Emily has been writing and performing poetry since June 2022. She helps to run Sweet Sundays at Hackney Old Baths, working as MC and on the welcome team. Her work has been featured by London Poetry Evenings, Positive Wellbeing Zine for Mums (Issue 16), The Dubble, and London Poems on the Lockdown.
In October 2024, Emily debuted her sold out poetry show EATING SATSUMAS IN THE SUN AND FORGETTING ABOUT HEARTBREAK at the Lambeth Fringe. The show went on for a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Etcetera Theatre in 2025 before returning to the Lambeth Fringe in 2026. Emily is currently working on her next poetry show, SENSATIONAL!, which will debut in 2027.
"raw, witty and brilliant... i'd recommend seeing her the same way a drowning human would recommend air." - praise for eating satsumas in the sun and forgetting about heartbreak (October 2024)
About EATING SATSUMAS IN THE SUN AND FORGETTING ABOUT HEARTBREAK
Writer, director, and poet Emily Layton presents her debut solo hour – and it’s personal. EATING SATSUMAS IN THE SUN AND FORGETTING ABOUT HEARTBREAK is a bold, honest, and heartwarmingly raw spoken word journey through love, loss, motherhood, and the absurd beauty of wading through life’s chaos.
From writing poetry to impress a boy (don’t we all start somewhere?) to reclaiming her voice with unapologetic emotional clarity, Emily invites audiences to sit in the sun with her — and sometimes in the mess — as she unravels everything from the heartbreaks we whisper about to the small joys that save us. Expect wit, tears, belly laughs, and solidarity in this “gutwrenching and heartwarming” hour (audience review) from an artist “fearlessly dissecting her own heart on stage.” It’s storytelling at its most honest, wrapped in poetry that’s both lived-in and luminous.
Praise for the show:
***** "An hour of storytelling and poetry in the company of Emily Layton is an hour well spent.... Open, honest and raw." (Edinburgh Fringe, Portobello Book Blog)
**** "A talented poet as well as an impressive performer." (Edinburgh Fringe, Calum Skuodas for EdFringeReview)
**** "Her work is deeply hers but also deeply holistic" (Edinburgh Fringe, Luca Dahse for EdFringeReview)
"Emily is simply sensational. Her writing delivers a rare sense of power and conviction." (Edinburgh Fringe, audience review)
"Emily is warm, authentic, raw and highly talented... felt revolutionary." (Edinburgh Fringe, audience review)