Saturday 2nd December 2017
Empathy: Poetry School Workshop
Can you really see the world from another's perspective? Explore empathetic writing with Sarah Howe.
‘How difficult is it for one body to feel the injustice wheeled at another?’ Claudia Rankine’s question points towards the possibilities and the limits of empathy, our capacity to cross the border between ‘self’ and ‘other’. Looking at poems that invite us to try on someone else’s shoes – or question the attempt – we’ll range from questions about ‘lyric’, to mirror neurons, to cultural appropriation, through a mixture of reading, discussion and writing.
The Poetry School, 81 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 6DX
£72, 10.30am-4.30pm
Tuesday 14th November 2017
Miriam Allott Series 2017-18: Reading at the University of Liverpool
Sarah Howe, TIDE Writer in Residence will read with University of Liverpool's Colm Toibin Fellow in Creative Writing, the novelist Anthony Joseph
School of the Arts Library, 23 Abercromby Square, University of Liverpool
5.30pm
Saturday 11th November 2017
The Mighty Stream: Anthology Launch
Join anthology contributors Fred D’Aguiar, Kwame Dawes, Imtiaz Dharker, Sarah Howe and Jackie Kay who will be reading from The Mighty Stream: Poems in Celebration of Dr Martin Luther King (Bloodaxe & Newcastle University, 2017).
King's Hall, Armstrong Building, Newcastle University Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
£6/£4/£2, 5.30pm
Saturday 11th November 2017
NAWE Conference: Poetry Masterclass
A morning workshop
Park Inn by Radisson, North St, York YO1 6JF
9-10am
Friday 10th November 2017
NAWE 30th Anniversary Conference: Poetry Reading
Evening reading and Q&A, followed by a workshop on the following morning
Park Inn by Radisson, North St, York YO1 6JF
8-9pm
Thursday 9th November 2017
The Complete Works Diversity in UK Poetry Conference
Morning panel with Dr Sandeep Parmar on 'the culture of reviewing' (12.30-1.15pm), followed by an evening reading with Mona Arshi, Malika Booker, Kayo Chingonyi and Karen Mc Carthy Woolf
Goldsmiths, University of London, 8 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW
Free but booking required, 7.30pm
Tuesday 7th November 2017
Echoes of Paradise: An Evening of Contemporary Responses to Milton’s Paradise Lost
An evening of talks, music and poetry celebrating the 350th anniversary of the publication of Milton's Paradise Lost, with newly commissioned poems from Sarah Howe and Helen Mort
Yusuf Hamied Theatre, Christ's College, Cambridge, CB2 3BU
4:30-5:30pm, Lecture by Professor Sir Christopher Ricks:
'Milton and those who follow his art towards blasphemy'
INTERVAL
6:00-7:30pm, Music from Trio Apaches, by Sally Beamish and Edwin Hillier
Poetry by Sarah Howe and Helen Mort
Sunday 29th October 2017
London Literature Festival: Letters of Sylvia Plath: 1940 - 1956
Hear a selection of newly published letters by one of the defining poets of the 20th century, Sylvia Plath, in this live reading and discussion. With letters specially selected by acclaimed poet and writer Lavinia Greenlaw and featuring award-winning authors Eimear McBride, Max Porter and Sarah Howe, read by Lydia Wilson.
Royal Festival Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
£15-£35, 7.30pm
Sunday 29th October 2017
Conversations on a Bench: London's Chinatown
BBC Radio 4, 4.30pm
I contributed a sequence of new poems to an episode of Radio 4's Conversations on a Bench set in London's Chinatown. My poems draw on interviews and oral testimonies collected by the producer Anna Scott-Brown, who spent a number of weeks sitting on a bench outside a bubble tea shop in Gerrard Street hearing stories from passers-by.
These hidden stories are glimpsed through snatched moments and the painful and beautiful stories people tell Anna in this busy urban setting – the life on hold of an illegal immigrant, the gambler who has lost everything and found God but who is still fighting his addiction, the woman whose father committed suicide after the handover of Hong Kong to China, the political exile turned lawyer, the successful businessman, the artist and the chef.
Throughout it all, the importance of food and family emerges as people speak of where they find their roots – in Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, London's Chinatown itself – and compare the experiences of being a migrant to Britain with a British-born Chinese. The programme will be available on BBC iPlayer for a month after broadcast.
Thursday 19th October 2017
Rochdale Literature & Ideas Festival: Jessica Rankin’s Poetic Commission
Visual artist Jessica Rankin’s exhibition premieres a series of new drawings, paintings and embroideries inspired by the Parthenon Sculptures at the British Museum. During this event, Jessica will talk about her work and writers Amy Key, Sarah Howe and Brenda Shaughnessy, will give their own poetic response.
Touchstones Arts & Heritage Centre, The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AQ
£5, 8-9pm
Tuesday 17th October 2017
Bristol Poetry Festival
Reading with Rishi Dastidar and Karen McCarthy Woolf
The Mackay, Bristol
7.30pm
Saturday 14th October 2017
Winchester Poetry Day
4pm, Prizegiving Event and Reading: Hear from the winners of this year's Winchester Poetry Prize, judged by Sarah Howe
6.30pm, Reading by Sarah Howe, Hannah Lowe & Matt West
The Discovery Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester, Hants SO23 8SB
Friday 13th October 2017
Cambridge University Poetry & Prose Society
(CUPPS)
Reading and Q&A, starting with drinks at 5pm
Central Hall, Old Divinity School, St John's Street, Cambridge CB2 1TP
5-6.30pm
Tuesday 10th October 2017
Cultural Crossings: Poetry and the World Service
How does poetry contribute to culturally diverse audiences? How do poets articulate the experience of cultural crossing which dominates our world today? How does poetry reach out and matter to a truly global audience?
The BBC World Service has been a superb medium to share poetry across the world. Four poets Jack Mapanje, Kayo Chingonyi, Sarah Howe and Ruth Padel, read poems on crossing cultures, and reflect on what has been, should be and could be the role of The World Service in enriching the impact of poetry across the world.
Kings Arts & Humanities Festival, Safra Lecture Theatre, King's College London Strand Campus, London WC2R
8pm
Wednesday 20th September 2017
Poetry London: Autumn Launch
Poetry London launches its Autumn 2017 issue with readings from Nuar Alsadir, Oli Hazzard, Liz Berry and the winners of this year's Poetry London Competition. The evening will be hosted by this issue’s Guest Poetry Editor Sarah Howe.
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
£6.50, 7pm
I am going to be judging two competitions this summer, one for individual poems and another aimed at 16-18 year olds writing creative responses to poetry. Do send in your entries for both!
Winchester Poetry Prize 2017
First Prize: £1,000
2nd Prize: £500
3rd Prize: £250
In addition to receiving cash prizes winners will be invited to read at a special prize-giving event at Winchester Poetry Day on Saturday 14th October 2017.
Closing Date: 31 July 2017
Forward/emagazine Student Critics Competition
A new writing competition in response to poems on the Forward Prizes for Poetry shortlist 2017, with separate categories for 14-16 year olds, 16-19 year-olds and teachers. Choose between writing a critical appreciation or a creative/critical response. We are delighted that Sarah Howe and Sarah Crown will be the judges for the competition.
Closing Date: 11 September 2017
Under the auspices of the Poetry Translation Centre, my co-translator Canan Marasligil and I recently completed History-Geography, a chapbook of poems newly rendered into English from the renowned Turkish-Aremenian poet Karin Karakaşlı.
In History-Geography, Karakaşlı explores her anguish for Turkey's silent histories, from the 1915 Armenian genocide to the denial of Kurdish identity today, and her love for its geographies, especially the city of Istanbul where she lives. Sarah Howe’s fresh new versions of Karaka?l?’s poems, made in collaboration with bridge translator Canan Marasligil, offer Anglophone readers a rare chance to experience this vital poetic voice in English.
In late June 2017, the PTC has organised a UK tour celebrating the publication of our chapbook alongside If this is a lament by Bejan Matur (translated by Jen Hadfield and Canan Marasligil). See the PTC website for a list of our stops, including the British Centre for Literary Translation in Norwich and Asia House, London.
Thursday 29h June 2017
WHITE REVIEW / N+1 Summer Party
The event also marks the launch of our twentieth print issue; music till late.
There will be readings from – CLAIRE-LOUISE BENNETT
– SARAH HOWE
– MARK KROTOV
– TOM McCARTHY
– MATTHEW McNAUGHT
– FRANCESCO PACIFICO
Auditorium, Bold Tendencies, 95A Rye Lane, London
SE15 4TG
Free, 7.15pm
Saturday 10th June
Mind the Gap: Inscribe Poetry Weekender
Attend Inscribe's residential poetry weekend at the recently renovated Debden House, on the edge of Epping Forest! This is a wonderful opportunity to gather with other writers from around the country, who are your creative peers, to spend an intensive two and a half days on your craft. Our guest tutor SARAH HOWE will offer a workshop thinking about poetry as an art of gaps and implication, where what’s left unspoken is often as powerful as the words themselves. How can we know when we’ve said too much, or not enough? Tuning in to the white space of the page, exercises will offer a chance to think about the force of silences, breaks and turns inside our own poems.
Debden House Conference Centre, Debden Green,
Epping Forest
IG10 2NZ
£170/200
Tuesday 23rd May 2017
CB1 Poetry
Reading with Jodie Hollander in Cambridge
CB2 Bistro Cafe, 5-7 Norfolk St, Cambridge CB1 2LD
£5/4, 7.30pm
Thursday 4th May 2017
Bath Spa Poetry Reading Series
Come to hear Sarah Howe read from her award-winning collection
Burdall's Yard,
7A Anglo Terrace, Bath BA1 5NH
Free, 8pm
My short verse drama, Telemachus, aired on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 26th April. Catch it on BBC iPlayer for the next month. Telemachus was commissioned as part of The Odyssey Project: My Name is Nobody, a series of ten responses to Homer's epic by poets from migrant and immigrant backgrounds, including Mona Arshi, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Inua Ellams, Zaffar Kunial and Daljit Nagra.
In China today many children are left in rural villages with grandparents while their parents work vast distances away in the coastal cities. Odysseus, similarly, abandons his son Telemachus and goes to war. In my response to Homer, Telemachus is a Chinese girl left in the countryside. She wants to leave, but for reasons more complicated than to look for her father.
Monday 27th March to 1st April 2017
Dwelling in Mysteries: Arvon Course at Lumb Bank
With co-tutor David Morley and guest reader Jacob Polley.
For John Keats, the best writers were ‘capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason’. It was a quality he dubbed ‘negative capability’: an imaginative suppleness and generosity that has never been more important than it is today. Can poets ever truly travel into the minds of other people and other things? How might we tune in to an unconscious world? During this week of thought-provoking reading, writing exercises and conversations, we will tease out how Keats’s insight can help push us forward as poets, finding fresh ways of making and shaping poems.
Lumb Bank, Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge,
West Yorkshire HX7 6DF
£760/710
Saturday 25th March 2017
Mountains to Sea Book Festival
Reading with Nick Laird at this year's Poetry Now festival
Studio at the dlr LexIcon library, Haigh Terrace, Moran Park, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
€12/10, 4.30pm
Plus a masterclass earlier the same day, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Thursday 23rd March 2017
Lancaster Literature Festival
Reading with Sarah Howe supported by the Creative
Writing MA Programme at Lancaster University.
The Storey Auditorium, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster LA1 1TH
£10/8, 7pm
Wednesday 22nd March 2017
Lullaby Too Rough: Words at King's Place
An evening of lullabies and lyrics exploring Eastern roots and Western journeys. When T.S. Eliot award-winning poet Sarah Howe met composer-pianist Prach Boondiskulchok, something remarkable happened. Join them as they perform the work each other’s oeuvre has inspired, with bluesy, tango classical settings of Howe’s electric Loop of Jade collection performed by the Linos Piano Trio, and new poetry in response to Boondiskulchok’s work. Hall One, Kings Place,
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
£9.50, 7pm
Wednesday 8th March 2017
International Women’s Day reading at Keats House
Join award winning poet and former poet in residence Jo Shapcott for a celebration of the female voice. Shapcott will be joined by Emily Berry, Sarah Howe and Karen McCarthy Woolf for an evening dedicated to the celebration of women’s poetry, marking International Women’s Day.
Keats House, Keats Grove, London NW3 2RR
£12, 7pm
7pm
Saturday 4th March 2017
StAnza Festival: Poetry Centre Stage
A double bill of poetry for Saturday evening:
Sarah Howe at 8pm, Jackie Kay at 9pm
Auditorium, The Byre Theatre, Abbey Street
£9.50/7.50, 8pm
Plus a masterclass on Sunday 5th March, 11.15am-12.45pm (£5/4).
Friday 24th February 2017
Durham University Reading
Reading with Dai George
Location TBC
7pm
Saturday 18th February 2017
Verve Poetry Festival
Reading with Helen Mort and Kayo Chingonyi
Waterstones, 24-26 High Street, Birmingham B4 7SL
£6/4, 7pm
Plus a workshop earlier the same day, 3-5pm (£15/10).
Friday 17th February 2017
University of Edinburgh: Visiting Writers Series
The SPL and the University of Edinburgh host Sarah Howe for a free reading
Scottish Poetry Library,
Canongate,
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Free, 6.30pm
Monday 13th February 2017
Reading at Bangor University
The evening with take the form of a reading and Q&A allowing the audience to become familiar with the poetry, and also to have personal experience of Sarah herself and what drives her writing.
Bangor University, College Road, Bangor LL57 2DG
Free, 7.30pm
Thursday 9th February 2017
Reading in Glasgow: St Mungo's Mirrorball
Sarah Howe, Cheryl Follon and Samuel Tongue will be the poets reading at the next Mirrorball
Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD
7pm
Tuesday 7th February 2017
The Poetry Review Launch: Winter 2016
I will be hosting the launch of the issue I co-edited, with readings from Jen Hadfield, Jane Yeh, Will Harris and outgoing editor Maurice Riordan.
Keats House, Keats Grove, London NW3 2RR
6.30-8.30pm, readings from 7pm
Friday 27th January 2017
An Evening of Poetry on Chinese Identit(ies), Place and Politics
This poetry event aims to interrogate notions of Chineseness, in relation to concepts of home, place and diaspora. There will be a reading from poets Hannah Lowe, Jennifer Wong and Sarah Howe, followed by a discussion and Q&A session.
William Goodenough House,
35-42 Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2
Free, 8pm
Tuesday 17th January 2017
Nowhere in Particular: The Poetry of Utopia
In 2017, Somewhere in Particular will be venturing forth into imagined spaces and places. Join Sarah Howe, Kate Potts and Karen McCarthy Woolf as they celebrate and explore the utopian space of Nowhere in Particular. Hosted by Jacqueline Saphra.
Screening Room, South Wing,
Somerset House, Strand,
London
WC2R 1LA
£5, 7pm
The Winter 2016 issue of The Poetry Review, which I co-edited with Maurice Riordan, is now available! Join us on Tuesday 7th February for the launch party at Keats House, London, with readings from Jen Hadfield, Jane Yeh and Will Harris.
Here is an extract from my editorial:
"This November, I found myself exchanging emails with some of our American contributors about final corrections in the days immediately following the election. My first impulse was to apologise: how trivial proofs and poems seem at such times! But then I began to realise how poems – like the ones in these pages – will be among our most necessary acts of resilience and resistance in the years to come."
Monday 12th December 2016
Reading at Liverpool University
Reading with Vahni Capildeo at the launch of the ERC-funded TIDE project: Travel, Transculturality, and Identity in England, c.1550-1700
The Old Library, School of the Arts, 23 Abercromby Square, University of Liverpool
7pm
Sunday 11th December 2016
Brighton Poem-a-thon for Refugees
Between 12 noon to 10 pm, a relay of 50 poets and readers will each read for 8 minutes throughout the day to raise money for the Refugee Council and their work in support of asylum seekers. To make a donation visit my Justgiving page.
Komedia 44-47 Gardner Street, Brighton BN1 1UN
12pm-10pm
Wednesday 30th November 2016
Young Writer of the Year showcase
Ahead of the winner announcement of the The Sunday Times / PFD Young Writer of the Year Award 2016, we'll be joined by some of the talented young writers on the shortlist, Max Porter, Benjamin Wood and Jessie Greengrass, plus last year’s winner, Sarah Howe.
Second Home Spitalfields,
68 Hanbury Street,
London E1 5JL
Free, 7.30pm
Wednesday 23rd November 2016
Hong Kong Society Annual Dinner
During the dinner Sir David Tang will be in conversation with Stephen Fry, followed by a performance from Hong Kong-born poet Sarah Howe.
Hyatt Regency London, The Churchill, 30 Portman Square, London W1H 7BH
£95 per head (member) / £110 per head (non member), 7.30pm
Thursday 17th November 2016
Literary Leicester Festival
Reading with Tom Pickard
Leicester Print Workshop, 50 St. George Street, Leicester, LE1 1QG
Free, 6pm
Wednesday 9th November 2016
Six Windows: Sarah Howe at Asia Art Archive
Sarah Howe at Asia Art Archive: T.S. Eliot Prize winner and Hong Kong-born British poet presents 'Six Windows', a reading and talk based around six new poems which provide alternative entry points into AAA's collection.
Asia Art Archive, 11/F Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Free, 7pm
Tuesday 8th November 2016
Second Century Lecture
In conversation with Wendy Gan as part of the Second Century Lectures Series, hosted by the Faculty of Arts of the University of Hong Kong.
Rayson Huang Theatre, Graduate House, The University of Hong Kong
Free, 6.30pm
Tuesday 8th November 2016
Rising Star: Readings by Sarah Howe
Solo reading at the
Hong Kong Literary Festival
Growhouse, G106A-107A, Ground Floor, The Repulse Bay, 109 Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong
125 HKD, 2-3pm
Monday 7th November 2016
The Evolution of Ideas
Local writer Melanie Ho is in conversation with three internationally acclaimed writers: Sarah Howe, Helen Oyeyemi and Hanya Yanagihara. Discover what inspires each of these writers and learn more about their creative processes.
Growhouse, G106A-107A, Ground Floor, The Repulse Bay, 109 Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong
125 HKD, 8-9pm
Tuesday 25th October 2016
Ambit 226 Launch
Celebrating the winners of the Ambit 2016 Poetry Competition, judged by Sarah Howe
The Sun and 13 Cantons, 21 Great Pulteney St, London W1F 9NG
£5 or free to subscribers, 7pm
Saturday 22nd October 2016
Manchester Literature Festival
An event introduced by fellow poet John McAuliffe
International Anthony Burgess Foundation,
The Engine House,
Chorlton Mill,
3 Cambridge Street,
Manchester
M1 5BY
£7/5, 2pm
Friday 21st October 2016
The Poetry Review Autumn Launch
Join us to launch the newest issue of The Poetry Review, guest co-edited by Kayo Chingonyi and featuring readings from contributors Sophie Robinson, Paul Adrian and Richard Scott, plus the co-editor of the upcoming winter issue, Sarah Howe.
Fitzrovia Chapel, 2 Pearson Square,
London , W1T 3BF
Free but booking required, 6.30 for 7pm
Saturday 15th October 2016
Cheltenham Literature Festival
Reading with Rebecca Perry. You can read about this event in The Sunday Times.
Town Hall, Drawing Room, Imperial Square, Cheltenham GL50 1QA
£8, 7pm
Wednesday 12th October 2016
Poets on the rise: Brunel Writers Series
Reading with Mona Arshi, hosted by Bernardine Evaristo, Professor of Creative Writing
Brunel University Library,
21 Cleveland Road,
Uxbridge UB8 2DR
Free, 5.30pm
Tuesday 11th October 2016
Not another bloody poet
For the King's College London Arts & Humanities Festival 2016, Ruth Padel, Declan Ryan, Andrew McMillan and Sarah Howe will read from their work and discuss with Parisa Ebrahimi, of Chatto & Windus, what the new generation of poets is doing, why so many new audiences are enjoying poetry today, and why poetry is winning prizes previously won only by other genres.
Anatomy Lecture Theatre, 6th Floor, King's Building Strand Campus, King's College London
Free, 7.30pm
Sunday 9th October 2016
Winchester Poetry Festival
The Complete Works: Inua Ellams, Sarah Howe, Kei Miller
The Discovery Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester, Hants SO23 8SB
£10, 3.15pm
Thursday 6th October 2016
National Poetry Day: Poetry Breakfast
Poet in the City is delighted to present our annual Poetry Breakfast. In the wonderful setting of the Bloomsbury Hotel, we’ll be providing coffee, croissants and the very best of contemporary poetry.
The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3NN
Free, 8-9am
Sunday 2nd October 2016
Marlborough Literature Festival
Festival finale at Marlborough College
The Adderley Room, C1,
Marlborough College, Bath Road,
Marlborough,
Wiltshire
SN8 1PA
£10, 7.30pm
Wednesday 21st September 2016
Arvon Guest Reading: Totleigh Barton
Wednesday night guest
reading on 'The Poem as Controlled Explosion', an Arvon course tutored by Jane Draycott and Jack Underwood
Totleigh Barton, Sheepwash, Beaworthy, Devon EX21 5NS
Friday 16th September 2016
Kenilworth Arts Festival
An evening of poetry curated by David Morley, with readings from Jo Bell, Claire Trévien, Luke Kennard, Jonathan Edwards and Sarah Howe
Talisman Theatre, Barrow Rd,
Kenilworth
CV8 1EG
£16, 7.30pm
The Poetry Society is delighted to announce award-winning poet Sarah Howe as co-editor of the Winter 2016 issue of The Poetry Review. She will work alongside the Review's Editor, Maurice Riordan. You can read the full press release here...
I will be serving alongside Adam O'Riordan and Helen Mort as a judge for this year's Manchester Poetry Competition. Poets from around the world can enter by post or online: the closing date is 23 September 2016.
Wednesday 31st August 2016
The Poetry Extension
Bringing poets and dancers from Canada, the UK, Ireland, and the US together
Log on to www.thepoetryextension.com for the live stream
8am (Toronto Daylight Savings Time) / 1pm (British Summer Time)
Friday 26th August 2016
Neu! Reekie! Unbound
Reading with Salena Godden, with music from Admiral Fallow and The Sexual Objects
Edinburgh International Book Festival,
Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh EH2 4DR
Free entry, 9pm
Saturday 13th August 2016
Edinburgh International Book Festival
'Roots and Roofs: New British Poetry', a reading with William Letford
The Spiegeltent
£12/10, 10.15am
Monday 25th July 2016
John Hewitt International Summer School
Poetry Reading with Sinéad Morrissey & Sarah Howe
The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre, Market Street, Armagh BT61 7BW
£10, 7.30pm
Monday 18th July 2016
West Cork Literary Festival
Join award-winning poets Theo Dorgan, Sarah Howe and Jo Shapcott as they read from a selection of their work
Maritime Hotel, The Quay, Bantry, West Cork, Ireland
€16, 6.30pm
Thursday 21st July 2016
Hong Kong Book Fair
Turned always home: a conversation and reading with the winner of the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize, chaired by Peter Gordon.
Room S222-223, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
6-7.30pm
Sunday 17th July 2016
The Llangollen Fringe Festival
Town Hall, Castle St, Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales LL20 8PB
£7.50, 7.30pm
Friday 15th July 2016
T.S. Eliot International Summer School
Reading at the London Library
6.30pm
Monday 11th July 2016
Loose Muse Winchester
The Discovery Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester, Hants SO23 8SB
£5, 7.30-9.30pm
Sunday 10th July 2016
Ledbury Poetry Festival
Reading with Katrina Naomi at this year's festival, plus a workshop on Saturday 9th July
Venue: Burgage Hall
2.30-3.30pm
Monday 20th June 2016
5x15
Join us for an evening of 15 minute talks at the Tabernacle. Featuring Geoff Dyer, Kate Summerscale, design mavern Harry Pearce, writer Kat Banyard, award-winning poet Sarah Howe, and psychologist Oliver James.
Tabernacle, Notting Hill, Powis Square, London W112AY
£25/£15, 7pm
Tuesday 7th June 2016
Poetry at the Print Room
Print Room at the Coronet, 103 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3LB
£10, 7.30pm
Saturday 11th June 2016
Belfast Book Festival
Reading with Kayo Chingonyi and Cal Doyle, sponsored by The Lifeboat
The Sunflower Bar
Free entry, 7.30pm
Saturday 4th June 2016
Hay Festival
A reading and conversation with the winner of the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize, chaired by Owen Sheers
Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Good Energy Stage
£7, 5.30pm
Tuesday 31st May 2016
Out-Spoken Live
Out-Spoken's live night returns for May with another stellar line-up. Featuring poetry from Laurie Ogden, Fran Lock & Sarah Howe plus music from Jordan Jackson & Benin City
The Forge, Camden, 3-7 Delancey Street, London NW1 7NL
£8/10, 7pm
Saturday 28th May 2016
Bodmin Moor Poetry Festival
Reading with Pascale Petit in Cornwall
Sterts Theatre, Upton Cross, Liskeard PL14 5AZ
6.45pm
Friday 27th May 2016
One Day in the City: A Celebration of London and Literature
Reading with Mark Ford and Peter Gizzi for the bi-annual festival at UCL
Chadwick B05, UCL Campus, Gower Street, London
5pm
Tuesday 24th May 2016
Reading at Keble College, Oxford
A reading in the 'Meet the Poet' series
Pusey Room, Keble College, Oxford OX1 3PG
6.30pm
Monday 23rd May 2016
Coffee-House Poetry at the Troubadour
An evening of music and spoken word, with Michael Symmons Roberts and Caitríona O'Reilly
The Troubadour, 263-267 Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JA
£7, 8-10pm
Saturday 21st May 2016
Transatlantic Poetry: with Eric Berlin and Sarah Howe
Join the winner of the National Poetry Competition 2015, Eric Berlin, and one of the judges of the competition, Sarah Howe, for a reading that spans an ocean, hosted by Edward Doegar
Visit the Transatlantic Poetry YouTube channel for the archived reading
Friday 20th May 2016
Bristol Festival of Ideas: Contemporary Poets and Utopia
The Festival of Ideas commissioned 15 leading poets to each write a new poem on the utopian theme. They present their work tonight, talk about what inspired them and join the debate on creating perfect worlds
At-Bristol, Harbourside, Bristol BS1 5DB
£15/£12, 7 for 7.30pm
Friday 6th May 2016
Newcastle Poetry Festival
Reading with Fleur Adcock and Mark Waldron, as part of this year's Newcastle Poetry Festival; followed by a workshop on Saturday 7th May
Northern Stage, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RH
7.30pm
Thursday 21st April 2016
PanAsia Presents: Between the Occident and the Orient
A reading for the PanAsia Spring Festival at the University of Chicago
South Lounge at the Reynolds Club, 5706 S University Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
7.30pm
Tuesday 19th April 2016
Radcliffe Fellows Poetry Reading
A reading by this year's poetry fellows at the Radcliffe Institute, Ross Gay, Alice Lyons and Sarah Howe
Main Lecture Hall, Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138
6.30-8.30pm
Friday 25th March 2016
Grolier Poetry Reading
Poetry reading with James Byrne and Sandeep Parmar
Grolier Poetry Book Shop, 6 Plympton St, Cambridge, MA 02138
7pm
Thursday 24th March 2016
Reading at the University of Massachusetts
A joint visit to the MFA and Asian American Studies programs at UMass, Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston MA 02125, Campus Center Building, 3rd Floor, Ballroom C
11.30am-12.30pm
Sunday 21st February 2016
Brookline Poetry Series
Public Library of Brookline Main Branch, 361 Washington St., Brookline, MA 02445
$5, 2pm
Monday 8th February 2016
HERE FOR THE GHOSTS:
A Chinese New Year celebration
Join poets Jenny Zhang and Sarah Howe, alongside musician and writer Emmy the Great, for festivities to usher in the Year of the Monkey. There'll be readings, songs and dim sum; for those who wish to party till late, we’ll see the lunar year out with a selection of Mando- and Cantopop, plus other great, ghost-scaring tunes.
Elvis Guesthouse, 85 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009
Doors 8pm, readings from 8.30, DJ from 10
Tickets $8
Friday 5th February 2016
The White Review no. 15 Launch
Please join The White Review and NeueHouse in Manhattan for readings from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jorie Graham, Matvei Yankelevich, and Sarah Howe.
NeueHouse, 110 E 25th St, New York, New York 10010
RSVP required, 7pm
Loop of Jade is the winner of the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize! Read the coverage on BBC News, in the Guardian, Telegraph, New York Times and China Daily.
Chair of the judges Pascale Petit said, 'In a year with an incredibly ambitious and diverse shortlist, it was difficult to choose the winner. However Sarah Howe's Loop of Jade shone with its startling exploration of gender and injustice through place and identity, its erudition, and powerful imagery as well as her daring experiment with form. She brings new possibilities to British poetry.'
Listen again to my interview with Mark Mardell on BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend in the wake of the the announcement. You also can catch me talking to Alex Clark about my work in this Vintage Books Podcast, or discussing poetry, song and identity with Emmy the Great and Solomon OB in this month's Guardian Books Podcast.
Loop of Jade has been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Don't miss the London award readings in January, on the eve of the winner’s announcement:
Sunday 10th January 2016
T.S. Eliot Prize readings 2016
Expect an electric atmosphere at this opportunity to hear some of the best contemporary poets in the English-speaking world reading from their own work.
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
£12-£15, 7pm
Listen to a recording of the night's reading, when I performed 'Crossing from Guangdong', a poem from Loop of Jade.
Loop of Jade has won The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award! The prize recognizes the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish writer of 35 or under. Read the coverage in the Bookseller, Guardian and Sunday Times.
Listen again to an interview with me on BBC Radio 4's Today programme (at 2:50:37) the morning after the announcement. I also spoke to the BBC World Service's World Update about my work as a poet and an editor at Prac Crit and to the online magazine Bookanista.
My poem, 'Sirens', appears in the December issue of Poetry magazine in the US, as part of their ongoing exchange with the UK's Poetry Review. I've also written an accompanying essay about the poem, 'Duck/Rabbit', for the Poetry Foundation's Harriet Blog.
'Pronouns are for Slackers', a new poem of mine, has been published online at Clinic.
Loop of Jade has been shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, for the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish writer of 35 or under.
The other shortlisted works are Ben Fergusson's debut novel, The Spring of Kasper Meier, Sunjeev Sahota's Booker-shortlisted The Year of the Runaways, and Sara Taylor's collection of linked stories, The Shore. The winner will be announced at a ceremony held at the London Library on 10th December 2015.
Hear two of the judges, Sarah Waters and Peter Kemp, discuss the shortlisted works with Mariella Fostrop on Radio 4's Open Book (from 15 mins).
Friday 13th November 2015
Woodstock Poetry Festival
Reading with Choman Hardi & Liz Berry. Click here for tickets and the rest of the festival programme.
23 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxon OX20 1TH
7pm
Thursday 12th November 2015
King's Poetry and... Series: Poetry and Identity
Poets Sarah Howe, author of Loop of Jade, and Daljit Nagra, author of Look We Have Coming To Dover! and a translation of the Ramayana, read poems and talk about poetry as a way of exploring identity.
The Chapel, King's College, London WC2R 2LS
Free, 7-9pm
Saturday 7th November 2015
TEDx Harvard College
‘Turned always home… poetry as pilgrimage’: a talk/performance for the newly established Harvard TEDx conference.
Radcliffe Knafel Center, Cambridge, MA 02138
1-5pm
A new essay of mine, 'The Feel of Thinking', on Denise Riley and John Ashbery, appears in the Autumn 2015 issue of Poetry London.
Wednesday 28th October 2015
Radcliffe Institute Lecture
Talk and reading from new work: part of the 2015-2016 Radcliffe Fellows' Presentation Series.
Sheerr Room, Fay House,
10 Garden Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Free, 4pm
Watch a recording of the event:
Loop of Jade has been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. Read about the other shortlisted titles in the Guardian coverage. This year's prize readings will take place at the Royal Festival Hall on 10th January 2016.
The autumn 2015 issue of The Poetry Review contains my 'Poets Reading' feature about the work of US poet Peter Streckfus. The same issue also includes a review of Loop of Jade by William Wootten.
Thursday 8th October 2015
I am going to be across the Atlantic on 8th October, the date of the UK's National Poetry Day this year. But even if I have to follow the festivities at home from afar, I will still be celebrating in various ways:
Channel 4 will be broadcasting my poem, 'Frenzied', as an ident (replacing the short announcement between two programmes) on their More4 TV channel: mine is one of a wonderfully various set of poems that Channel 4's Dominic O'Shea has curated for the day.
In other exciting news, Stephen Hawking has read aloud my poem dedicated to him, 'Relativity', which was newly commissioned to explore this year's National Poetry Day theme of 'Light'. The artist Bridget Smith has turned it into a short film that stars a host of graphite particles swirling in a beam of light.
Find out more about the project in the Guardian, and on the Cambridge and Harvard university websites.
Read my essay for the Paris Review about the inspirations behind the poem and about meeting Stephen.
Discover what's happening on 8th October on the National Poetry Day website, where you can also read the text of my poem.
Loop of Jade has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Don't miss the London award ceremony and readings in September:
Monday 28th September 2015
The Forward Prizes for Poetry 2015
Enjoy readings from ten stunning new collections, chosen by the Forward judges from the full range of poetry published throughout the year. The jury is chaired by writer and performer A L Kennedy, who compères this evening of readings and prizes.
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
£12/£6, 7pm
Now up on the Forward Foundation website is a short interview on my development as a poet, the evolution of Loop of Jade, and advice for poets just setting out.
Thursday 24th September 2015
National Poetry Competition Twitter Takeover
As one of the three judges of this year's National Poetry Competition, I will be poised at my twitter account (@luckyflowerhowe) to answer your questions about poetry, the competition and everything. #askthejudge
2pm
Tuesday 18th August 2015
Chatto Poets: Liz Berry, Sarah Howe and Helen Mort
Three of the best new poets in years will be reading in the Bookshop. United by a strong sense of place, any one of them on their own would be worth turning out for – on a rare triple-bill, presenting an evening of poetry and conversation, they’re unmissable.
London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London, WC1A 2JL
£10, 7pm
Read a write-up of the LRB event on the TLS Blog.
Sunday 9th August 2015
Cerys on 6 Music
The wonderful Cerys Matthews featured two of my poems, 'Mother's Jewellery Box' and 'Frenzied', reading them out on her Sunday morning show this week. Listen again on BBC iPlayer, at around 1hr20.
Monday 27th July 2015
Proms Extra Lates
Radio 3 will broadcast my Proms Lates reading with musicians Modal Point, recorded last week at the Royal Albert Hall, on Monday 27th July at 10pm. Listen again on BBC iPlayer.
I wrote a 'How I did It' feature for the Poetry School / Forward Prizes, describing the evolution of my poem 'Crocodile' from Loop of Jade.
A portfolio of seven poems now features on the Poetry International website, accompanied by an introductory essay on my work by poet Kate Potts.
Saturday 25th July 2015
The Forward Shuffle
Come and hear three Forward-nominated poets and a host of other gems at a midsummer Shuffle. Gale Burns and Chris Beckett present Sarah Howe, Andrew McMillan and Jon Stone, joined by Aviva Dautch, Will Harris, Colette Sensier, and Emily Hasler.
Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
£6/4, 7.30-9.30pm
Thursday 23rd July 2015
Proms Extra Lates
Informal late-night music and poetry after the evening Prom, featuring poet Sarah Howe and musicians Modal Point. Recording to be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Elgar Room, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP
free but ticketed, 10pm
Tuesday 21st July 2015
Ambit 221 Launch
I have a new poem in the latest issue of Ambit and will be reading at the launch party; come down to central Soho and enjoy an evening of poetry and drink in a great new location.
Nellie Dean, 89 Dean St, London W1D 3SU
£10/5, 7pm
The multitalented singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss (a.k.a Emmy the Great) writes about Loop of Jade, and the memories its sparked of her own childhood, for the Guardian Books Blog:
'The way Loop of Jade found me began to feel like some kind of crazy magic, like the sudden appearance of water just as you noticed you were thirsty . . . [T]he poems . . . move me in profound and previously unimaginable ways.'
Meanwhile, 'Night in Arizona', from Loop of Jade, is the Saturday poem in The Guardian (27th June 2015).
Loop of Jade has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Read about the other shortlisted titles in the Guardian coverage. The award ceremony and readings will take place at the Southbank Centre on 28th September.
A brand new sequence, 'Sky is always the hardest part', can be read online in the latest Blackbox Manifold (Spring 2015), an issue that features work from Tom Phillips, Maureen McLane, Peter Streckfus and others.
I will be serving alongside Esther Morgan and David Wheatley as a judge for this year's National Poetry Competition. Poets from around the world can enter by post or online: the closing date is 31 October 2015.
Wednesday 3rd June 2015
Keats Festival 2015: Imtiaz Dharker and TEN
Reading with Imtiaz Dharker, alongside Complete Works II poets Rishi Dastidar and Edward Doegar
Keats House, Keats Grove, London NW3 2RR
£6/5, 7-8.30pm
Wednesday 3rd June 2015
Such People - Poems after The Tempest
Around twenty poets read new poems inspired by the famous play.
The Betsey Trotwood,
56 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3BL
£5, 7.30pm
Sunday 31st May 2015
Saboteur Awards 2015
Panel discussion, The Culture of Criticism in Contemporary Literature, chaired by Jo Bell, with Jane Bradley, Dave Coates, Sarah Howe and Charles Whalley. Part of a day of events and book fair, followed by the evening awards ceremony.
Vout-O-Reenee's, The crypt of 30 Prescot Street, London, E1 8BB
free, 2.30-3.15pm
Published on 7th May, my first collection, Loop of Jade, is now available to order from Chatto & Windus!
Loop of Jade was reviewed by The Scotsman, which calls it a 'sinuous, shimmering, mirage-like debut collection . . . haunted by the suspicion that there must be more to everything than meets the eye'.
My poem, 'Envoi', was selected by Neil Astley for his special transatlantic issue of the American journal Ploughshares (Spring 2015).
An extract from a new sequence, Two Systems, appears in the interdisciplinary law journal Law/Text/Culture. You can read the poem and my introductory note, on Hong Kong's path to democracy, here.
A poem from Loop of Jade, 'Embalmed', appears in the Spring 2015 issue of Poetry Wales.
My review of Arundhathi Subramaniam's When God is a Traveller and Pascale Petit's Fauverie is out in the spring 2015 issue of The Poetry Review.
The Young Poets Network asked me to write an article about 'Exploring Metaphor', meant for anyone studying poetic language, with exercises for young writers looking to develop their own use of metaphor.
Saturday 25th April 2015
TEN: The New Wave at Cúirt International Festival
Reading with Kayo Chingonyi, presented by Nathalie Teitler
Róisín Dubh, Dominick Street, Galway City, Ireland
€8, 3pm
Saturday 7th March 2015
Magdalene Festival of Sound: Poetry Reading
Reading with Fiona Sampson and John Greening, including newly commissioned poems on the theme of 'Sound'
Sir Humphrey Cripps Theatre,
Cripps Court,
Magdalene College,
Cambridge,
free, 2pm
Wednesday 25th February 2015
The Poetry Inquisition
Reading with John Clegg hosted by 13 pages, plus open mic & 'Newsnight-style grilling by a panel of interrogators'
Small White Elephant, 28 Choumert Road, London SE15 4SE
free, 7.30pm
The Complete Works anthology, Ten: The New Wave, has been chosen as a Poetry Foundation 2014 Staff Book Pick, a roundup of their favourite collections from 2014.
Wednesday 3rd December 2014
Poetry London at Kingston University
Reading with Mark Waldron, hosted by Poetry London editor Ahren Warner
Penrhyn Road Campus, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE
free, 6.30-8.30pm
My poem, 'Acts and Monuments', appears in the current edition of Oxford Poetry (XV, Summer 2014).
Thursday 13th November 2014
PBS Next Generation Reading, Cambridge
Reading with Kei Miller and Emma Jones, two of the recently announced Next Generation Poets, along with New Gen poet Pauline Stainer
Waterstones, 22 Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3HG
£3, 6.30pm
Sunday 9th November 2014
Three emerging poets read their work
Reading with Louis de Bernières & Alex Niven
Drama Studio, London Road campus, Reading University
£8/£4, 1.30-2.45pm
Dylan Thomas centenary reading
Panel discussion with Peter McDonald, Matthew Sperling & Peter Robinson
Drama Studio, London Road campus, Reading University
£8/£4, 3-3.30pm
Thursday 6th November 2014
Oxford University Poetry Society
A reading and panel discussion, 'Poetry Now: Where Is It and Where Can It Go?', with Sam Riviere and Hannah Silva
T.S. Eliot Theatre, Merton Street, Oxford, OX1 4JD
7.30pm
Saturday 25th October 2014
Camaradefest II
Starting at 12 noon and running all day, Camaradefest will present 50 brand new collaborative works involving 100 poets working in pairs. From 2pm, I will be reading with Nia Davies from our new poem
Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
free entry, 12pm-late
Monday 6th October 2014
Ten: The New Wave Anthology Launch
Ten of the most exciting young black and Asian poets in the UK present their work, including Mona Arshi, Jay Bernard, Kayo Chingonyi, Rishi Dastidar, Edward Doegar, Inua Ellams, Sarah Howe, Adam Lowe, Eileen Pun & Warsan Shire
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
£10/£5, 6.15-10pm (readings from 8pm)
The launch reading with be preceded by a panel debate led by Bernardine Evaristo: Michael Schmift, Neil Astley and Kei Miller will discuss the legacy of the Free Verse Report (2007), which found that of the poets published by major presses in the UK, less than 1% are black or Asian. How much has this changed?
Sunday 5th October 2014
Reading at the Jericho Tavern
Reading with Sasha Dugdale, Andrea Brady, Matthew Stewart, Claire Trévien & Gareth Prior
The Jericho Tavern, 56 Walton St, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6AE
£5/£4, 6.30pm (readings from 7pm)
7th October - 9th December 2014
Approaches to Poetry
I will be teaching a term of workshops, Approaches to Poetry, for the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, in the second part of their Undergraduate Certificate in Creative Writing. The course is suitable for beginning to intermediate poets, or prose writers who wish to experience a new genre.
Institute of Continuing Education,
University of Cambridge,
Madingley Hall, Madingley,
Cambridgeshire
CB23 8AQ
Further details and information about enrolling at the ICE website
24th September - 20th December 2014
The Polar Muse
Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 1ER
My poem, 'The Instruction of Captain Scott', can be seen in an exhibition at the Scott Polar Museum, Cambridge, until 20th December 2014. The Polar Muse is a collaboration between the museum and eight Cambridge-based poets: Lucy Hamilton, Rod Mengham, Drew Milne, Redell Olsen, Andrea Porter, Lucy Sheerman, Rebecca Watts and myself. There will be a launch reading in early November and the poems will appear in a supplement of PN Review.
Each poet has chosen an object from the Museum's permanent display that excites, inspires or unsettles them. The resulting poems are presented on the glass of the Museum's display cases, in front of the objects which inspired them. I wrote in response to the two cameras, now in the museum's collection, used by the professional photographer Herbert Ponting and Scott himself on the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-1913.
Sunday 31st August 2014
Sunday Poetry Salons: Kayo Chingonyi and Sarah Howe
London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London, WC1A 2JL
2pm, £15
'In the third of our Sunday Poetry Salons, Kayo Chingonyi will be in conversation with Sarah Howe over afternoon tea in the London Review Cake Shop, followed by a companionable group discussion in the cosy environs of our downstairs poetry section.'
Tickets (limited to 12 to ensure a convivial atmosphere) are now available on LRB Bookshop website and include afternoon tea. There are also a few slots left for the July Poetry Salon, featuring Amy Key in conversation with Annie Freud.
My long poem, 'A loop of jade', from the Spring issue of Poetry London, has been selected by Mark Ford for Best British Poetry 2014. Due out in October, you can pre-order the anthology here.
Edition one of Prac Crit is now live, with poems by Andrea Brady, James Brookes, Jeff Dolven, Dai George and Brenda Shaughnessy, as well as a host of essays and interviews. Published three times a year, Prac Crit is an online magazine dedicated to reading poetry 'up close' – a project I've been brewing for some time, and now co-edit with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Dai George.
Thursday 17th July 2014
Summer Season 1: The Carousel Family
The first in a series of four summer readings, with short spots by Sophia Blackwell, Ian Cartland, John Clegg, Roddy Lumsden, Harry Man, Jon Stone, Mark Waldron and myself.
The City Pride, 28 Farringdon Lane, London EC1R 3AU
7.30pm
My review of Tiffany Atkinson's So Many Moving Parts and Zoë Skoulding's The Museum of Disappearing Sounds is out in the summer 2014 issue of Poetry Wales – the first under the editorship of the wonderful Nia Davies.
I have three poems in the Summer 2014 issue of The Poetry Review. You can read 'Stray Dogs' on the Poetry Society website, along with my 'Behind the Poem' feature. I will also be reading at the upcoming launch:
Tuesday 24th June 2014
The Poetry Review summer launch
Reading with Simon Armitage and Seán Hewitt, hosted by Maurice Riordan
Keats House, Keats Grove, London NW3 2RR
6.30-8.30pm (readings from 7pm)
Friday 9th May 2014
Swimmers launch for WITHIN HABIT
A reading to celebrate the launch of Oli Hazzard's Test Centre pamphlet, WITHIN HABIT.
Readings from Oli, supported by Sarah Howe, Maureen McLane and Mark Ford.
7.30pm, Swimmers, 32 Alfred place, London, WC1E 7EB
A poem of mine, 'Drawn with a very fine camelhair brush', appears in The Mimic Octopus, a new anthology of poetic versions, tributes and translations from 13 pages.
My poem for Visual Verse, 'Gasp', is reprinted this month in the Berlin-based magazine, Sand — one of a selection of Visual Verse poems responding to a photograph from Erin Quinn's series, Breaking Point.
Wednesday 23rd April 2014
Poetry at Lauderdale House
Reading with Vidyan Ravinthiran, Giles Goodland, Hannah Lowe & Kay Syrad
Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill, London, N6 5HG
8pm, £5/£3
Thursday 27th February 2014
CB1 Poetry
Reading with Fran Lock, plus open mic
7.30pm, £5/£4, The Boathouse, Cambridge, CB4 3AX
Friday 28th March 2014
Launch for Grun-tu-Molani
Launch reading for the Bloodaxe debut from Vidyan Ravinthiran, with supporting readings from Emily Hasler & Sarah Howe
The Betsey Trotwood, London, EC1R 3BL
'Painted grapes', an essay on US poet Ben Lerner in the centenary edition of Oxford Poetry.
I'm on the cover of the Spring issue of Poetry London, which contains a long poem of mine, 'A loop of jade', alongside poems by Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson, Glyn Maxwell, and by many other poets close to my heart.
The issue will be launched with a reading at the Southbank Centre, featuring Ciaran Carson, Glyn Maxwell, Timothy Donnelly and myself:
Wednesday 5th February 2014
Poetry London Spring 2014 Reading
Doors open at 6pm for 6.30pm start
Level 5 Function Room, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
Sunday 10th November 2013
The Rest is Noise: Panel on John Ashbery
5-6pm, Level 5 Function Room, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
'John Ashbery won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror and has been a celebrated figure in American poetry ever since. Poets Oli Hazzard and Sarah Howe read selections from his work and talk about his influence on their own writing before taking questions from the audience. Chaired by David Herd, a poet and professor at the University of Kent.'
A new poem, 'To all laments and purposes' in the Autumn issue of Poetry London. You can read my poem as part of a preview of the magazine here. Also check out Ahren Warner's editorial, introducing his first issue as editor.
What do dreams and poems have in common? I was interviewed for the Poetry School blog in the lead up to my 'Dream Poems' course this October.
You can also read interviews with my fellow Tutor Academy poet-tutors James Brookes & Luke Heeley and Holly Hopkins & Wayne Holloway Smith.
My poem, 'Scrying: turpentine' was selected for Best British Poetry 2013, edited by Ahren Warner, out this month.
This August I spent a week as guest blogger at the Best American Poetry blog. My week's posts meditated on my recent travels to China, and can still be read in the archive:
I. To China: That Blue Flower on the Map
III. To China: The Library Cave
I will be teaching two sessions on 'Dream Poems' at the Poetry School this autumn, as part of their Tutor Academy course, beginning Thursday 19th September 2013. Other sessions to be led by James Brookes, Luke Heeley, Wayne Holloway Smith and Holly Hopkins.
'The colour in water', the final part of my collaboration with US poet, Kirun Kapur, is now up at Likestarlings.
Tuesday 9th July 2013
Sydenham Arts Festival
Reading with Mark Waldron, hosted by Gale Burns.
£6/4, 7.30pm, The Golden Lion pub, 116 Sydenham Road, SE26 5JX
Thursday 11th July 2013
Summer Season I: The Plate Spinners
Reading with Matthew Caley, Francine Elena, Kirsten Irving, Angela Kirby, Nick Makoha, Kate Potts, Anna Robinson & Mark Waldron.
7.30pm, The City Pride, 28 Farringdon Lane, London, EC1R 3AU
Two poems in the UK special issue (no.5, 'Neither Now Nor England') of US journal, Transom, which also includes a miniature interview with each contributor.
Listen out for my work in Epsiode 3 of The Echo Chamber, 'Translations', featuring new poems by Robin Robertson, Leontia Flynn and Jamie McKendrick. The Echo Chamber is the BBC's new flagship series on contemporary poetry, presented by Paul Farley.
Broadcasts: Sunday 10th March, 4.30pm & Saturday 16th March, 11.30pm.
I am one of ten poets selected to take part in Spread the Word's The Complete Works II, a national development programme for Black and Asian poets.
Thursday 7th February
Oxford Launch of New Bloodaxe Anthology: Dear World & Everyone in it
Readings with Kate Kilalea, Tamarin Norwood and editor Nathan Hamilton
7pm, Blackwell's Bookshop Oxford, 50 Broad Street, OX13BQ
Five poems in the latest issue of PN Review, no. 209 (Jan-Feb 2013). Read a preview of the first poem, 'Landings', here.
Wednesday 12th December
The White Review no.6 Launch
Reading with Olivia McCannon and Sarah Hesketh
6.30-8.30pm, Wapping Project Bankside
I have been awarded the Harper-Wood Studentship for English Poetry and Literature (2012) by St John's College, Cambridge.
Two poems forthcoming in Autumn's Poetry Review, guest edited by Charles Boyle. Both are taken from a new sequence called A Certain Chinese Encyclopedia. You can read 'Belonging to the Emperor' and 'Fabulous' on the Poetry Review website.
In addition, my collaboration with US poet, Kirun Kapur, is now live at Likestarlings, with a new instalment soon to come
My review of Philip Gross's Deep Field & Robert Minhinnick's New Selected Poems is out in the Autumn New Welsh Review, no. 97.
Friday 28th September 2012
Broadcast
Reading with Glyn Maxwell, Claire Crowther & Ahren Warner.
7.45pm, The Betsey Trotwood, EC1R 3BL
Thursday 4th October 2012
National Poetry Day Live! 2012
Organised by the Poetry Society
Reading from 3.30pm with Christopher Reid, Helen Mort & Charlotte Higgins; events continue all day.
1-6pm, Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre.
Saturday 22nd September 2012
The Beacon, Hastings
Performing with Amy Key, Tom Warner & Billy Letford as part of the Coastal Currents Festival.
7pm, The Beacon, 67-68 St Mary’s Terrace, Hastings TN34 3LS
See some photographs from the Hastings performance here.
Saturday 29th September 2012
Keats' House Museum, London
Catch the entire Astronaut crew: Liz Berry, Kayo Chingonyi, Sarah Howe, Amy Key, Billy Letford, Karen McCarthy Woolf, John McCullough, Liane Strauss & Tom Warner.
3pm (afternoon) & 6.30pm (evening performance)
Keats House Museum, Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR
Click here for tickets & more information.
Monday 1st October 2012
The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter
Performing with Liz Berry, Kayo Chingonyi & Billy Letford.
7.30pm, The Bike Shed Theatre, 162/3 Fore Street, Exeter EX4 3AT
Click here for tickets & more information.
12th June 2012
London Reading to mark the visit of US poet Kiki Petrosino
7.30pm, The Betsey Trotwood, EC1R 3BL
24th June 2012
New Poets Festival, organisers Roddy Lumsden & Emily Hasler
Details to follow
A poem of mine has been chosen for the forthcoming Bloodaxe anthology, Dear World & Everyone in it: New Poetry in the UK, edited by Nathan Hamilton, due out in November.
A few days ago I had my first rehearsal for I Gaze from My Kitchen Like an Astronaut. I spent the day working with Julia Bird and director, Phoebe Stout, to create a sequence of poems I'd be able to perform, complete with a tableful of water jugs and artificial tulips. After our lunch break, there was just time for a mini-interview, on colour in poetry and painting.
The May online edition of The White Review features a poem of mine, 'Monopoly (after Ashbery)', next to two pieces from Sam Riviere's Austerities project.
More good news thanks to The White Review: my poem, 'Death of Orpheus' (from issue 4 of TWR) has been selected for inclusion in The Best British Poetry 2012, edited by Sasha Dugdale. Due out in September, you can pre-order the anthology here.
Finally, I understand my pamphlet, A Certain Chinese Encyclopedia, recently sold out, so apologies if you've been having trouble getting hold of a copy. But a new reprint is just in, and available once again from the Tall-lighthouse website.
I'm excited to be part of Jaybird's latest touring poetry show, I Gaze from My Kitchen Like an Astronaut. A mixture of live poetry and theatre, the show will tour the UK later in 2012, featuring the work of ten new British poets around the first collection stage: Liz Berry, Kayo Chingonyi, Amy Key, William Letford, Karen McCarthy Woolf, John McCullough, Richard O'Brien, Liane Strauss, Tom Warner, and myself. Find out more details as they emerge at the Astronaut blog.
I will be supporting Tom Gilliver and Kayo Chingonyi as they launch their new pamphlets on the evening of Saturday 28th April, at the Poetry Studio, 22 Betterton Street, London.
The latest in the Salt Modern Voices series, The Graft and Some Bright Elegance are strong debuts from two of my favourite new poets writing at the moment. You can read more about Tom and Kayo's work, and some sample poems, at the Peony Moon blog.
A poem of mine, 'Death of Orpheus', is due to appear in the new issue (no. 4) of The White Review.
'Skipping to the Apocalypse', my essay on three young US women poets (Elyse Fenton, Dora Malech, & Darcie Dennigan), is forthcoming in the latest New Welsh Review (no. 96).
Back from a month's writing retreat at Hawthornden Castle, Scotland.