Founded and directed by poet and cultural producer Danny Carlo Pandolfi, Raise the Bar has become South West England's leading live poetry night, renowned for its legendary line-ups, raucous audience-centred atmosphere and commitment to making poetry accessible to all. Through major theatre events, monthly open mics, affordable courses, workshops and retreats, it has redefined what a poetry night can be while nurturing the next generation of writers. Last month, their UK Poetry All-Stars show attracted more than 1,500 people to Bristol Beacon, the largest poetry event of its kind outside London. By proving spoken word can command large-scale audiences without losing its intimacy or political charge, Raise the Bar has expanded who poetry belongs to and built lasting infrastructure for the artform.

Joelle Taylor's Maryville is a trailblazing and formally daring collection that chronicles fifty years of lesbian history, queer community and underground culture through the lens of the legendary Maryville butch bar. Blending poetry, oral history, myth and testimony, Taylor creates a vivid cast of characters whose lives illuminate both the violence of exclusion and the transformative power of belonging. Richly imagined, emotionally powerful and resistant to cliché, the collection challenges conventional ideas of what poetry can be while preserving stories too often overlooked. Maryville is an act of remembrance, celebration and cultural reclamation, bringing a hidden history thrillingly to life.