RAP Party @The London Library: Nature Matters (In person)
Poet and playwright Inua Ellams brings his exhilarating live literature phenomenon, the RAP Party, back to The London Library for a nostalgic, no-clutter, no-fuss, evening of music and words in partnership with the RSL. This time, we’ll be celebrating the genre-defining new poetry anthology Nature Matters, a vital array of nature poetry in all its many forms, as written by global majority poets, past and present, and edited by Mona Arshi and Karen McCarthy Woolf. Reading their contributions to the anthology, alongside favourite tunes to get you on your feet, our stellar line-up includes: Mona Arshi, Inua Ellams, Sarah Howe, Ian Humphreys, Zaffar Kunial, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Roger Robinson, Jennifer Wong and more TBC, plus a DJ on the decks.
Ten writers + a DJ = the best night out you’ll ever have in a library – or anywhere, for that matter.
'A truly fluid literary event not just mingling poetry and music together seamlessly, but also bringing different tribes of poets: ages, races, gender, styles together. You will be moved in your heart and in your head.’— Roger Robinson
Mona Arshi worked as a human rights lawyer at Liberty before she started writing. She has published three collections of poetry: Small Hands, which won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 2015, Dear Big Gods (2019) and most recently Mouth(2025). Her debut novel Somebody Loves You (2021) was shortlisted for the Goldsmith and Jhalak Prizes.
Inua Ellams is a Nigerian-born, UK-based poet, playwright and performer who has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the BBC. His latest play was an adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters set in Nigeria, staged at the National Theatre. The Actual, his fifth poetry release and first full collection, was published in 2020 by Penned in the Margins. He is an Ambassador of The London Library.
Sarah Howe is a Hong Kong-born poet and editor. Her first book, Loop of Jade(Chatto & Windus, 2015), won the TS Eliot Prize and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and a new collection is forthcoming in 2025. She is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool and the Poetry Editor at Chatto & Windus.
Ian Humphreys won the Northern Writers’ Award for Poetry in 2025. His latest collection, Tormentil won a Royal Society of Literature ‘Literature Matters’ Award and his debut, Zebra was nominated for The Portico Prize. He is the editor of Why I Write Poetry, and the producer and co-editor of After Sylvia: Poems and Essays in Celebration of Sylvia Plath. He was Writer in Residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum (2023/24).
Zaffar Kunial was born in Birmingham and now lives in West Yorkshire. He published a pamphlet in the Faber New Poets series in 2014 before publishing his debut collection, Us, which was shortlisted for a number of prizes, including the TS Eliot Prize. England’s Green, his latest collection, has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize, the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Ondaatje Prize.
Karen McCarthy Woolf is the author of two poetry collections An Aviary of Small Birds and Seasonal Disturbances, winner of the inaugural Laurel Prize for ecological poetry, and a verse novel, Top Doll. She is the editor of seven previous literary anthologies and she has written for radio, been a Fulbright Scholar, co-presented R4’s Poetry Please and collaborated with techno music producers for events across London.
Oluwaseun (Seun) Olayiwola is a poet, critic, choreographer and performer based in London. His poems and poetry reviews have featured in publications including the Guardian, the Telegraph, The Poetry Review, TATE, TLS, Magma and Queerlings. His poetry has been commissioned by the RSL and Spread the Word. His debut poetry collection is forthcoming from Granta (UK) and Soft Skull Press (US).
Roger Robinson is a writer and educator who has taught and performed worldwide. His collection, A Portable Paradise, won the TS Eliot Prize in 2019 and the RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2020. His most recent book, Home is Not a Place, with photographer Johny Pitts, was shortlisted for the 2022 British Book Awards. He was chosen by Decibel as one of 50 writers who have influenced the black-British writing canon.
Jennifer Wong is the author of poetry publications including Diary of a Miu Miu Salesgirl, Letters Home, Time Difference and her next collection, Light Year, is forthcoming. Her short stories have appeared in Under the Radar and Sinetheta. She has a PhD in creative writing and is the author of Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere and a co-editor of Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology.
The Royal Society for Literature, founded in 1820, is the UK’s charity for the advancement of literature, acting as a voice for the value of literature, engaging people in appreciating literature, and encouraging and honouring writers.
Nature Matters and books by the speakers will be available to buy at the event and online from our partner bookshop Hatchards.
NB This event will take place in person at The London Library. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive. Doors (and the bar) open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. This is a standing event but there will be some chairs available in the room.
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