On 16 November 2023, Birmingham Poet Laureate Jasmine Gardosi joined the AR Literature Course Poetry Off the Page (Julia Lajta-Novak) to lead a workshop on poetry and performance for students and members of the public.
Jasmine Gardosi is a multiple slam champion, beatboxer, winner of the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry and winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Performer.
Their work exploring identity, LGBTQ+ issues and mental health has appeared on Button Poetry, at the Tate Modern, Glastonbury Festival and across BBC Radio, including BBC Radio 3's The Verb, Radio 4 and BBC Asian Network. They were featured on Sky Arts' BAFTA-winning show, Life & Rhymes, and their poem about the pandemic, filmed on a rollercoaster, was broadcast across America on PBS after going viral on Twitter.
Jasmine was commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre to create 'Dancing To Music You Hate', their debut show exploring gender identity, which features poetry, beatbox and Celtic dubstep. The show premiered to standing ovations, won Best Spoken Word Show in the Saboteur Awards, and just completed an ACE-funded national tour.
The workshop was organised by Shefali Banerji and Julia Lajta-Novak of the "Poetry Off the Page" project, in collaboration with Queer Writers Circle Vienna, run by Hint Wien. Jasmine will also perform at the Queer Writers Circle Vienna’s annual festival Poetic Intuition 2023 at Brunnenpassage on 17 November 2023.
