Well Versed is an exciting programme of online poetry discussions with headline festival poets and new voices, hosted in partnership with Open Book. Each session includes a reading and discussion before a Q&A with the live online audience.
For those unable to take part live, recordings of the sessions will be uploaded and available to watch for the duration of the year on our YouTube channel.
We are delighted to be working with Open Book again as partners for Well Versed 2026. Open Book will be organising events surrounding the Well Versed programme, including relaxed and informal shared reading sessions and creative writing workshops. Find out more about these sessions here.
Well Versed 2026 kicks off at 12.00 noon on 21st January with Nick Makoha. Throughout the series we’ll be welcoming:
Nick Makoha – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 21st January
Michael Mullen – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 18th February
Yousif M Qasmiyeh – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 15th April
Sarah Howe – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 20th May
Keith Jarrett – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 17th June
Iyad Hayatleh – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 15th July
Vicki Feaver – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 16th September
Chen Chen – 12.00 – 1.00pm – 21st October
Rachael Boast – 15.00 – 16.00pm – 18th November
We’ll be announcing more sessions with more fantastic poets in the coming months, so keep an eye on this page or on our socials to hear who else we have in store. You can sign up for these sessions here.
About Open Book
Open Book organise and run over 1200 shared reading and creative writing sessions each year, for a diverse range of community and public participants across Scotland. Every year, Open Book arranges and funds visits for their groups to book festivals and other literary events across Scotland, including Edinburgh International Book Festival, Wigtown Book Festival, Paisley Book Festival, Granite Noir, StAnza, Ullapool Book Festival, and St Magnus Festival. Open Book also regularly offers additional author visits and opportunities to participate on Special Projects and performances.
Well Versed 2025-2026 is generously supported by Old Possum’s Practical Trust and Creative Scotland.
