We’ll have had wir Bank Holiday weekends, aye – but what better excuse for a sneaky wee Thursday night outing, a little ciao to the month we love, O month of Bank Holidays, than a glass of something upstairs at the Waverley with the Shore Poets? And folks, it’s our penultimate event of the 2025-26 series! So make sure and get on over there for your monthly poetry and live music fix (you’re going to be right glum without us, ken, in July and August.) With readings from Ellen McAteer and Zain Rishi, open mic performances and music from singer-songwriter Lake Montgomery, we’ll dispense with modesty and just say it: the May Shores is primed to be a thing of wonder, and will absolutely be where it’s at. Up for it? Of course you are. Further details below, so … 🐝🐞🌻🌷
The When & the Where:
Thursday 28th May 2026
7.15pm – 9pm (doors open 7pm)
The Waverley Bar, 3-5 St Mary’s St, Edinburgh EH1 1TA
Admission: Our standard entrance charges are £7.50 (waged) and £5 (concession). This includes one raffle ticket, which will also be your receipt of entry. For those keen to increase their chances of a raffle win, we’ve also introduced a Golden Ticket: at £10, this covers entry plus five raffle tickets. Entry is payable by either card or cash, but it’s worth bringing the latter so as not to miss the opportunity to buy a book from one of our readers.
The Readers:
ELLEN McATEER
Ellen McAteer is a Thames-born Clyde-built poet and songwriter. They are the founder of tell it slant bookshop in Glasgow and Publishing Manager for the Poetry Translation Centre in London, as well as working with Poetry London and the Poetry Society. Their poetry pamphlet Honesty Mirror (Red Squirrel Press) won the New Writer prize; their first full collection, My Deep and Gorgeous Thirst, is published by Verve. Ellen studied at Glasgow University and Goldsmiths, and was one of the London Library Emerging Writers cohort for 2023-24. They have performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Latitude Festival, and Poetry in Aldeburgh, completed a commission for Stanza Poetry Festival, and been a featured poet at the Doune the Rabbithole and Truck festivals, among others.
ZAIN RISHI
Zain Rishi is a writer from Birmingham, UK. He graduated with a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh in 2023 and has since worked in independent book-selling. He won the 27th annual Ware Poets Competition, placed third in the 2024 Oxford Poetry Prize and was highly commended in the Poetry Wales Award 2024-25. His poetry has featured in Magma, Wildness, Fourteen Poems, Gutter, Propel and various anthologies. His debut pamphlet, Noon, is out now with the Emma Press.
Signing up for the Open Mic:
We have four open mic spots each month. These are booked in advance. To request an open mic spot in the future, please email us at shorepoetsedinburgh @ gmail.com (remove the spaces)
The Raffle:
Entry includes a raffle ticket; additional tickets are also available to buy when you arrive, should you wish to increase your chances of winning this month’s scrummy lemon cake. Or you can boost the odds of snaffling that piece of home-baked glory by purchasing one of our Golden Tickets (further details above, under ‘The When & the Where’). The raffle also frequently boasts other no less wonderful but definitely less edible prizes, in the form of pamphlets or books.
See you there!
Shore Poets 
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