The Liverpudlian poet revolutionising spoken word

Joseph Roberts

Graduate: BA (Hons) English Literature and Creative Writing
Year: 2024

From performing at school assemblies to working with world-renowned brands and spearheading the UK’s first ever Poetry Expo – Joseph’s career as a spoken word poet has absolutely taken off.

The Scouse poet sensation, who only graduated in 2024, has already delivered spoken word commissions that have seen his social media following grow exponentially, and got him noticed by many household names in football and retail. So where did it all start? How has LJMU helped him along the way? And what does the future hold for one of our most creative graduate minds?

Where did the idea to be a poet come from?

I've always wanted to be a poet, and I was inspired by a poet called Benjamin Zephaniah. I used to watch him on TV, on 8 Out of 10 Cats. He wasn't necessarily like a comedian as such, or one of those intellectuals who were around on these shows, but he was a poet. How he was getting a positive message out there through poetry really fascinated me. Eventually I went to go and see him perform at the Chester Literature Festival in 2019, when I was just 16, and he signed my book.

I started performing at my school assemblies soon after and then making videos. The videos got picked up a bit and one day I got an email saying ‘Hey Joe, could you come into our school? How much do you charge?’. So, I asked my business teacher how much to charge and then I started going to schools performing when I was still only in Sixth Form.

Why did you decide to come and study at LJMU?

It was a difficult time for me because it was during lockdown and I was actually gonna join the police. I had a degree apprenticeship lined up, ready to go, but my heart was still in poetry and so I decided to go to LJMU as it was a good university and it's in Liverpool - I didn't wanna move away.

My time at university gave me not only the learning and the social experience of the three years of the degree, but also the permission to write and to give me time to figure this out and to make this work. Time is really, really valuable - it gave me that time to build my dream. I had no doubt that it wouldn't work, but everyone around me was like if it doesn't work, you know there's always so many opportunities with a degree that you can do. Like you can go into teaching, you can go into journalism - wherever it might be. But my heart was always set on poetry, and I knew I was going to do well in it.

What other support did you get from LJMU that has allowed you to fulfil your dream of making a career out of poetry?

I actually came across the Start-up Hub (LJMU’s advice service that supports students and graduates who are looking to become self-employed, to work as a freelancer, or to  launch or grow their own venture) when walking past the Student Life Building. I just went in - I'm quite cheeky because it's like if you don't ask, you don't get – and found out more about their support. At this point I’d already got a few commissions under my belt, I’d been into quite a few schools at the time, and I wanted to know how to get to the next level of a business.

I just went up and told them a little bit about what I do. They said it was a very unique business - I was the first ever poet to be supported by the Start-up Hub. And they really supported me with any business questions. When you're a business owner, you get so many letters through the post, and you don't have all the answers. To get the support off LJMU for my business really benefited me and I straight away found a community there of other young entrepreneurs with these crazy ideas like me.

They really helped me, especially when transitioning from self-employed to a limited company which is a big step because I was making over like a certain amount of money, so in order for me to continue operating as a healthy business I had to. They really supported me with that.

At LJMU you found the perfect support from both a creative and business point of view?

Most definitely. I think a lot of creatives neglect the business side. I’ve never neglected the business side because that's how you make money and that's how you get the opportunities - your next job. The business aspect of the creative arts is vital if you want to make it in the industry.

Tell us about your breakthrough TV appearance?

I was fortunate enough to go on Sport in Words, which was a BT Sport TV show. It was their first ever poetry show, and they commissioned 13 poets for Black History Month to celebrate a different athlete. So, I wrote a poem about Liverpool FC legend John Barnes and it just so happened that the host of the show was Benjamin Zephaniah who signed my book all those years ago! Straight away I established a story there, how I went from performing at assemblies to performing on telly. So, I started to get more commissions from there.

Which big brands have you already worked with? How is this changing perceptions of traditional poetry?

I've recently done a poem for the Premier League, with Liverpool winning the league (2025). I done a poem for Nike, done a poem for Uniqlo, and I was also on the Liverpool series Doubters to Believers which was on Amazon Prime.

And so for me, it's about changing people's perceptions of poetry. Making it cool, mainstream and accessible. Providing those opportunities for other people to get involved in poetry and sort of grow their own brand.

In July 2025 you helped to host the UK’s first ever Poetry Expo? How did the idea come about?

I thought it can't just be me. I need to create a community here, so I created All Ears Poetry in Liverpool. It's a famous saying, you say ‘I'm all ears’ when you're listening, and everybody can be involved. Then I had this crazy idea to do an expo, similar to Comic Con and events like that, as an opportunity for poets, writers, creatives all around the UK to come to Liverpool to network, to perform, to write, and there's food, there's drink. So that's what I'm doing with my business and I'm doing these commissions alongside my business. The possibilities of changing people's perceptions of poetry, that’s what I stand for and that's what excites me, you know, doing things that have never been done before.

What does the future hold for Joseph?

The dream is to make the expo like an annual event. I'm going to do it again bigger, better and maybe get the organisations I’m working with, such as Nike and the Premier League, to sponsor it so it covers the costs of the venue and things like that. It also makes it more like legitimate. I wanna grow it in the UK and establish it as this is the place to be if you wanna become a poet or to network.

I also see opportunities to do the expo in Dubai and I believe I will probably do Dubai in the next like three to four years’ time. And there's not just poetry spoken word, there's podcast and monologues. It's so many different things. It's conversations. And so, I think doing the expo in Dubai would be a great opportunity to branch out and to go international. And also America, like poetry is big in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. They do a lot of slam poetry so I think there's an opportunity to do it in America as well.

What would be your career highlight so far? Or your favourite commission?

You know my favourite commission was probably the Premier League one, simply because I'm a Liverpool FC fan and it was a dream come true. Worldwide it's got over 7.6 million views and I’ve had messages from Mumbai, China, Italy, everywhere around the world, commenting on it and saying how connected with the team they feel even though they’re not from Liverpool.

That was quite powerful as a poet and with what I'm trying to do in building my career on a worldwide level. Words travel far and never, never underestimate the power of words.

What would your advice be to a young person out there about following their dreams?

Be consistent. Be patient. And work extremely hard. The opportunities will present themselves, and if you're good - it's indisputable like without doubt if you're good – you will get to the top. You're gonna get the opportunities because you're good, so work on yourself and don't take no for an answer. And defend your dream as much as possible. People will try and project their limitations onto you. They’ll say it's not possible. But the vision wasn't given to them, it was given to you, so act on it and believe in yourself.

You deserve that opportunity and you're capable of it. Whatever it is, whatever your business is, whatever your dream is, it was meant for you, and it was given to you for a reason. If you don't, someone else will.

Joseph was commissioned by the university in 2023 to write and perform a poem at a celebration event during the university’s Bicentenary year which welcomed ten new honorary fellows into the LJMU fold. You can listen back to his poem ‘Recognition’ on the LJMU YouTube channel.