raring to go after its short summer break and my goodness have we pulled together a cracking line up to kick off a brand new season of London’s biggest and brightest poetry night.
September 2026 line-up: Takunda Muzondiwa, Bradley Taylor and Casey Bailey.
Open Mic will also be back, so if you want to unleash your words to the world, stick your name in the hat on arrival and it could be you heading up on stage. Jawdance is a place for everyone, so if you’re a first-timer, you’ll find a warm and welcoming audience that will be eager to hear your work.
Together, we witness the power of performance poetry.
A note on phones
We know performing can feel vulnerable, especially when it seems like every moment might end up online. We also know that some of the most powerful moments happen when we’re fully present in the room. That’s why we ask audiences to keep phones away during performances. We’ll have a videographer capturing highlights from the evening, so you’ll still be able to revisit those moments. Feel free to take photos before the show, during the interval and after performances – and do share your experience with us.
For the performances themselves, we invite you to watch with your eyes, not through a screen. Settle in, be present and enjoy the vibe.
On the line-up:
Takunda Muzondiwa is a
poet, actor, and notorious film rewatcher who is based in London and was born in Zimbabwe.
Moving between the personal and the political, her work is interested in the often complicated ways we love, belong and make meaning of one another, and in the distances people travel to find language for what they already know in their bones.
Takunda is the winner of the 2026 National Roundhouse Poetry Slam and placed third at the 2023 World Poetry Slam Championship. She has performed at Shakespeare’s Globe and been commissioned to write for giants like Google. Her work has appeared in theatres, on stages, in notebooks, and family group chats.
No matter the medium, her work remains committed to the same question: what do we owe the people and places that made us?
Insta: @takunda101
Bradley Taylor
is an award-winning poet born and based in Birmingham. In 2024 he won the Roundhouse Poetry Slam, the night of which was the biggest poetry slam in history. In 2025 he released his debut collection ‘You Missed The Best Part’ before embarking on a nationwide tour. Bradley is the host and curator of Piece of Work, Birmingham’s premiere poetry night held at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.
Bradley has appeared at the Hay Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, The Inspirational Youth Awards, on BBC News and on BBC Radio 6 Music as part of Craig Charle’s ‘Class of 2024’, in which Craig Charles described him as ‘A brand new voice and a fresh perspective on the art of poetry and performance’.
Bradley’s work has appeared in Gutter Magazine, Shooter, Strix and across Birmingham train stations as part of Birmingham Hippodrome’s and photographer Paul Stringer’s project The City That Spoke To Me. More recently, he was commissioned to write a poem for Steven Knight, creator of the Peaky Blinders.
In 2025, his performance at the Roundhouse was nominated for the Sky Arts award for poetry.
He writes for, and about, people.
Web: bradleytaylorpoet.com
Insta: @bradleytaylorpoet
Casey Bailey, born and raised in Nechells, Birmingham, is an award‑winning writer, performer and educator. He served as the Birmingham Poet Laureate from 2020 to 2022.
Casey has published multiple poetry collections as well as a cultural history of Birmingham’s Grime and Hip Hop scene. As a playwright, his work has been staged at a range of theatres, and his play Please Do Not Touch completed a successful national tour in 2026.
His contributions to the arts and education have earned him numerous accolades, including a Royal Television Society Award in 2022 and an Honorary Doctorate in Education from Birmingham Newman University.
Web: caseybailey.co.uk
Insta: @casey_bailey