Tonight marks a return to Oxford for award-winning spoken word artist Hollie McNish for the first time in around 7 years. The sold-out show is the first of McNish’s latest tour, and, from the moment she walks onto the stage to greet the audience and introduce her support act, it is clear that this audience is in for a treat. McNish tells us about her dream the night before, in which the gig went completely wrong, and that it has already been an improvement on that; in truth, the show is a hit from start to finish.

McNish’s support act is her good friend ‘and favourite poet ever’ Vanessa Kisuule, who treats us to a truly hilarious, and sometimes touching, thirty-minute set of poems, punctuated by humorous anecdotes. The subject matter of Kisuule’s poems is eclectic to say the least, ranging from the octopus to a heart-rending piece about her Ugandan Grandmother, from drunken nights out with friends, to sex. The somewhat random transitions between each poem’s subject matter are part of the charm of Kisuule’s set, not least because of her spot-on comical tone, energy and timing when acknowledging this randomness. Kisuule leaves the stage to a delighted, whooping audience, and deservedly so; here’s to hoping she returns to Oxford before too long.

There is something immediately likeable and hypnotic about Hollie McNish; not only the fact that she has just sat watching her support’s act and laughed and clapped along with the rest of us, but also because of her sincerity when talking to us. The connection between the poet and her audience is palpably real. Like Kisuule, McNish is unafraid to tackle ‘taboo’ subjects head on, including female arousal, the female body and feelings about your body and sex after having a baby. She speaks with a refreshing honesty, both in her poems and when addressing the audience, who drink it all in with nodding delight (at one point, the audience erupts so wholeheartedly into simultaneous applause at the first line of McNish’s response to her friend’s angst, 'The Nursery', that McNish leaves it at that, saying ‘that clearly says it all then’).

McNish mixes up the length and tone of her poems to great effect. Her longish poem ‘Embarrassed’ deals with the backward attitudes of the public towards breastfeeding in public, while ‘Cherry Pie’, the title piece from her 2015 collection, is a moving recollection of the painful wartime memories stirred up in her grandfather at the sight of cherries in her mum’s home-made pie. ‘Magic Show’, meanwhile, is a hilariously honest - and ultimately touching - take on the realities of having to endure small talk with other parents at young children’s birthday parties. Humour, poignancy, and frankness come together beautifully through McNish’s craft and delivery.