Disrespecting Language, Breaking the Binary

A poetry workshop from Jasmine Gardosi.

In the aftermath of poetry/beatbox/Celtic Dubstep show Dancing To Music You Hate, join former Birmingham Poet Laureate and Honorary Doctor of Letters Jasmine Gardosi in a workshop inspired by its themes of gender identity and breaking binaries. We will discuss binaries in all their forms… Right/Wrong, Man/Woman, Them/Us, Good/Bad, Heaven/Hell… and how black and white thinking leads to segregation, silo-ing, and a culture of divide and rule. We will explore how polarities control us, how systems benefit, and how to break free through language. You will be empowered to disrespect, dismantle and blend these binaries in your poetry.

Featuring:

Jasmine Gardosi is the former Birmingham Poet Laureate 2022-24. They are a multiple slam champion, beatboxer, and Honorary Doctor of Letters (Birmingham Newman University). They are a winner of the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry and winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Performer.

Their work exploring identity, LGBTQ+ issues and mental health has appeared on Button Poetry, at the Tate Modern, Glastonbury Festival and across BBC Radio, including BBC Radio 3's The Verb, Radio 4 and BBC Asian Network. They were featured on Sky Arts' BAFTA-winning show Life & Rhymes alongside Benjamin Zephaniah, and their poem about the pandemic, filmed on a rollercoaster, was broadcast across America on PBS after going viral on Twitter. Their performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall was broadcast on BBC Four and can be watched here.

A two-time recipient of an Honorable Mention for Outstanding International Entry in the Button Poetry video contest, their work has been featured on their channel to tens of thousands around the world. Their video-poem about trans voices, 'Say It Anyway', was commissioned by the Brontë Parsonage Museum as their Writer In Residence to mark the bicentenary of Anne Brontë, and was featured at Flatpack Festival.

They are a previous BBC Arts Young Creative and Poet in Residence for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. They were invited by the British Embassy in Tallinn to headline Estonia's historical, first-ever queer poetry slam as part of Baltic Pride. They have also run workshops and performed internationally in the USA, The Philippines, Austria, Romania, The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

They were commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre to create 'Dancing To Music You Hate', their debut show exploring gender identity, which features poetry, beatbox and Celtic dubstep. The show premiered to standing ovations, won Best Spoken Word Show in the Saboteur Awards, and following a sell-out show at Symphony Hall, completed an ACE-funded national tour. The show toured to Manila, Philippines in May 2025 with support from The British Council.

​Jasmine led West Midlands Poets’ Place for eight years. They now continue to run school and community workshops around the country and abroad.

Their debut pamphlet Hurtz is published by Verve Poetry Press.