We are delighted to welcome our first Heard Word featured writer of the Autumn season. Aanka Batta is an artist-activist who captivates audiences with her powerful poetry while expanding hearts and minds.

That’s Thursday the 15th of October 2026 from 5-7pm GMT on Zoom. Join us here.

To get feedback on your work, sign up to be one of our presenting writers. There are both 20-minute (1500 words) and 5-minute (700 word “lighting round”) slots available. You can sign up here.

But even if you aren’t presenting, please join us to offer feedback.

A bit more about our Featured Guest:

Aanka (she/they) is a Queer Migrant poet from South Asia. They write on intergenerational migration, forced migration, race, and gender. Their work has been long listed by The OutSpoken prize, 2023, featured on BBC Solent Radio, and published in Artful Scribe’s magazine- Brevity, 2026. They perform at conferences, literary events, demonstrations and festivals. Aanka has published academically on how to use poetry to write differently and uses poetry in facilitation work with migrant groups and grassroots organisations.