Poets of Colour Incubator Showcase
6.30pm
Overview
The Poets of Colour Incubator
This immersive, multimedia showcase features original work by lauded Poets of Colour Incubator alumni Ilisha Thiru Purcell, Jeremy Pak Nelson and Princess Arinola Adegbite on the power of sleeping and dreaming, what home means to us and technology’s ability to connect and divide.
Sleep (e)Quality, performed by Ilisha Thiru Purcell, is a poetic exploration of the power of dreams and sleep as a growing health inequality in response to the question: ‘Who is able to rest?’
Jeremy Pak Nelson’s The Homes We Carry asks: ‘How do we make a place, where we have no history, feel like home? as part of his experimental soundscape inspired by ancestral homelands, rituals and past selves.
The showcase ends with Princess Arinola Adegbite’s Algorithm of Meaning. This surrealist deep dive into AI, romantic relationships, family, health and colonial perspectives ruminates on ‘Whose future is being served?’
From large-scale projections of poems-as-paintings, film and musical interpretations to performance poetry designed to simulate sleep stages, discover the power of poetry to inspire answers to global issues.
The Poetry for Change Showcase was first performed at Contact Theatre Manchester to rave reviews. A partnership between Manchester Poetry Library, Words of Colour, New Writing North, this iteration is supported by Northern Stage a year after its debut.
About the poets
Ilisha Thiru Purcell is an award-winning Sri Lankan-Scottish poet from Newcastle upon Tyne. Her debut pamphlet What She Said was published in 2025 by Verve Poetry Press and was the 2025 Poetry Book Society Autumn Pamphlet Choice. Ilisha was shortlisted for the James Berry Prize 2024 and was a Poet in Residence at the 2025 StAnza Poetry Festival, winning the Futurist Award. Her work has been widely published and appears in publications such as Bi+ Lines Anthology, Butcher’s Dog, and Under the Radar.
Jeremy Pak Nelson is a writer and artist from Hong Kong. Based in Manchester, he holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon. His poetry explores how identity is entangled with our inherited narratives of place and home. His climate fiction has been selected as a Grist: Imagine 2200 Editor’s Pick, and he was writer-in-residence at UK Space Conference 2025.
Princess Arinola Adegbite, professionally known as P.A.BITEZ is a multi-award-winning British Jamaican Nigerian surrealist poet, musician and filmmaker who combines social activism with Afrofuturistic sensibilities. Based in Salford, her awards include Manchester Young Creative of the Year 2021 (Culture Awards), a Society of Authors Eric Gregory Award 2023 and the Northern Debut Award for Poetry at the 2025 Northern Writers’ Awards. Her poetry has been commissioned by BBC, Selfridges, Chanel, The British Museum, and the University of Cambridge. Marco Sebastiano Alessi of Sounds of Life Magazine called BITEZ an “inventive polymath”.
Printed, readable copies of the poems will be available on the night.
If a performance is sold out, email info@northernstage.co.uk or call 0191 230 5151 to be added to our waiting list.
Princess Arinola Adegbite
Jeremy Pak Nelson (Image credit: Adrianne McKenzie)
Ilisha Thiru Purcell
Credits
Poets of Colour Incubator (PoCI) is a 12-month programme offering mentoring, change agency opportunities and creative development to three talented and emerging poets of colour who are over 18 and living in the North of England at a crucial stage of their practice. It is a partnership between Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University, Words of Colour and New Writing North, with this iteration supported by Northern Stage a year after its debut.
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There are two entrances to the theatre, Kings Road Entrance (this is the taxi drop-off/collection point) and the Main Entrance.
Both level entrances have automated doors. These lead into the foyer area where you will find the Restaurant, Bar, Box Office and entrances to Stages 1, 2 and 3.
STEP FREE ACCESS
Northern Stage is fully accessible. The theatre has three lifts providing access to all parts of the building, including the accessible toilets, baby changing facilities, stages 2 & 3 and the backstage area. Buggy parking is available
WHEELCHAIR SPACES
There are five wheelchair positions in Stage 1, two positions in Stage 2 and all seats are removeable in Stage 3.
TOILETS
We have a Changing Places toilet in the Stage 1 lobby and accessible toilets in Stage 3 and Stage 2 lower entrance lobby. Gender neutral toilets are situated in the Stage 2 lower entrance lobby.
HEARING ENHANCEMENT
Induction loop system in all public spaces, and an infra-red system in all three stages. (In Stage 1 the induction loop is best covered in rows E – L).
ASSISTANCE
One free ticket for the assistant of a disabled person who is not able to attend unaccompanied.
BOOKING COMPANION SEATING
To book a free ticket for a wheelchair companion or an assistant, contact our Box Office on 0191 230 5151, via email at boxoffice@northernstage.co.uk or by visiting our Box Office in person.
GUIDE DOGS
Guide, hearing and all working dogs are welcome here.
SEAT ACCESSIBILITY
Stage 1: Seats are 43 cm wide, 41cm deep, with 46cm between arm rests. The aisleway is 51cm deep from the seat back. Arm rests cannot be removed.
Stage 2: Seats are 40cm wide, 41cm deep. The aisleway is 64cm deep from the seat back. There are no arm rests.
Our seats are rated to British Standards at installation and are guaranteed to hold up to 110kg.
More Information
To discuss any access needs, take a look at our access page or please call our Box Office on 0191 230 5151.