Luke has been curating poetry and spoken word events since 1999. Aged 17 he put on his first event - Smashed Entertainment - at The Minories Art Gallery in Colchester. Smashed Entertainment featured sets from local bands, Essex Poet Laureate Martin Newell and was headlined by Ross Sutherland. It became the bedrock for the friendship between Luke and Ross which blossomed to form Aisle16.
Aisle16 began life as a poetry club above a communist themed vodka bar in Norwich in 2000. Hosted by Luke and featuring regular sets from residents Ross Sutherland and Paul Joyce, Aisle16 became the hub for a burgeoning scene of young writers in Norwich. Other poets came to do sets but they were often outclassed by the residents, who grew in number until there were five - Luke Wright, Ross Sutherland, Paul Joyce, Ian McKenzie, Joel Stickley. This collective became the first incarnation of a collective Aisle16. The collective went on to win awards for their poetry theatre shows and raise the bar for spoken word in the UK.
Around the same time Luke hosted and co-programmed (with Toby Cunnigham) UEA’s Chill ‘Em Out Jazz Cafe. For two years the Jazz Cafe was packed out every month with 150+ punters and played host to the likes of Levi Tafari, Adrian Mitchell, Martin Newell and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Leaving Norwich in 2003 Luke programmed a couple of short lived events in East London - 2 Many Poets in Bethnal Green and Escape Your Sofa, a comedy/spoken word hybrid event in Shoreditch. In 2004 he took over running poetry events at The Whitechapel Gallery. Over three seasons he brought acts such Hugo Williams, Polarbear, David J, Clare Pollard, Byron Vincent and all of Aisle16 to the intimate cafe/bar space. Every single event was packed out and The Whitechapel soon became one of the main venues for poetry in London as organisations such as Apples & Snakes, Salt, Penned in the Margins and T-Shirts & Jeans followed Luke’s lead and ran events there.
Following a couple of guest curatorships at established clubs such as Book Slam, in 2006 Luke was asked to co-programme (with Tania Harrison of festival organisers Festival Republic) all the poetry for the inaugural Latitude Festival. Finally given a proper budget to work with Luke set about creating a snapshot of the live poetry scene in Britain introducing new acts such as John Osborne and Nathan Jones to a wider audience; programming up and coming artists like John Berkavitch, Polarbear and Inua Ellams; welcoming top ranking live poets such as Attila The Stockbroker, John Cooper Clarke, David J, Lemn Sissay and Murray Lachlan Young; as well as international superstar Patti Smith. An incredible line-up, the Poetry tent was jammed full all weekend and the festival organisers were forced to provide a bigger arena for 2007.
2007 was a landmark year for Luke’s events. At Latitude he programmed likes Roger McGough, John Hegley, songwriter Kate Nash and Simon Armitage as well a providing acts such as A Poem in Between People and Laura Dockrill (Dockers MC) with an introduction to the national scene. By now Latitude was one of the biggest poetry events in Europe, hosting 60+ poets over 51 hours in just three and half days.
In August 2007 he hosted and programmed his own two day Poetry Party in The Meadows at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Luke Wright’s Poetry Party was the first dedicated poetry venue in the Fringe’s 60 year history. 20 poets were featured including Lemn Sissay, Murray Lachlan Young, Polarbear, Martin Newell, John Hegley, Tim Turnbull, Roddy Lumsden and Clare Pollard. The event was rammed all day Sunday as part of Fringe Sunday and despite going up against comedy, cabaret and music tents The Scotsman hailed it as the most popular venue of the day. And this is poetry we’re talking about.
Since 2007 Luke has worked as the Live Literature Co-ordinator for Writers’ Centre Norwich (formerly New Writing Partnership) and whilst there worked on putting into place The Poetry Link, a unique regional touring network across East Anglia, taking in five different poetry clubs. The Poetry Link has featured Scroobius Pip, Luke Kennard, Francesca Beard and Dockers MC. Luke currently programmes one of the events himself - Wax Lyrical at Colchester Arts Centre.
Luke has carried on programming and hosting Latitude. 2008 featured a spine-tingling reading from future Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and an emotional, rabble rousing performance from Shadow Poet Laureate Adrian Mitchell, which sadly turned out to his last major appearance.
In 2009 we can look forward to performances from Brian Patten, Jackie Kay, Andrew Motion, Polarbear, Jeffrey Lewis, Luke Kennard, Nathan Jones & Wave Machines, Charlie Dark, Patience Agbabi, Simon Armitage, Dalgjit Nagra, Roger Lloyd Pack, Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffet, as well as Aisle16’s infamous late night shows.
In 2009 Luke begins work on a brand new high-end poetry performance club. Purple Ronnie’s Stand-Up Poetry Club launches in Edinburgh August 2009 before transferring to The Tabernacle in West London for a limited run.
With over a decades experience of programming and hosting events Luke is one of the UK’s leading curators of live poetry and has leant his expertise to events and festivals such as Gold 08, Book Slam and The Port Eliot Lit Fest. Few people know the live poetry scene in Britain like Luke, with contacts ranging from brand new acts right up to old masters. If you’re interested in Luke programming or hosting an event for you please contact him here.
