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2nd Anniversary of the release of Rocking Underground 05 Nov 2016

On the one hand I can't believe it's two years, it feels much longer as so much has happened since my first collection came out.

Some of these poems I wrote on the train, on a plane, to strange destinations and futile situations. Either way I was channeling and my first collection was being formed without my knowledge. Obviously it was a massive landmark for me. Much has changed since it came out. Either way I'm grateful. Very very grateful. Thank you to all who bought it and continue to do so.

Poetry reading at the Coffee House Poetry Night at The Troubadour, Brompton Road, London 17 Oct 2016

Anne-Marie Fyfe invited me to do a ten minute reading along with 7 other poets. All our styles and backgrounds varied, and part of what I love about the Anne-Marie's poetry nights at the Troubadour, besides the honour of being asked to read, is the incredible quality and variety of poetry I hear from everyone else.

I performed in the second half, I started with my poem Cut Up, which was followed by Feathers, a new unpublished poem, then Possession, Ocean, and finally Euphoric Kiss.

Thank you to everybody that came, I got to meet some new friends and reconnect with some old ones too. And all thanks and gratitude to Anne-Marie Fyfe for inviting me.

Scarlett featured in GQ Magazine 11 Oct 2016

Hotfoot from her performance at Lit Up Inside, the one-night celebration in Belfast of the lyrics of Van Morrison - where she lined up with fellow Van fans novelist Ian Rankin, actress Sex and The City actress Kim Cattrall and Pulitzer Prize-winning wordsmith Paul Muldoon - new poetry sensation Scarlett Sabet has granted GQ this video exclusive (Feathers).

Filmed at London’s Leighton House, where the splendour of the baroque interiors matches Sabet’s pre-Raphaelite beauty, the 27-year-old reads the heartfelt Feathers from her new, self-published collection The Lock And The Key.

Inspired by the Beats and Patti Smith, Sabet’s sparse, acutely constructed verses - performed to packed rooms at poetry slams and readings from Earl’s Court venue The Troubadour to historic Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Co - broods on such contemporary themes as isolation and despair and the darker emotional aspects of love and sex.
"Scarlett Sabet is making poetry interesting again" Van Morrison, October 2016

That’s not to say Sabet’s work is inaccessible; "Rocking Underground", the title poem from her first collection, imagines the wild inner workings of the minds of the tube travellers she observes to and from work.

Live, Sabet infuses her performances with “a rhythmic insistence and a reading style that captivates audiences”, says Anne–Marie Fyfe, who has organised poetry nights at the Troubadour for 18 years. “Scarlett’s poems are urban and on-the-edge, with huge vitality and openness.”

Brought up in Surrey of Iranian extraction, Sabet studied acting and performance, appearing in low-budget films as well as episodes of Peep Show and Skins before finding her métier.

“Sure I had my Spice Girls phase like other girls but via my parents I also knew all about Van, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and PJ Harvey, all of those people working in a strong lyrical tradition,” says Sabet, whose ambitions include reading her poetry at San Francisco’s City Lights Books amid the ghosts of her heroes Allen Ginsburg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Kerouac.

Copies of Rocking Underground and The Lock And The Key are available now

Interview with Paul Gorman at Leighton House Museum, London 28 Sep 2016


I recently sat down with my friend; the writer and curator Paul Gorman. Paul reviewed my first book Rocking Underground, so here, we sat down to talk about The Lock And The Key, and chatted about childhood, books, family, poets, music, references, influences and inspiration. We chatted away in the magnificent setting of Leighton House, now a museum, it was once the studio of Lord Leighton, a very inspiring setting.

Thank you to the wonderful people at Leighton House for being so generous and letting us visit. Thank you to Paul Gorman for being so brilliant, having faith in me and encouraging me through the years.

I hope you enjoy the videos and podcast!

Poetry reading at Atlantis Bookshop, Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London 27 Sep 2016


I had a beautiful, very special evening tonight. I was reading poems from The Lock And The Key and Rocking Underground, in the iconic Atlantis bookshop. It was an intimate setting, with an audience of around 25 people, all from different channels, but all there tied by their love of Atlantis and and their love of poetry. In additon to my published work, I decided to introduce a new, recently written poem into the set. I thought if I were to perform it for the first time anywhere, surely, it should be there. After my reading I enjoyed the chance to talk to everybody there and sign books for everyone. It had been a particularly special reading for me, I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude, and that positive energy seemed to be running through everybody. I was truly touched by the feedback I received.

The shop is run by the wonderful Geraldine Beskin and her lovely daughter Bali. Atlantis was founded by Michael Houghton in 1922, and afterwards Geraldine's father ran the shop before Geraldine took over at the age of 19. It has been running now for 94 years and is Londons oldest independent occult bookshop, with associations to artists and writers such as Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, W.B Yeats and D.H Lawrence .

Lit Up Inside poetry reading/gig with Sir Van Morrison, as part of the 25th Annual Aspects Festival, Belfast, Northern Ireland 21 Sep 2016

On the 12th March, Sir Van Morrison asked me to take part in the Lit Up Inside event. He asked me to choose lyrics from his book published by Faber and Faber. I already knew this book very well. In Christmas 2014, one of the books Jimmy Page gave me was Lit Up Inside. So it proved to be talismanic.

Astral Weeks is one of my all time favourite albums, my parents played the vinyl of it when I was a child a lot and I've continued listening to it in adulthood. I chose The Way Young Lovers Do, as it is so evocative of the first flushes of infatuation, love and sex, getting high off someone's breath, and also the beauty and absorption of nature, those are the images that come to me when I listen to that song. In addition, I selected On Hyndford Street, a song I hadn't known before discovering it in Lit Up Inside.

On the page it is so concise, and you are immediately dropped into the Belfast Van Morrison grew up in. His summer memories, the books he read, tuning into Radio Luxembourg, and conversations with like minded people. But also I took from it a degree of isolation, and remoteness in his surroundings, how he hungrily seeks out and soaks up whatever culture he could tune into, again this is something that resonated with me, that I identified with from my own childhood.

The event was held in Belfast, at the Culloden Hotel. It was my first time visiting Belfast, a city steeped thickly in history, poetry, and music. I very much wanted to do the best job I could, out of respect to Sir Van, and to the people of Belfast that would be attending. It felt like a serious thing to so, reading his lyircs in his home town. I was joined by an illustrious list of fellow readers, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon, writer Ian Rankin and the wonderful actress Kim Cattrall, the evening was hosted by Dr. Eamon Hughes. Not having met before, my felllow readers and I were all united in our love for Van Morrison's words and music. The event was sold out, with nearly 400 people attending. First up, Sir Van Morrison was interviewed on stage by Ian Rankin.

Kim Cattrall then joined Sir Van on stage and gave a wonderful rendition of Someone Like You and The Meaning Of Loneliness, accompanied by Sir Van on the guitar. Once they left, I took to the stage, I read On Hyndford Street first, aware that I was listing the places many people in the audience knew well. I then gave my rendition of The Way Young Lovers Do. I felt extremely emotional, the room was so full and the atmosphere was palpable, and I really enjoyed being on stage. Paul Muldoon then took to the stage to give his reading which included a very moving rendition of Madame George. During the interval I signed copies of my books Rocking Underground and The Lock And The Key, I was able to speak with members of the audience and I was really overwhelmed at their response to the reading. Afterwards, we were all treated to a performance from Sir Van of songs from his new album, Keep Me Singing.


I am so glad to have been part of such a magical evening. Sir Van Morrison had seen me do a poetry reading at The Troubadour in May 2015, and I am truly touched and honoured that, from that he decided he wanted me to take part in his event.

Whilst in Belfast, I enjoyed visiting a great independent bookshop called No Alibi, they were the official stockists for the Aspects Festival, everybody working in the shop was so passionate and engaged, it was a real pleasure to get to know . I hope to return soon to Belfast to give a reading of my own.

The Lock And The Key: The Second Edition 16 Sep 2016

I have been so moved by all the pictures people have sent me, from across the world, of their copies of The Lock And The Key. Thank you to everybody that has bought a copy of the first edition. I have loved sharing these poems with you all and I have been so overwhelmed with the feedback I have received.

I am very excited to say The Lock And The Key is now in its second edition and available to buy here on my website.

Morning tube tales: Scarlett Sabet's stunning The Lock And The Key #scarlettsabet #newpoetry

A photo posted by paul_g0rm4n (@paul_g0rm4n) on

An evening with Van Morrison 07 Sep 2016

Scarlett will be appearing at a very special Van Morrison evening at the Culloden Hotel, Belfast on Wednesday 21st September.

Alongside the legendary Van Morrison, Scarlett will also be featuring with Eamonn Hughes, editor of Lit Up Inside, Number one bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin and Paul Muldoon, an Irish poet and professor of poetry.

"In a career spanning thirty-five studio albums, he has been honoured with a Brit Award, a knighthood, an Ivor Novello, six Grammys, honorary doctorates from Queen’s University Belfast and University of Ulster, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the French Ordres des Artes et des Lettres.

"Van Morrison has done nothing less than re-define the possibilities of popular music."

Read more here

Reading at Poetry Unplugged at The Poetry Cafe/Poetry Society 09 Aug 2016

Tonight I went down to The Poetry Cafe/Poetry Society and signed up for the weekly open mic night Poetry Unplugged run by the wonderful and hilarious Niall O'Sullivan. I was one of 34 poets that read tonight. I went up and performed in the second half. I read a new unpublished poem I wrote last Friday. It was nice to breathe life into it, in such a crowded room. I heard some great poets tonight as well, two female poets particularly stood out, one being Leila Chadoury who gave a really great performance.


Poetry @ 3 at The Poetry Cafe/The Poetry Society, Covent Garden, London 04 Aug 2016

I went down and signed up for the monthly afternoon open mic event, run by The Poetry Society's wonderful Paul McGrane. I was one of 35 poets who read. I went on second and read my poem "Cut Up" which features in The Lock And The Key. A lovely event, I look forward to the next one.


Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe/The Poetry Society, Covent Garden 26 Jul 2016

I went down to Covent Garden and signed up to read at the weekly open mic night run by Niall O'Sullivan. I was amongst 27 other poets and went on in the first half. I read a new unpublished poem "Merna" and "Feathers" . The two poems definitely contrast so it was nice to change gears. It was a pretty humid night down in the basement of the Poetry Society but I had so much fun, and as usual heard so many great, fresh poets reading their work.