Scrap Collective: Young Poets final showcase
Event information
21 August 2026
18.30–20.30
Reading Room
Free, advance booking required
14+
Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.
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Hosted by acclaimed poet Lemn Sissay OBE, this special public showcase features 13 emerging poets sharing new work created in response to the British Museum collection.
Known as Scrap Collective, the group was brought together through the British Museum's Young Poets Programme. They have explored poetry through the Museum collection; responding to objects, histories and ideas with curiosity, imagination and creative experimentation.
This special evening marks the collective's first major public showcase. Hosted by Sissay, the event presents original work developed throughout the programme, exploring themes of memory, inheritance, identity, absence and what remains. Drawing inspiration and responding to the themes, ideas and objects found in the collection, the poets have created work that moves between the personal and the historical, finding connections between individual experience and the wider world.
Featuring performances by Aria Parkeh, Beatriz Miller, Charu Raval, Emma Davis, Huda Omar, India Trivikraman, Jon Colenso, Maskeen Kaur Kular, Naomi Bahru, Nyah Brown, SJ Lenon, Tabby Morgan and Zaara Arif, this celebration offers a rare opportunity to encounter new voices at the beginning of their creative journeys.
Join us for an evening of bold, thoughtful and unforgettable poetry.
Booking information
- Book now to reserve your place.
- Doors to the Reading Room will open at approximately 18.15 for event ticket-holders to take their seats.
- Please note only bottled water is permitted in the Reading Room. No food or other drinks are allowed.
- Please show your confirmation email or paper ticket to our Visitor Welcome colleagues. They will guide you to our security check and bag search before entering the Museum.
About the performers
Lemn Sissay OBE is an award-winning poet, playwright, memoirist and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics and chancellor of the University of Manchester for seven years. A master of the spoken word, he's also an Honorary Fellow of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, winner of the 2024 Hay Festival medal for poetry and a three-times Sunday Times best-seller. He has performed at venues across the world, from The Library of Congress in the US to the National Theatre of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa and the London Palladium in England.
About the performers
Scrap Collective was formed by participants in the British Museum Young Poets Programme 2026. Bringing together young writers from across London, the collective creates space for experimentation, collaboration and the sharing of new work. Through poetry, performance and conversation, members explore personal and collective histories, contemporary life, identity, memory and belonging. Their writing reflects a wide range of voices and experiences, finding meaning in fragments, overlooked stories and everyday moments. Scrap Collective celebrates the creative possibilities that emerge when individual voices come together to form something larger than themselves.