Inua Ellams Brings Search Party to Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026

Inua Ellams returns to Bristol this spring, with his fabulous show Search Party.

Ellams has brought the show to Bristol before, engaging audiences at Tobacco Factory Theatres in 2024.

This time his visit to the city is as part of the South West’s largest Poetry Festival – Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026.

This year’s Lyra event has taken on the theme Wonder & Wanderers. It invites audiences to come together and celebrate on the history of migration and movement in Bristol. The programme’s events will reflect upon stories of travel, change and home.

Nigerian-born Ellams will be appearing at the Arnolfini as part of the event.

He is the writer of Barbershop Chronicles. He’s a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Arts. He has been awarded an MBE for Services to the Arts and also holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts London.

He joined the Doctor Who writing team for the recent 15th series of Doctor Who. He is the first Black man to have written for the TV show.

His episode The Story & the Engine, which was set in Lagos, received acclaim within the Doctor Who community.

Ellams’ Search Party invites the audience to come up with themes and words. He then searches his archieve of work to perform the result of the search.

Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2026 runs from 17 – 26 April 2026

Inua Ellams and Search Party will be at the Arnolfini on Sunday 19 April

To book tickets for Inua Ellams, visit: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/arnolfini/sun-19-apr-inua-ellams-search-party-150125#e150125

For more information about other events taking place, visit: https://www.lyrafest.com/