BBC Introducing has joined forces with Contains Strong Language, the BBC’s festival of poetry and performance, to unearth the best and emerging spoken word talent in the UK.

This collaboration is a part of the Words First development scheme, one of the BBC’s talent development initiatives aimed at nurturing artists’ spoken word skills and boosting their confidence on stage.

Selected individuals will have the opportunity to participate in digital workshops, working alongside established artists and mentors to refine their craft. A chosen few will then have the chance to perform at the Words First showcase during this year’s Contains Strong Language festival, in front of a live audience.

BBC Introducing and Contains Strong Language are inviting aspiring poets to upload a two-minute original spoken word piece to the BBC Introducing uploader from Thursday, July 13, with the submission window closing on Sunday, July 30. Each BBC Introducing team from different regions across the UK will review applications from their respective areas and put forward one act, resulting in a total of 35 shortlisted acts.

The organisations expressed their interest in “passionate individuals across the UK who draw inspiration from a range of artistic forms, including poetry, lyricism, rap, and hip-hop, and who are eager to develop their skills.”

All 35 shortlisted acts will be invited to participate in an online workshop conducted by performing arts and spoken word organizations, Young Identity and Apples and Snakes. Subsequently, they will create new pieces of poetry based on their learnings from these workshops.

A panel of judges will then evaluate the submissions to narrow down the 35 acts to a final group of eight finalists. These eight talented individuals will have the honour of performing at The Words First Showcase, held at the Howard Assembly Room venue in Leeds, the broadcast hub of the Contains Strong Language festival. The showcase is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 24, from 6-7pm.