The Poetry Society will present a showcase reading featuring ten Black poets who participated in the Obsidian Foundation’s December 2025 retreat. The event caps off a week-long writing and networking intensive designed for Black poets of African descent, offering audiences a chance to hear from emerging voices alongside founder Nick Makoha, a Ugandan poet and playwright based in London.

The Obsidian Foundation operates as a UK equivalent to America’s Cave Canem, providing Black poets with professional development opportunities and community building in a space free from the barriers they often encounter in predominantly white literary environments. Makoha, who graduated from Cave Canem in 2015, established Obsidian to address the absence of similar support structures in the UK and Europe. The foundation runs annual week-long retreats where selected poets work with acclaimed tutors to advance their craft.

This marks the third Poetry Society showcase following Obsidian retreats in 2020 and 2023. Previous showcases have introduced writers who went on to publish award-winning debut collections, establishing the event as a significant platform for launching literary careers. The foundation’s model emphasizes rigorous community-focused development, creating what Makoha describes as a generational canon of Black writers rather than elevating only a few voices.

The reading offers audiences an early encounter with poets poised to shape contemporary British literature. Registration details and dates are available here.