STATUS FLO returns to Brighton Festival bigger than ever, filling Brighton Dome Corn Exchange with an unmissable night of spoken word.
Co-programmed by Brighton Dome and our host AFLO. the poet, this edition features two headline acts - T.S. Eliot Prize winner Joelle Taylor and award-winning writer Yomi Ṣode - plus two local storytellers - Kae and Scarlett Fae - alongside AFLO., bringing double the poetry, double the energy, and a stage full of some of the most compelling voices in contemporary spoken word. Expect urgent, moving performances that speak to identity, community, and hope, alongside fresh local talent to be announced.
‘I was captivated from start to finish and left feeling inspired’ Audience Member
'Powerful, emotive and urgent' Audience Member
'A brilliantly curated night with exceptional artists' Audience Member
**Stage timings are subject to change
Meet Your Host: AFLO. the poet
Award-winning Brighton-based spoken word artist, AFLO. the poet, presents an uplifting night of spoken word featuring fresh local talent and special guests from across the UK.
AFLO. the poet is an activist and academic who embraces creative expression to disrupt the status quo and inspire social change, using poetry as a vehicle to address hard-hitting topics, particularly racism and mental health, primarily speaking from her lived experiences. Previously an in-house artist for Brighton Dome, she is a significant force directing change in Brighton's creative scenes and continues to sow seeds across the country
Joelle Taylor
Joelle Taylor is the author of four poetry collections, and one novel. C+NTO & Othered Poems won the 2021 T.S Eliot Prize, and the 2022 Polari Book Prize and is currently being adapted both for theatre, and into a television screenplay, and was featured on Radio Three documentary Butch. She is a co- curator and host of Out-Spoken Live at the Southbank Centre and tours her work nationally and internationally in a diverse range of venues, from Australia to Brazil. Her novel The Night Alphabet was published in Spring of 2024 and was named both a Spectator and Guardian Book of the Year. Her most recent radio programme A Young Girl’s Guide to Horror was broadcast on BBC Radio Four. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and the 2022 Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year. She was recently honoured with a DIVA Award for Outstanding Contribution and named in the Guardian’s 2024 Pride Power list. Her new collection Maryville was published by Bloomsbury in November.
About Yomi Ṣode
Yomi Ṣode is an award-winning Nigerian-British writer and poet, recipient of the 2019 Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship and shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (2021), Arts Foundation Awards (2024), and Malorie Blackman Impact Award (2025). His acclaimed one-man show COAT toured nationally, and his play and breathe… premiered at the Almeida Theatre to rave reviews, winning four Black British Theatre Awards. His libretto Remnants premiered on BBC Radio 3 with Chineke! Orchestra. Founder of BoxedIn and 12 in 12, his poetry collection Manorism was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, and the Rathbone Folio Prize. His debut novel, The Interpreter will be published by Viking.
Kae
Karen Wangare Leonard, affectionately known as “Kae”, is a Kenyan-American author, artist, and competitive rugby player based in Brighton, UK. Currently finishing a degree in Anthropology, Kae’s work explores the intersections of culture, identity, and human experience. Growing up as a queer, gender-expansive adoptee in Nairobi, Kenya as well as Harrisonburg, Virginia sees Kae making homes in the margins and navigating what it is to belong. Or not belong. Her multifaceted background informs her creative practice as both a writer and visual artist.
On her best days, Kae can be found training on the rugby pitch, creating art, writing, or reading books. She is a lover of matcha, a horse girl, dog enthusiast, and big believer in the healing power of belly laughs with friends. She balances athletic discipline with artistic expression, reflecting her belief in embracing life's full spectrum of experiences.
Kae is the author of two books: Lighting on My Fingertips and Going Unarmed Into The Wail. Her forthcoming projects are creative non-fiction examinations of cultural resilience and embodied knowledge through both literary and anthropological lenses. She is profoundly grateful to all who read and carry her work carefully.
Scarlett Fae
Scarlett Fae is a Brighton-based artist blending ethereal soul, spoken word and intimate, emotionally-led songwriting. Originally from the north of England, she moved to Brighton at 17 and has since become rooted in the city’s independent music and arts scene.
Alongside her own releases, Scarlett Fae is the creator of SUNFAE, a monthly Sunday gathering in Brighton centred on slow listening, creative exchange and community. As her current era draws to a close, she is now completing her debut album.
STATUS FLO: The Archive
Discover poems from STATUS FLO's past and submit your own via the form
Shakespeare's Sisters
Joelle Taylor: Maryville
