Afrori Books is excited to welcome Lalah-Simone Springer and special guests AFLO. the poet and Be Manzini for an evening of performance from 7pm – 10pm. Common Birds Tour is a celebration of Lalah-Simone Springer’s debut poetry collection An Aviary of Common Birds which explores connection, community, love and loss from a Black, queer, working class perspective.

About An Aviary of Common Birds An Aviary of Common Birds is Lalah-Simone Springers first collection of poetry. It is an emotionally raw work building on the poets deep wells of inner strength and heart warming sensitivity. Springer’s poetry asks questions about love, family and community, and working class relationships, and at the heart of the writing is acceptance. An Aviary of Common Birds is a collection that is always there for the lonely, reaching out a hand, dreaming of a brighter future.

Lalah-Simone Springer is a poet and speculative fiction writer from Dagenham. Lalah’s first poetry collection, An Aviary of Common Birds was published by Broken Sleep Books in August 2023, alongside their debut collaborative spoken words album Cyclical Music. Lalah was long listed for the Merky New Writers Prize in 2021 and has been published on the ANTHEMS podcast, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Onyx Magazine and more.

AFLO. the poet is an award-winning Brighton-based spoken word artist, activist and academic who embraces creative expression to disrupt the status quo and inspire social change. AFLO. uses poetry as a vehicle to address hard hitting topics, particularly racism and mental health, primarily speaking from her lived experiences.

Be Manzini is a writer and workshop facilitator who has been a resident at the Southbank Centre and is the Director of Caramel Film Club (supporting diversity in film). Manzini was the first ever Writer in Residence for the influential and prestigious Sundance Festival. Her published work appears in various anthologies including Red edited by Kwame Dawes and she is the only UK poet to appear in the US publication Verse Wisconsin.