Laurie Bolger (born Lauren Bolger, 10 July 1989) is an English poet, stand-up and presenter based in London. In 2014 she was shortlisted for Young Poet Laureate of London. She currently tours her writing including her debut pamphlet collection ''Box Rooms'', published by Burning Eye and one woman show Talking to Strangers as well as hosting Bang Said the Gun. Bolger has performed at venues such as

The Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

Old Vic Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

and St Pauls Cathedral as well as being Poet in Residence in various public spaces such as libraries, community centres, pubs and the Queen Elizabeth's Olympic Park.

Early life

Bolger was born in London W10 and spent much of her school years on the South Coast of England with her parents and younger sister. Bolger attended

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

to study

Creative Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...

and

Mary Immaculate College Mary Immaculate College (''Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál''), also known as MIC and Mary I, is a College of Education and Liberal Arts. Founded in 1898, the university level College of Education and the Liberal Arts is academically linked with the ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

to study English and Irish Literature,.

Career

Bolger began to perform her poetry after leaving university where she toured with a punk band speaking poems at the start of gigs. She then went onto before at various events starting with Bath Lit Fest. Since then she has received national airplay on the BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and BBC Radio 3's The Verb. Laurie was shortlisted for Young Poet Laureate of London, performing at major London venues and has also performed at festivals across the UK including

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

, Camden Lock Live Festival & Lovebox,

Camp Bestival Camp Bestival is a British music festival, the "little sister" of Bestival, both organised by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob Da Bank. It is held annually, in July, at Lulworth Castle in Dorset and is targeted at families with small children. In 2019 it h ...

, Citadel, Cheltenham Lit Fest, Kaleidoscope Festival, and Oxford Festival of the Arts. In 2014 she performed as part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival as part of Pagematch. Bolger was part of the Voices Nationwide Campaign in 2017 featuring young and promising performance poets from the UK. She has also written for many major brands, campaigns and independent businesses globally since 2014 and was involved in Belfast Poetry Competition, officially opened by Nationwide in 2017. Her debut collection ''Box Rooms'' was published by Burning Eye and launched at an event at

The Roebuck The Roebuck is a Grade II listed public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on t ...

, South London. It includes the poems
Carrot Mash, Tea and Bill BaileyPublic House
' and
Slippers
'. Bolger has recently started in the world of Stand-Up. Bolger has also worked in radio, presenting the award-winning Round @ Laurie's on Roundhouse Radio between 2014 - 2016. Bolger has frequently worked with the

Apples and Snakes Apples and Snakes, based at the Albany Theatre in Deptford, south-east London, is an organisation for performance poetry and the spoken word in England. It has been described as the main organisation promoting performance poetry in Britain. Set ...

poetry organisation.

Awards

*2014 - was shortlisted for the Young Poet Laureate of London *2015 - she won both Best Presenter and Sound of The Roundhouse for her radio show Round @ Laurie's judged by Gemma Cairney and Roundhouse *2023 - Bolger won The Moth Poetry Prize with her poem 'The Parkland Walk'

Publications

*Box Rooms *Verse Matters *The Best Poetry Book in the World

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolger, Laurie Living people English women poets 21st-century English poets 21st-century English women writers Slam poets 1989 births Poets from London Alumni of Bath Spa University 20th-century English women 20th-century English people