Dublin Poetry Brothel: Monto by Lamplight

Part of Night Bites at Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival in association with the Night-Time Economy Advisor.

 

Enter Monto’s shadows. Trade a token for a verse. Leave with a ghost in your ear.

 

Step into ‘Monto by Lamplight’, Dublin’s infamous Victorian underworld where poets are spectral guides for the mortal, whispering verses from the veil between the living and the dead. Shadows flicker, the air hums with candlelit secrets, and every encounter feels like a forbidden séance.

 

Poetry Brothel is an interactive literary cabaret where audiences encounter poets in intimate one-on-one readings.

 

Join Madame La Li, The Poet Geoff, Stephen Clare, Rúairí Conneely, Anna D, Jimbo Dillon, Dublin Bodypaint and more plus special guest Primordial’s Alan Averill dj-ing and spinning tunes that carry guests deeper into the shadows.

 

Madame La Li

Rachel Lally is a shapeshifter of stage and page — an actor, poet and performer who moves between worlds of light and shadow. Her work fuses theatre, spoken word and ritual into something raw, feminine and electric, drawing power from the occult and the untamed corners of the human heart. Whether whispering secrets in candlelit rooms or howling verses under festival lights, the madame invites you to step closer — to the edge where performance becomes possession, and the poem begins to breathe into your very soul.

The Poet Geoff

Geoff Finan is an acclaimed Dublin poet whose work bridges art, activism and the everyday pulse of the city. A former Writer in Residence for Dublin City Council, he has been commissioned to write for national commemorations, social justice campaigns and major arts festivals. His words have reached global audiences through film, television, and performance — from Amazon Prime documentaries to RTÉ airwaves. Known for his raw honesty and lyrical craft, Geoff brings a voice both intimate and incendiary to every stage he graces.

 

Stephen Clare

Stephen Clare is former All-Ireland Poetry Slam winner – a conjurer of words who writes as though channelling the ethereal through the keys of his typewriter. Each poem arrives like a whisper from the underworld — haunting, intimate and alive with strange beauty. His verses summon captured in ink and paper before they vanish again into the ether. Sit before him and you may find he writes what you didn’t know you needed to hear.

 

Rúairí Conneely

Rúairí Conneely is a performance poet and writer based in Dublin. He writes slipstream poetry and fiction, with a satirical or absurdist bent. He is a founding member of Pay Attention! Collective. He has been a film reviewer, a producer, a blogger, a jack of trades. He performs his writings and sometime reads the Tarot. If you’re lucky, he might read your cards in exchange for a token and prepare you for the dark roads ahead.

 

Anna D

Anna D is a spoken word poet from Dublin. She has won multiple slams and competitions including the All-Ireland Poetry Slam. Anna received two awards to develop her debut spoken word collection into a multi-media stage show called ‘Roots in Every Room’, which debuted at Dublin Fringe Festival September 2025 and was nominated for the ‘Radical Spirit’ award. Her poems are raw, honest and relatable portrayals of her experience of the human condition in all its grime and glory. 

 

Jimbo Dillon

James William Dillon, fondly known as Jimbo, is a spoken word poet hailing from Dublin. He has won the Fingal poetry slam, a Wrgriot poetry slam and has performed at events such as Electric Picnic and The Rose Festival. A gifted wordsmith with a unique style that seamlessly blends humour and depth. He is the host of ‘Dublin’s Finest’ a night that happens monthly in Sin É alongside creative director Julie O’Brien. Jimbo’s poetry captures life in a relatable and often lighthearted way, but he’s also capable of crafting thought-provoking pieces that tackle serious issues with poignancy and nuance.

 

Dublin Bodypaint

Caitríona is an award-winning artist and former world-ranked body painter who transforms skin into living art. With every brushstroke, she blurs the line between audience and performer — inviting you to become part of the spectacle itself. During the evening, she’ll weave her magic in real time, painting bodies into the atmosphere of the Poetry Brothel until each guest is both canvas and character. Her work is sensual, surreal and spellbinding — a fleeting masterpiece that lives, breathes and disappears by dawn.

 

Alan Averill

Alan Averill is the voice of fire and ruin — frontman of the legendary black metal band Primordial and a force that commands the dark with ritualistic fury. His DJ set is no mere soundtrack but an invocation: a descent into pounding metal, shadowed melodies and raw untamed energy. Expect an atmosphere and defiance — where music, anger, and darkness fuels the dance of the macabre.