Poet in the City organises and hosts up to 10 or more poetry events each year featuring both internationally known and up-and-coming poets. Our events are designed to be accessible to those who are new to poetry while offering lovers plenty of substance and depth. Locations vary but include both evocative venues and places that are not generally open to the public.
Forthcoming events
If you would like to attend one of these events (and become a member of Poet in the City) please email us.
February
Seamus Heaney - Mon 22nd Feb 7pm
Poet in the City and the Royal Society of Literature are proud to present one of the most acclaimed poets writing in the English language.
Ever since his acclaimed first collection Death of a Naturalist was published in 1966, Seamus Heaney has been recognised as a towering presence in poetry. His translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf was published to great acclaim in 1999 and his collection District and Circle won the TS Eliot Prize in 2006. Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.
This special event will feature the poet in conversation about his influences, and the themes that preoccupy his latest work, combined of course with readings of his poetry.
For those of you who missed out on tickets for this event Kings Place will be broadcasting the event live on a video screen in Hall Two.
If you wish, you can therefore share in the atmosphere of this special occasion and experience the whole event on video screen and in real time.
Tickets for the live relay can be booked online for £5.50 via Kings Place
Otherwise these tickets cost £7.50. The box office number is 020 7520 1490.
March
Open Spaces. Open Minds.
A series of exciting New Audiences events featuring fabulous contemporary poets and reflecting on the subjects of Poetry and Stand-up, Poetry and Rock, and Poetry and Spirituality.
Poetry and Stand-up - Thursday 11th March 7pm
Hosted by Dr. Kevin McCarron of Roehampton University, who is himself an acclaimed stand-up comedian, this event will feature some of the UK’s best known poetry comics, in a show combining laughter with the very best of spoken word.
Featuring A.F. Harrold, an English performance poet,storyteller and writer, is renowned for his fabulous and unusual live shows; Tim Clare, a writer, stand-up poet and musician. In 2005 he presented the Channel 4 series How To Get A Book Deal; and Byron Vincent whose oratory fuses comedy, poetry and doe-eyed bewilderment to create a unique and entertaining spoken word experience.
Poetry and Rock - Thursday 18th March 7pm
Hosted by Professor Tope Omoniyi of Roehampton University, this event will celebrate the many connections between poetry and rock music, including reflections on the pop art sensibility and theconnections between poetry and hip-hop music.
Featuring Brian Patten who made his name in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool Poets, alongside Adrian Henri and Roger McGough. Their joint anthology The Mersey Sound (1967) was one of the most successful collections ever at winning new audiences for poetry. He and his fellow poets were closely associated with the explosion of rock music and popular culture which characterised their native city in the 1960s; Richard Price, a poet and novelist who has always been influenced by rock music. He won his first poetry prize with a self-conscious re-working of lyrics by Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. He is a lyrical writer whose poetry continues to be heavily influenced by music; and Luke Heeley, one of the UK’s best new poets. In 2009 he joined with about 24 other contemporary poets in composing poems responding to the albums of legendary Rock band Pink Floyd. As well as his own work, Luke will be reading some of the other poems composed in reaction or tribute to one of the world’s great rock bands.
Poetry and Spirituality - Thursday 25th March 7pm
Hosted by Professor Tina Beattie of Roehampton University, this event features great poetry reflecting on the spiritual capacities in human beings, including the spiritual literature of Elizabethan England, the poetry of the great Sufi mystics, and the work of an acclaimed contemporary poet.
Featuring Dr Ewan Fernie, a specialist on the Renaissance period and currently a project leaderon a high-profile project celebrating The Faeri Queene by Edmund Spenser, the acknowledged spiritual masterpiece of the Elizabethan age; Abbas Faiz, an Iranian-born academic exiled for his politica beliefs. Abbas now works for Amnesty International championing human rights around the globe. He is also an expert on the great masterpieces of Persian Sufi poetry, one of the greatest traditions of spiritual and mystical poetry in the world; and Lachlan Mackinnon, a distinguished poet whose latest collection SmallHours, published by Faber, is suffused with religious and spiritual themes.
All three events in the Open Spaces. Open Minds. series are taking place at The Portrait Room, Grove House, Froebel College, Roehampton University, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5PJ.
Admission is FREE but it is necessary to RSVP by writing to Poet in the City, c/o Cathy Galvin/Anmar Frangoul, News International, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST, phone 07908 367488 or email info@poetinthecity.co.uk
Booking is essential!
Carol Ann Duffy - Mon 22nd March 7pm
Poet in the City is delighted to present an event with the UK’s new poet laureate. One of the UK’s most acclaimed poets, her many collections include The World's Wife (1999), Feminine Gospels (2002), and Rapture (2005). Her influence has spread far and wide, with her work even being included in the National Curriculum. Combining popular success with critical acclaim, her appointment as the first female laureate in 2009 was widely welcomed.
As well as reading from her own work Carol Ann Duffy is using this fantastic event to introduce audiences to some of her favourite contemporary British poets, including Daljit Nagra, Imtiaz Dharker and Sarah Maguire. Also featuring the musician John Sampson.
Taking place on Mon 22 March 2009 at Kings Place. Get your ticket now from the Kings Place box office.
Tickets are currently restricted to members of Poet in the City only.
Tickets cost £9.50 if booked online via www.kingsplace.co.uk Otherwise tickets cost £11.50. Box Office 020 7520 1490.
April
John Keats - Monday 19th
Poet in the City and Keats House invite you to a celebration of the life and the poetry of one of the greatest English poets, who was also a leading figure in the Romantic Movement.
A contemporary of the poets Byron, Shelley, Coleridge and Wordsworth, John Keats remains one of the nation’s favourite and most revered poets. Although his star burned very briefly, it burned with great brightness before he died in Rome in February 1821, at the age of only 26. Marking the recent restoration of the beautiful Keats House in Hampstead, this spectacular event will feature some of the leading experts on the poet and readings from some of his greatest poetry. As a special treat there will also be a presentation about the restoration of the house to its original appearance, and the recreation of a magnificent Nineteenth century garden at the property, which is now once again open to the public.
Taking place on Mon 19 April 2010 at Kings Place. Get your ticket from the Kings Place box office.
Tickets cost £9.50 if booked online via www.kingsplace.co.uk Otherwise tickets cost £11.50. Box Office 020 7520 1490.