Jardel Rodrigues (he/him) is a 26-year old writer and performer from South Manchester. Cutting his teeth on the city’s poetry circuit for over a decade, he’s gained recognition for his unique blend of lyrical flair and poetic tenderness that comes with a seriously macabre edge. He’s piled up bodies in slams both nationally and internationally, is a BBC Words First finalist and was the winner of UNESCO’s ‘SLAM-O-VISION’. His performances have gained praise from big-time film director Danny Boyle, and he was also named as one of Manchester’s ‘Top 10 poets to check out on National Poetry Day’. His work has published by the likes of Manchester International Festival, as well as the big evil BBC, and most recently, Channel 4.

At least, that’s the ‘official’ answer. In his own words, Jardel Rodrigues is a bit of a fucked up cunt. Not in a bad way, just in a way that’s great for poetic content. Where some poets employ pyrotechnics, Jardel sets himself on fire. If you’re looking for a place to laugh, cry, or scream in existential crisis – then he invites you to come and gather round his figurative campfire, where together – we can all get our beautifully broken souls out and eat them until we shit ourselves in praise of God. Jardel follows the Greek philosophy that when acts of obscenity were performed on stage, that the ‘demons of shame’ would be released from the audience.

So… Who’s ready for a fucking exorcism?

Instagram: @jardel_ricardo_rodrigues