Bloodaxe Books at StAnza 2026
This year's StAnza festival will include several events featuring poets published by Bloodaxe Books, including Marjorie Lotfi, Chen Chen, Niall Campbell, Pascale Petit, Marie Howe, as well as a special event on Versus Versus: 100 Poems by Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent Poets, featuring anthology editor Rachael Boast and Chisom Okafor, David Wheatley and Karthika Naïr, who were published in the anthology.
StAnza is taking place in St Andrews, Scotland and online 13-15 March. Digital passes are available here for access to all livestreamed events. The full programme can be found here and tickets to all events are available from 21 January.
Friday 13th March, 19:00 – 21:00
You Are Not Alone: festival opening night
Byre: Auditorium | £20/£15/£10/£5
StAnza opens with a Colour Cabaret featuring Andrés N. Ordorica, Isabelle Baafi, Jim Carruth, Marjorie Lotfi, Nick Makoha, Rachel McCrum, and more, lighting up the stage with a rainbow of poetry. The evening continues with a bespoke entwined reading as Anthony Vahni Capildeo and Niall Campbell share poems in conversation with one another.
Book here for in-person tickets and here for online.
See below for online sessions with Marjorie Lotfi
Saturday 14th March, 14:00 – 18:00
Hold the Phone: poems for your ears only
Byre: Level 2 Foyer | £5 – drop in and pay on the door
An intimate one-to-one performance, for your ears only. Pour a cup of tea, get cosy, and pick up the phone to hear Chen Chen’s wit and warmth (14.00 – 16.00) or Mary Ruefle’s singular magic (16.00 – 18.00) in this private long-distance encounter.
Saturday 14th March, 15:45 – 16:45
Unheard Histories: poems in times of turmoil
Wardlaw Museum | £20/£15/£10/£5
Andrés N. Ordorica, Jim Carruth and Marjorie Lotfi premiere new poems sparked by the Wardlaw Museum’s War, Destruction and Reform exhibition. Plague, unrest, upheaval — the past speaks to the present as these poets explore how lives under pressure connect across centuries. Supported by the University of St Andrews Collections and Museums.
Book here.
See below for online sessions with Marjorie Lotfi
Saturday 14th March, 19:00 – 20:45
Poetry Centre Stage: Carl Phillips & Pascale Petit
Byre: Auditorium | £20/£15/£10/£5
Performances from Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Phillips, “one of America’s most original and influential lyric poets,” and Laurel Prize winner Pascale Petit, known for her dazzling, creature-filled explorations of the natural world. Supported by Poetry London.
Book here for in-person tickets and here for online.
Sunday 15th March, 10:00 – 11:00
Masterclass with Marie Howe: No, Not, Nothing, Never: Correction, Contradiction, Negative Capability and The Bliss of Uncertainty
Byre: Auditorium | £20/£15/£10/£5
In this masterclass, Pulitzer Prize winner Marie Howe explores poems that appear to think on the page. You’ll study works where the poet contradicts themselves, corrects themselves, admits what they do not know, stops, then starts again before experimenting with contradiction in your own poems.
Book here.
See below for the Sunday evening Poetry Centre Stage event with Marie Howe.
Sunday 15th March, 16:00 – 17:00
Versus Versus with Chisom Okafor, David Wheatley, Karthika Naïr and Rachael Boast
Byre: Studio | £20/£15/£10/£5
A delve into the new Bloodaxe Books anthology, Versus Versus: 100 Poems by Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent Poets. Join special guests, Chisom Okafor, David Wheatley and Karthika Naïr, reading poems and discussing this landmark anthology with editor Rachael Boast. Supported by the Royal Society of Literature through their 2022 Literature Matters Award.
Book here for in-person tickets and here for online.
Sunday 15th March, 18.30 – 20:15
Poetry Centre Stage: Marie Howe & Sarah Howe
Byre: Auditorium | £20/£15/£10/£5
Pulitzer Prize winner Marie Howe and T. S. Eliot Prize winner Sarah Howe read from bodies of work which have been praised for fierce clarity and emotional power. A rare chance to hear two remarkable voices together. This event is dedicated to the memory of StAnza founder, Brian Johnstone.
Book here for in-person tickets and here for online.
Online sessions with Marjorie Lotfi
As well as her two in-person events (above), Marjorie Lotfi will be leading an online workshop and two online 'Marjorie's Table' sessions during the festival.
Friday 13th March - Well-Versed: a creative writing workshop with Open Book
10:00 – 12:00 | Online (Zoom) | £5
Booking here.
Saturday 14th March - Marjorie’s Table
08:30 – 09:00 | Zoom | Free – booking required
Booking here.
Sunday 15th March - Marjorie’s Table
08:30 – 09:00 | Zoom | Free – booking required
Booking here.
[23 January 2026]
