Since it’s establishment in 2021, the festival aims to explore fresh, inventive ways to bring poetry and audiences together by challenging perceptions of what poetry is and how and where it can be enjoyed.
Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival, Push the Boat Out (PTBO), returns to Edinburgh this November in a new venue at the Pleasance, Edinburgh with a packed cross-art form programme promising to provoke, entertain and inspire.
PTBO’s 2025 programme will bring together over 120 artists for a weekend of poetry, performance, music, and art. Setting sail on three thematic streams – Poetry is Punk reminds audiences that poetry can be raw, rebellious and DIY, the Anthropocene reflects on the human impact on our planet and species whilst The Unseen World dives deep into the mystical, esoteric, and spiritual—exploring belief and imagination beyond the everyday.
63 events will showcase some of the most exciting voices from Scotland and around the world. Audiences can look forward to appearances by acclaimed poets and performers including Leena Norms, Luke Kennard, Anthony Anaxagorou, Marjorie Lotfi, Zinnie Harris, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Victoria Chang, Lorna Goodison, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Najwan Darwish, Noor Hindi, Roseanne Watt, Michael Mullen, and Scotland’s Makar, Peter MacKay, among many others.
Highlights of the main festival include:
- New commissions of cross-disciplinary work from poets such as Iona Lee, Taylor Dyson, Craig Aitchison and Garry MacKenzie in association with the National Theatre of Scotland under the theme ‘Anthropocene: the Human-Altered World’.
- Original 1980s ranting poet Tim Wells and punk slam champ Jay Mitra will get rebellious, raw and political in a night of anarchic energy with The Ranting Poets.
- The four winners of the 2024 Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Poetry Award will premiere new collaborations co-conceived with musician Kathryn Williams, unearthing myths from the British Isles with themes of elegy, absence and joy.
- What Now? – a new theatre collective will premiere bold new work responding to today’s geopolitical climate with new commissions from Hannah Lavery, Zinnie Harris, and William Letford. The event is supportedby compelling spoken word from acclaimed poet Anthony Anaxagorou, and live music from Carla J. Easton.
- Two of Scotland’s standout spoken word poets, RJ Hunter and Gray Crosbie willshare new work in a Scratch Night supported by an electrifying performance by Harry Josephine Giles and the Edinburgh Trans Choir.
Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival runs from 20 to 23 November 2025. For more information, visit Push the Boat Out.
