#FromTheArchive: “I drank a little gin, listened to nineties hip-hop, and I danced as I wrote and rewrote. I broke night with my poems. In other words, you have to hang out with your book,” says Willie Perdomo in #WritersRecommend. at.pw.org/WilliePerdomo

Rick Dove, 43, became the oldest winner of the national poetry slam title with a powerful piece about social injustice and innocence lost. voice-online.co.uk/entertainment/…

Todays Longlist feature is Sonnet Written at the Close of Spring By Abraham Avice youtu.be/ywtZePihsu4

The judges thought Abraham Avice’s setting of Shakespeare’s sonnet combined powerful footage with an atmospheric reading. youtu.be/ywtZePihsu4

Abraham writes: I love the Doris Day version of Again & I feel this piece similarly brings out the beauty of existential dread & expresses a similar sense of the inevitability of the passage of time and the fact that everything shall pass, good or bad. youtu.be/ywtZePihsu4

Our final Pick is To A Stranger by Julio Guiao. youtu.be/aukVjEc-FmQ This, Powerful edit of Walt Whitman's Poem is a Fave of @Think_write_fly

Julio Guiao’s setting of Walt Whitman’s poem is wonderful, dark atmospheric and deeply connected to the poetics. youtu.be/aukVjEc-FmQ

The judges thought it conveyed a deep yearning for touch and was a real transformation. youtu.be/aukVjEc-FmQ

That's It for the Longlist. Tommorow night @ 6pm Tune In to see our Winners Showcase on YT. See the five films that pipped all the others to the Post and Meet the Film makers! youtu.be/1fXtzEiTtdM

And that's all folks! Thanks to everyone who performed, presented and came to watch! It's been a big week of poems and hopefully we will see you again next year. All these poets have been amazing! If you have enjoyed the festival why not drop a few £ here: ko-fi.com/ooippfest

Annual poetry and spoken word festival #ContainsStrongLanguage - a partnership between BBC Arts, Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, WritingWestMidlands & Nine Arches Press – is in Coventry for the biggest celebration of poetry ever seen in the region. Book your tickets here: coventry2021.co.uk/contains-stron…

Ep. 7: A Nest of Stars versefirst.org/alone-together…

So [ahem] #AloneTogether Is back With more poetry & sounds in a bite-size chunk @Think_write_fly doesn't usually do this but, this is Ep.7: A Nest of Stars. Titled the collection that landed in his inbox. and inspired him to make noise again.

Oh, the Inbox at [email protected] is open for Episode 9. Until the 26th of August :) Record your poems & musings on the theme of HOME. Send the Snippets in. @Think_write_fly will handle the sounds. Looking forward to hearing from you.

OH HAI. Just to let you know #alonetogether is available on apple podcasts too! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alo… if that's your thing. No judgement 😉

In case you missed it…

Come through!

Midlanders: check this out!