Inn Verse
Inn Verse
This website showcases the original poetry of attendees at Inn Verse, a monthly poetry event now held at the University of Exeter, but with a long history. Inn Verse was first held in October 2007 at the Salutation, a public house in central Manchester, when its co-founder and current host, Professor Simon Rennie, was still an English undergraduate at Manchester Metropolitan University. Along with (now Dr) Joseph Greenwood, he created a poetry event which aimed to allow an inclusive, non-judgmental space for students and local poets to recite their poetry, accompanied by convivial imbibing of alcohol. Inn Verse was subsequently held at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester for a while.
Poets at Inn Verse read in a round, with an approximate time limit of three minutes per reading. Recitations/performances are not applauded, nor is there any workshopping of poetry. The intention is to enable the auditory nature of poetry to be enjoyed, and to allow a gentle space for new work to be heard. Inn Verse has been continued at the University of Exeter since 2016 by Simon Rennie, who has hosted it since its inception apart from a significant period in 2009-10 when it was hosted by the Manchester poet Anna Percy. Hundreds of poets have read their work at Inn Verse over the years, and many have read in public for the first time at the event. Several of these first-timers have gone on to become published poets, and some have even set up poetry events of their own.
This website, edited by Exeter English undergraduates Zoe Masefield and Charlie Price (with Professor Rennie acting as editor-in-chief) features the original work of Inn Verse poets present and past, and is dedicated to the celebration of speech made musical, language made strange, and life looked at askance…
If you have read your original poetry at Inn Verse and wish it to be included on this site, write to s.rennie@exeter.ac.uk, zm318@exeter.ac.uk, or cp774@exeter.ac.uk, including your poem in the format you wish it to be published, the month at which it was read at Inn Verse*, and an optional biographical note of no more than two sentences.
*This can be a guess if your reading was back in the mists of time…